Chapter #27Two Lies on a Collision Course by: Nostrum   You’re sitting on the driver’s seat, watching the road back into Edgefield to distract yourself from the oncoming storm.
You’re calmer than Cassie, who’s sitting on the back with a lost look in her eyes. Ashley – your mother, her sister – is trying to comfort her, but she huffs and heaves in occasions, still traumatized by the revelation.
Barbara isn’t taking it well either. She’s inside the cloned skin of your mom – her old identity, which she discarded – watching the road for reasons you can’t even fathom. Is she disgusted with her new life? Is she fully experiencing what’s to be someone else, just like your mom does? Or is she trying to close off to yourself and to Cassie’s plea?
That last one will be hard, as the youngest of the Wright siblings finally opens up. “You think they’ll accept us?” she says in a scared, childish tone contrasting Quentin’s impersonation of her.
“We’ll try everything we can,” your mother says. “David will help us, and since Barbie’s passing as their mother, she could try to convince them. I’m sure they’re good people.”
“I wish this was all a dream, Ashie. I wish I could wake up in my bed and hear that Mom’s alright – that she’s not a skin my deadbeat dad was wearing.”
“Too bad,” Barbara reacts, irritated, in a way contrasting your mother’s usual passive demeanor. “At least you won’t be hiding behind someone else’s face.”
“Barbie?” Your mother, on the other hand, naturally invokes a motherly tone that sets her in place. “I know, but it’s the only way people won’t be looking for you. You’ll be able to move and figure things out. I told you that once we fix things up, you’ll be out of that skin and the Anderson kids will have their mom back.”
“You’re going to tell them I’m not really their mom, right?”
“We’re gonna figure out how to tell them,” you tell Barbara. “My sister Tina will be the hardest one to convince - she was already distraught when Mom disappeared. Once we deal with her, I’ll see how we’re gonna tell the news to my brother and younger sister.”
“As long as I can take a moment to breathe...” She sighs, looking at the roof. Barbara seems the roughest of the three – a fact you can see now that she’s free of Ross’s influence.
“As long as the kids aren’t looking,” your mother replies. “There’s a basement downstairs where you can relax, and you can always use the master bedroom or David’s room.”
“How do you know so much?” she asks.
“I’ve been there before,” your mother responds. “You’d know if you had used the pen like David told you.”
“Sorry, Sis, but I don’t want to get into a stranger’s mind. I had enough with that guy that used me.”
“You’ll need to use it if you want to fool them.”
“That’s the thing, Ash! I don’t want to fool them – I want them to know that I’m replacing their mom until you can find the real one and all of this sorts out.”
“I know, but you don’t have to be so bitchy about it. Think of what David must be going on!”
Barbara sighs again, mellowing out. “Right. Listen – I don’t like having to do this, and I really appreciate what you’ve done for us. You’ve gone above and beyond what anyone could ever do.”
“I agree,” Cassie adds. “And sorry about that slap to the face.”
“It’s alright. You already apologized like fifty times.”
“But Barbie’s right! You saved us from some maniacs, offered your home to hide us, offered to help us clear Barbie’s and Mom’s names – how are we gonna repay you!?”
“It’s alright,” you say, taken aback by Cassie’s niceness. “Like I said – it's nothing! You needed help, and we--”
“Look - that’s not how Mom raised us. You repay niceness with niceness. You already said you have a girlfriend, so I’m not gonna pose as yours, but there must be some way we can repay you!”
“Cassissie?” Barbara said, calling her sister’s attention by using her least-liked pet name. “I’m already replacing their mom. I think that’s enough. Maybe you could help by finding a job so we can find a place to move on – or at least, you two.”
“Exactly! At least until everything clears out – I mean, I might need a new place to live since moving out and letting Paul--”
“That’s another thing,” the middle sibling insisted. “You have to let that guy out. I can’t believe he never told you he was married.”
“He can’t return to their home – before her disappearance, Marie was looking to separate from him. I was actually advising her on matters of divorce.”
“I’m not saying he should return to his home, but it’s the most obvious choice. That’s your home, Ash – you know how hard it is to get one?”
“Yeah, but he helped me with it. I--”
“Look - we tell him that we couldn’t find his ex-wife, that I’m passing as her, but that you need your home. If we tell him, maybe he’ll agree not to touch me once he returns.”
