Chapter 5

~Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse~

The day was finally here. My thirteenth birthday. No one said anything to me about it, not a hint, or a clue of what to expect. 

Mom said she would be back for my special day, with Antony. Would Dad be there? He skyped me almost two weeks ago and told me all about Japan and would let me fly over during the holidays. It was only a month until school broke up.

I stood on the top lounge balcony on the third floor and watched the ocean. I did not look at the silent pool in the garden of many flowers, trees, and bright bush statues, neither did I hear the birds chirping and flying in the garden. I did not notice the bright blue sky running a straight line over the blue-green horizon. There was just nothing before me. 

  “Well, April fools,” said Murphy. “It’s a fool’s day.”

  “Stop it. You know it’s my birthday!”

  “Yes, I know what day it is.”

  “Please, leave Murphy,” I said, ignoring his irritating habit of swinging his cane around his arm. “I’m not in the mood and you’re not invited.”

  “That’s harsh.” He stopped swinging his cane, leaning against the banister, he said, “As you wish.” He turned and began to walk away. His sharp clipped steps in steady motion stopped, and I heard him say, “Willow, I really do hope you have a pleasant birthday.”

Someone called my name and I ignored it. That, someone, was Susan.

  “Willow!”

I still ignored her.

  “Willow?” Susan came to my side. “I have been looking everywhere for you.  Why didn’t you tell me where you were? I thought you may have gone to the beach by yourself and when I couldn’t find you...I almost went there.”

  “Why would I do that?”

Susan sighed. “C’mon, there’s something you should see and your Mom is waiting!”

I stood upright and faced her. “Wait. What? She’s here!”

Running down the stairs, I ignored Susan’s warning to stop. I almost tripped, but I didn’t care. Mom was here.

At the foot of the stairs, there was a lot of activity. People dressed in blue overalls were carrying things in the foyer. The housekeeper, Mrs. Bradford, was shrieking at them to be careful and ran outside to direct them to the back entrance that led to the garden. I looked around and didn’t see my Mom. Of course! Mom would never be amongst this chaos and I ran to the Ballroom, but she was not there.

Panting, Susan caught up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

  “Come Willow.” Susan took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you didn’t let me explain. Your Mom is waiting for you in the Entertainment room. She isn’t here.”

My eyes brimmed with tears. “What do you mean she isn’t here?”

  “Let’s go.”

I followed Susan to the Entertainment room. Everything had been covered in white cloth. The chairs, tables, couches, right up to the paintings all covered in white cloth.

  “What’s going on? Is the room going to be spring-cleaned? It isn't spring yet.”

At the very end of the room, covering the entire wall was the only item left uncovered the large LED screen that Mom disliked so much. Priceless paintings had to be taken down to fit the large screen, leaving the room ghastly and unbalanced. As we got closer, tears began to slide down my cheeks. I saw her giving orders to someone within her office. Sometimes I wondered whether technology like Skype was a blessing or a curse. Right now, it felt like a curse, an excuse for convenience. 

  “Susan!” The melodramatic voice sounded with a hint of irritation.  “How long does it take to find a child? I am a busy woman.”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. McQuiod.”

  “Right, aw, Willow.” Her smile was beautiful but did not reach her eyes. “Happy Birthday, Sweetie. Why are you crying?”

  “I miss you, Mom.”

  “I miss you too, Sweetie.” She frowned, “Don’t cry, I have everything planned out perfectly for you, everything that you have ever dreamed about for your thirteenth birthday.”

I nodded, trying to smile. Yes, everything.

  “Where are you? Are you coming?”

Mom sighed. I hoped it was a sigh of sadness, but I wasn’t really sure.

  “Sweetie, you know I love you very much, don’t you?”

I nodded, wiping my eyes.

 “I have done all I can to be with you today. All the flights over these few days were canceled because of bad weather and I cannot use Antony’s private jet.”  Another sigh, “He has been in England for the past week and even he cannot fly here because of the weather.”

I wiped my eyes, nodding my head. “Why is Antony with you?”

  “It’s all business, Sweetie,” she smiled again. “Many of his clients do not speak Spanish or English.”

Yes, I remembered, she had been an interpreter for the UN Embassy at one time; she knew many languages and people loved her. 

  “What is going to happen? When will you come back?”

  “I’m not sure, Sweetie.  It has been very busy, but soon. I really want to see you again. Has your father called yet?”

I shook my head.

The background was a bit blurry, but I saw Antony approach, handing documents to my Mom.

  “Here, Love. The divorce papers have been finalized.” I heard him say. Mom’s expression on her face changed.

  “I am sure your father will call you.” She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, wearing a stiff smile.

