Saturday morning dawned in a daze of damp fog. I lay on my back at five-thirty, finding the snow a relative pastime as I watched the soft white glace down the window, wrapping the once transparent louvers in a hazy thin icing. I burrowed under the sheets since I'd used my duvet to drape Carter, shutting out the world until seven o'clock when I finally came up for air.
Then, and just then I was graced to witness the ridiculous.
Dorian stood still, staring wide-eyed at my closet doors - her fingers placed on the gold handle as she hesitated. Her face was white as the snow outside, going in blend with her tender frizzy locks that were tied up in a messy bun. Her feet bare - curled against the blue Moracoon rug in fear.
"Dorian," Panic wafted off my chest as I got out of bed. "What are you doing?"
She turned to face me, and that's when I noticed the jar - filled with a brown substance tucked underneath her right arm. "Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"What's that you have there?" I gestured to the jar. She held it up and shook it.
Oh God, Now I really wanted to laugh.
"Is that... dirt?"
She nodded softly twisting the cover tab open and began to sprinkle it about. "It wards off evil. Keeps undesirables away" I watched her craft a thin line on the threshold floor, muttering Incomprehensible. I made to stop her. "Don't you realize that you're creating more work for yourself? I mean you'd still clean it up."
She watched me for a few minutes then did the same thin line in front of the closet door. "Sir, I had a dream. A very bad dream. I saw a ghost in your closet!"
I was bemused, watching her frantic movements. "A ghost? In my closet??"
"I know you might think I'm crazy but I saw it. At first, it was sweet and caring, and then it became bad and evil," She paused for effect. "I'm afraid sir, we'll need the reverend. I'd go call him after breakfast."
"Dorian, dreams aren't real. It must have been something bothering you. Come on, you'll need a lot of rest, you overwork yourself." I steered her out the door. "Go to sleep. Take a vacation!"
"But Sir's coming home tonight," she argued. "And it's seven-thirty and way too late for sleep."
"Then that's fine. Go out. Make some new friends with the locals," I banged the door shut against her protests.
"You live in a crazy house." Carter called from the closet.
I stepped over the brown line then popped the armoire doors ever so widely, letting in the dull glow of morning. Carter swiftly shrieked, scooting farther down the closet - the blanket at his trails.
"Gosh Carlie, weren't you ever taught that privacy means everything?" he pouts at me.
I snapped my fingers in a kind of aha moment. "My thoughts exactly."
He heats up. "You shouldn't be here. Now get out, I need to change. And why did you have to open the doors so widely? I'm shivering." he clattered his teeth.
"Did you just throw me out of my own closet?"
"I'm thinking you don't do well with English in the morning."
I glared at him. "That's it. I've had enough of you," I pulled back the paper wall to retrieve a coat. "I don't want to see your shadow when I get back."
"It's such a good thing that wishes don't come true," his devious smirk the last thing I see before closing the doors once more.
How on earth did we end up together?
Downstairs, Sidney was nowhere to be seen and Dorian sat downcast at the kitchen island so wringing her fingers over and over in a crude cycle.
"Where's Sidney?" I inquired, dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into a milk-of-tomato soup. She's becoming scarce these days, I still needed to hand Charlie's letter over to her. It pricks keeping a secret you're not allowed to know.
"She went off to Mag's place this morning. She wasn't feeling alright and cried a lot last night. I don't know what happened and she refused to tell me."
That's new. Sidney never cried. It was a sight so rare to see. In fact, the last time I remember seeing a tear trickle down her eyes was when Mom left. At the courthouse at Alabama, which was ages ago.
She grew a thick skin since then.
"Did she say she's gonna come back?"
She shook her head then rose to her feet. "No. I have to go now. I heard that there's a parade going on down at the village. I'll be back in time to make lunch." She skirted out the entrance door.
I downed the last drop then pushed the bowl away.
*-*-*-*-*
By mid-afternoon, the fog had cleared, replaced with a breaching heat which had me soaked skin deep. I tossed away from the sunlight, willing to indulge myself in a dreamless sleep while still trying to ignore Carter's scraping noises.
I pressed the pillow over my head, mentally pleading. Just an hour more Carter, please stop.
That's it!
I cursed, then sat up glaring hard at my closet doors in misfortune. The scraping stopped. "Say, are you pooing in there or what?"
"Aha, finally my strategy worked," he kicked the door wider, grinning in retrospect. "You didn't sleep well last night," he wriggled his brows.
Even though my slight dizziness, a light blush stained my cheeks when I remembered Charlie's smile. It was so true and pure and... for me.
"I'm just tired. Stop being a sourpuss," I flipped on my side, turning my back to him.
"Then I'll just have to keep on then,"
The scraping continued, compelling me to shove a pillow straight at him. He ducked. "Carter 1, Carlie 0."
"Can you take a nap? Or find something doing?? Make yourself useful."
"Hola, it's my birthday today. What do you intend on giving me? I see no balloons around."
I sighed then sauntered into the bathroom to wash my face. "Sorry to break this to you but you're getting nothing. Happy birthday though."
He rolled his eyes briefly. "Then I'm afraid I'd have to use extreme measures."
"Do what you must,"
A few moments later and my teddy bears are torn to shreds. I was on my knees, horrified. Carter grinning with scissors in hand.
"You..." I struggled to find the right adjectives, the right negative phrases. "Teddy murderer!!"
He tossed his equipment apart - chuckling. "Well, you don't see that every day."
"I'll make you pay for this?"
"And I shall do more,"
I stood up to my feet. "You'd go to jail."
"Come on Debaun, stop goofing around."
"You murdered my teddy bear! You're a sinner!! I shall call the cops."
"Do it already. And I promise to cut your hair next,"
"Ugh, you're evil,"
"The pleasure is always mine. Now go get me a tuna sandwich. Downtown, now!"
I scoffed. "What do you take me for? A servant??"
"I'd say yes. Quit yapping about, there's still a lot of teddys you'd probably need to save," he picked up a brown elephant and fixed the scissors between its ears.
I stared in fear. "Alright! Alright!! I'll do it. Just keep Mr. Buffet down, Please."
He raised a brow at me. "You sure are a mouthful."
"For fuck's sake, put him down please!" I yelled.
"Then get me what I asked for. And when you come back, I want to hear all that happened last night. There's something you're not telling me and that's just great. You'd have to do exactly as I say, or Mr. Buffet takes the brunt."