“The last thing I want is for him to make any move on you!” You check the rearview mirror to see your mother’s expression – she's angry but flustered, especially as Cassie snapped away from her. “Even if you look like his ex-wife.”
“Sis, it’s the best for everyone. I’ll tell him that he’ll have to proceed with the divorce no matter what, and that he better not touch me.”
Your mother takes a deep breath, covering her face. “Let’s discuss that once we’re at David’s home. There’s the matter of all the other skins we’re carrying.”
“Is it true that they’re all cloned?” Cassie asks, grimacing as your mother replies in the affirmative. “Ew. I mean – I feel sorry for the girls, but at least they didn’t suffer what we did. Why couldn’t they just... I dunno, clone us and have fun with us instead of using us?"
“They’d ruin our lives nonetheless.”
“Yeah, but in another place!” As Barbara responds to Cassie’s claim with a hard look, you wonder if Quentin was an improvement over the real deal. She rolls her eyes, however, recognizing the fact. “Right. They could still get us into trouble. I’m just saying – if they’re all a bunch of perverts, why not do it away from everyone so we wouldn’t know, and not get us into trouble!?”
--
You’re thankful you arrived home, after having to endure, Cassie’s maddening insights and Barbara’s disgust at her current fate. You park the pick-up truck you brought from Tyneside – one under a false name, unable to be traced to Tessa or any of her daughters, and using the face of one of the copied women which means it could be transferred easily.
You leave most of the garment bags inside as you open the door, carrying only five of them. You dash into your room, dropping them off on your bed, and zipping them open to check them out. Quentin’s inside one of them – you all agreed you’d keep him as he seems to be good at computers, including Cassie who found the idea fitting – while the others are an assortment of women you chose at your mother’s insistence.
You check the fourth garment bag as you notice the face. She’s a busty, curvy Asian woman with a short black bob, but it’s her face that mystifies you – she's the living image of your school’s head cheerleader, Sonya Xie. She looks like she could be her older sister, and you thought of figuring if Sonya lost a sister or something. (And if she’s a copied skin like the rest, you’re more than willing to play with her.)
“David?” you hear your mother – Ashley, not Barbara – bark from downstairs, catching your attention. You step outside and tell her to wait with a simple “going!” before you zip the garment bags and lock your room. As you move towards the living room, you notice she’s holding a letter on her hand while Barbara and Cassie move the latter’s clothes inside.
You move towards the kitchen, where you discuss things in relative privacy. You notice the letter’s on Tina’s handwriting, making your mother very nervous. “We’re going to have to deal with this faster than I thought.”
“Why?”
She hands you the letter, and as you read it, you understand what she means:
David
When you return, come get Claire. She’s agreed to live with you.
I’ll stay with Dad, because I know Mom’s not gonna change her mind.
Mom, if you see this, you’re doing a terrible thing.
Ashley’s not a toy for you to play. She’s a person. And if you can’t
respect that, then I can’t live with someone like you.
I hope this letter reaches you. It’s not too late for you to remake
your life. We’re all here for you, one way or another.
And Davey? I hope you don’t side with Mom. I love her, but even
you know she’s wrong. None of us deserve this.
Frustrated,
Christina
“Yeah. She’s pissed.” You rub your forehead, looking at Barbara. “She’s not wrong, though.”
“She’s not right either,” she mutters defensively. “If she knows I pushed Barbie to replace me, it’ll cause all kinds of trouble.”
“She’ll have to know,” you argue. “Barbara thinks you’re gone. If Tina tells her, we’re gonna have two problems in our hands.”
“Then what should we do? David, I can’t go back on what I’ve done.”
More like you don’t want to, you argue internally.
“They need my help. I can’t leave them alone.”
You read Tina’s words again, very carefully, evaluating your options. You can talk to Barbara, telling her the truth – but that means having an enemy in your own house. You can tell the truth to Tina (and everyone) on your own, but that means Tina will never forgive you.
But what if your mother chooses to go as herself? What if – for a brief moment – she reacquaints with her old life and bluffs both sides? That won’t be the ideal option, but the breathing space might allow you to think of a better option.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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