Fractured Lines

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Andi pushed the cart down the aisle. Her mom stopped every few feet to pick up some vegetable or fruit, stare at it for a few minutes, and then either put it back or put it into the cart. She always looked so deep in thought when she did it. Andi was sure she was trying to figure out if she could use it in one of the dishes she was making that evening for her dinner party. Her meals were definitely five-star. Everyone who was invited always raved about and wanted her recipes. But she always declined, probably because she never followed a recipe and it would never taste the same twice.

"Want to tell me why we drove almost two hours to go grocery shopping? The three stores in our city have always had everything." Andi quirked an eyebrow.

Delilah shrugged. "It's a test."

"A test? What kind of test, to see if they carry the same groceries? Even if their prices are better, you just spent all that by driving here."

"Oh man, you sound like me. Aaaaaahhh."

They both laughed.

"No, really? Why come to Temin?"

"Because that party warehouse we stopped at? Well, they not only have a better selection, but they have better quality. They'll give me a 10% to 30% discount on all the tablecloths, napkins, decorations, whatever I need. And they have gorgeous colors. I can rent the cloth stuff and they'll launder them, not me. I don't have to worry about that. The more parties I have, the better the discount." Delilah waved her hand. "And they'll deliver and pick up … for free. That's why I'm now shopping for groceries here."

Her mom looked at her sideways. "If nothing else, I figured it would annoy you and, since you always seem so stoic and reserved, I thought it would give you a ton of questions."

Andi made a face before grinning. She really didn't care, she loved spending time with her mom. They pretty much always had fun hanging out together, but Andi couldn't resist the urge to needle her. "What about—"

Her mom was back to shopping. Something she took seriously. She picked up a vegetable, or maybe it was a fruit. It was some oddly shaped thing Andi had never seen before. Delilah looked at the food and then glanced up with that distant-to-laser-focused-to-distant look. It meant 'don't bug me while I'm creating.' Making masterpiece meals was her thing. It was really the only thing Andi hated about grocery shopping with her; it was mostly done in silent mode. As soon as she looked away, Andi started making faces behind her back. A young child, sitting in a nearby cart, giggled.

"You're funny."

Andi winked at the little girl as they walked by.

"Making faces again, Andi?"

"I'm too old for that. Come on."

Delilah smiled but went back to her contemplative shopping. Andi was sure her mom had no idea what she was making or buying until she got there. Either that, or she enjoyed picking up, feeling, and smelling the fresh fruits and vegetables and then deciding if they went in the basket or not.

Bored, and knowing her opinion wasn't needed, Andi pulled out her phone and checked her calendar. She had a couple of hours until she had a photoshoot. It was of a family of eight, along with three dogs, two cats, an iguana, and a rabbit.

All Andi could think of was chaos, but it wasn't the biggest or craziest she'd ever had to photograph. That one went to the family that wanted five generations, with the great-grandmother at 93 on a horse, with her pet dog on another horse, and a third horse laying on the ground. The grandmother at 74 balanced on a tightrope, with the rest of the family being rather boring, doing handstands or backbends. They were a family of acrobats. It had been going great, at least until the neighbor's mutt had come racing through their yard barking. One horse got skittish, dancing around. The grandson had caught his great-grandmother as she slipped out of the saddle. The dog, that had also been on the horse, had landed on the mom who was doing a handstand. Everyone had jumped into action to keep the grandmothers from getting hurt. The grandmother on the tightrope hadn't lost her balance, but she'd been doing that kind of work for most of her 70-plus years.

Andi had gotten some amazing pictures of the catastrophe which, ironically, the family loved and bought. They said the pictures reflected their life—crazy, chaotic, but beautiful and unconventional.

Her mom sighed.

"Who's all coming tonight? Is this a fundraiser? Or a meeting for a fundraiser? I have a shoot at 2:00 p.m. It shouldn't take more than two hours, pending things go as planned. So, if you need help, I could maybe be at the house to help you set up around 4:00 or so?" Andi asked as they turned a corner. She sauntered along but realized she hadn't gotten an answer. She turned back.

Delilah had stopped several feet behind her. Her eyes wide, her gaze focused straight ahead. She'd gone pale.

"Mom?" But she got no response. Andi looked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. There were several people moving through the bins of fruits and vegetables. No one really stood out. No one was doing anything to make a scene or draw attention. Nothing out of the ordinary. At least, not that she could see. Although, the woman on the red scooter was a bit of a disaster. She was pushing her way past people with the nose of her wheeled transportation. She'd bump people's carts to move them out of her way.

"I wonder if she realizes this isn't bumper cars." Andi chuckled. "Damn. I think that's how I want to be when I get older."

"Get out of my way." The woman's raspy, deep, and if Andi had to guess, smoker's voice had a definite 'don't screw with me sound' to it. There were two huge men behind her, although Andi wasn't sure if they were with her or store security. They just seemed to watch her and anyone who came near, not interfering or commenting on her poor driving manners.

"Wow. Maybe not that miserable or hardened looking but love the attitude." Andi pulled the cart backward with her a few steps. She put her hand on her mom's arm but got no acknowledgment. Her mom's gaze was locked and lost on whatever she was focused on. Moving closer, Andi put her face beside her mom's, not close enough to annoy her, just close enough to see what was in her line of vision. The only thing that stood out was the woman on the scooter who had stopped shoving her way around. She looked their way. The smile, carved through the pasty-yellow complexion and excessive wrinkles, showing teeth stained an orangey-brown and black, looking as if they'd already died, made Andi shiver.

"Do you know her?" When there was no answer, she glanced around. Delilah was gone, walking away, fast. Andi whipped the cart around and gave chase. "Where are you going?"

"Leave the groceries. We're going. I'll be in the car."

Andi looked at the half-full cart and then at her mom, who had whipped past the cashiers and was already heading out the sliding glass doors. "I'll be right there."

One of the self-checkouts came open at that moment. She shoved her way in front of a few people, shrugging with guilt but not wanting to leave all the groceries they'd just spent forty minutes collecting. Once she'd finished and got out to the car, she loaded them in the back and then climbed in the driver's seat. Delilah was sitting rigid, her purse clenched in her hands.

"Let's go!"

Andi frowned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

The bite in her mom's voice wasn't something Andi heard much. Maybe three times in her life. Andi was tempted to put her hand on her mom's forehead. This woman had always been patient and kind.

As she backed up, the red-scooter woman came out of the grocery store and sat out front. The woman pulled out a cigarette. The sun glinted off the large gem-loaded rings, looking more like brass knuckles on her fingers. But that wasn't what caught Andi's attention. She was strapped to an oxygen tank with a tube going up her nose. Time to get out of there.

"Doesn't she realize she could light herself up like a suicide bomber?"

Delilah looked out her side window, away from the woman. "Andi, get the hell out of here."

"Don't worry, I don't want to be around an i***t like that either. I'm sure there are stickers all over that canister that say 'hazard, don't smoke within twenty feet' of it. I imagine you saw a lot of that when you were nursing, eh? People just don't care."

There was nothing but silence. Andi glanced over. Tears were streaming down Delilah's face. Andi almost had to bite her tongue to keep from asking why, but she refrained. The older woman was smoking and had a look that defied anyone to say anything to her. The two big, bouncer-type guys who had been in the store, appeared behind her. It would have been an interesting interaction, Security telling her she had to leave or at least put out her smoke or at least move fifteen feet from the door. She was sure, the woman would tell them where to go.

Pulling out of the parking lot, she was very aware of her mom's silent tears and her distress. Was it because of that lady? What had scared her so much? Had the woman just been a reminder of something from her past? There was a fair bit Andi knew about her mom, but there was also a lot she didn't know. She'd been a nursing aide for a few years. But she'd quit. Other than that, her mom hadn't and wouldn't share much about her past—like where she'd grown up, who her parents were, who Andi's father was …

Andi had given up that half-hearted hunt long ago. It had come down to the fact that she couldn't hurt her mom by searching for her father. And her mom's friend, Scott, had played some of the father role, mentor, and friend. She hadn't wanted for anything. But now and then, when her mom would get melancholy, it reminded her how much she really didn't know about her mother's younger days.

Like now. Since she didn't know much, and had never seen her mom act like this, she wasn't sure what to do.

A dull headache throbbed in her temples. She pressed the fingers of her left hand to her head to try to ease the torture. But she was trying to do it without being noticed. A quick glance, though, let her know that her passenger was staring out the side window.

What had made her mom go white and try to hide the shaking that had taken hold of her unsettled Andi. Why, she didn't know. But she was getting a sense that she might not want to know the answer.

"I've got to go to my shoot. Are you going to be okay?"

Her mom was silent the whole way home. She'd sat in the car while Andi ran into the grocery store, they normally went to and got the rest of the list she'd scribbled out for her. Now that she'd unloaded all the bags from the car and set them on the counter, she wasn't sure if she should leave or not.

"I'm fine. I have my fundraising committee meeting tonight." Delilah turned her back and unpacked the grocery bags.

Andi watched her for a few moments before leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek. "I'll come back and help you set up. See you later."

"No. I'm fine."

Andi ran next door, knocking on Joan's door. Joan opened it. "Hi. Want to come in?"

"I've got to run out. Mom's out of sorts. Can you keep her company? She's getting ready for the party tonight. I think something is stressing her. I don't know what, though." She gave her a quick rundown of what had happened.

Although Joan didn't say anything, her smile disappeared. "I'll just finish up and head over. See you later." She closed the door in Andi's face.

Andi threw her hands up in the air. What the hell was going on? Was everyone acting weird or was it her?

Her cell phone dinged, letting her know she didn't have time to ponder the situation. She had to leave. Pulling away from the driveway, her gaze was semi-locked on the rear-view mirror and the front of her mom's house. The lime green front door screamed, 'I prefer to stand out.' She'd thought it had been crazy to want that color, but now loved it. It was like a beacon and shone bright in the afternoon sun. Nothing was different, and yet Andi had the feeling that everything had changed. She just didn't know what or why.