Divorce?

“Mom, what did Antony mean?”

“I need to go now, Sweetie. I am always thinking of you, and I know you will love your birthday surprise. Everybody will be there to celebrate with you.”

  “Everybody? What do you mean?”

Her laugh was like a breath of fresh air, “All your friends, of course.”  She looked at me as if I were a delicate flower. “Happy Birthday, Sweetie.  I must go now. I will call you again as soon as I can. I love you.”

  “Bye, Mom. I lo-“

The connection cut off and in an instant, my Mom was gone. 

What just happened? I had this feeling as if I had just fallen down the rabbit hole; I dropped to the floor and sobbed. Susan held me tight trying her best to console me. Nothing could take away this throbbing, this piercing pain in my heart.  

  

***

From the balcony, I watched as the men and women set up decorations, machine apparatus, and various stalls and booths in the garden, around the poolside, and any space they could find.  I could see our gardener’s horror as he pranced around anyone that dared to touch his garden, especially the bush statues. Whenever I stared at Luke cutting away at the bushes and digging at the flowers, he would look away, and I would ask him all sorts of questions. Some days I think he would get irritated with me, but he was shy and always gave me polite answers.

  “I had nothing to do with this,” Murphy said, sitting in one of the chairs on the balcony. “Oh, the gifts from your parents have arrived.”

  “I know.”  Let it burn, is what I really wanted to say. When I left the Entertainment room, a large truck had parked outside and deliverymen began to bring in fancy wrapped boxes of different sizes and directed to load everything to the lounge area just outside my room. 

Placed over the pool from corner to corner were large white aluminum arches wrapped in white cloth, woven with vine plants and flowers, and helium balloons bearing Happy Birthday and the number 13 and other décor and lights.

The last thing I wanted right now was a celebration, and now a carnival was being set up for my birthday party. Did Mom know me at all?

I wondered if Dad knew about this. Was he coming or like Mom, did he not care? 

  “What is your favorite part of a carnival?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Sure, you do.”  Murphy actually sounded sincere. “Wasn’t it the candy floss?”

“I remember Dad taking me to carnivals and Mom never came with us. She did not like carnivals and used to say it was too noisy for her and then she would go shopping or have a massage somewhere. Dad let me go to the photo booth, go on rides, hit bobbing plastic shark heads with a plastic hammer, and other stuff.  

  “I remember all the laughing, Murphy. I threw darts at balloons, but I hit the prizes instead. Dad offered to pay for the damages, but the person just laughed and gave me a teddy bear. I loved the candyfloss, but it was not my favorite thing.”

I heard my name again. Turning around Susan came bounding onto the balcony, her face slightly flushed. 

  “Are you okay, Susan?”

  “I’m fine, it’s just really hot. I need you to come with me.”

  “Are they really setting up a carnival?”

Looking down over the banister, she nodded. “That’s what your Mom said.”

Susan pulled me away from the balcony. “Your Mom sent clothes for you to wear at the party and I know you don’t like her choices.” 

I followed her to my room and there were some gifts. I knew I would be donating almost everything to other kids who would like them and needed things that I did not. I already had so much. There was nothing covered by the fancy paper that I wanted or needed.   

  “Earlier I went to Fashion Beat and found some clothes I know you’ll love.” Susan’s smile always made me feel better, and she had dimples like me.  “Try them on.”

She was right. I loved the outfits. She remembered the time I went out with Mom and Antony and I had to wear a kid’s dress. The only difference is that this tank top shirt was a light blue color, but that did not matter. I loved it, the short black skirt, a thin-strapped shirt, and black platform shoes. 

  “I know your Mom would be very angry that I went to Fashion Beat, but we both know they have the best clothes. Aren’t you going to try on the others?”

  “No, I love this one.” I gave her a tight hug. “Thank you.”

  “Do you want to see what your Mom sent you?”

I looked down at my feet and shook my head. “Whatever she sent I am sure would be – ghastly.” I looked up at Susan and we both laughed. 

I felt so much better knowing I would at least look good when all my friends came to my birthday party. Everyone was still busy at work and I followed Susan towards the kitchen.

  “Why are we going to the kitchen?”  Not that I minded, I loved going to the kitchen and watch Graham prepare and make the food. He always had chocolates hidden away. I found the kitchen fascinating, but I had always been forbidden to go near the kitchen. Being that my parents were not around I had free reign to go wherever I wanted. I could go anywhere without getting into trouble as long as no one told Mom. 

  “You’ll see,” Susan gave me a crooked smile. Whenever she gave me that look I knew she had something planned, something my parents would not approve of. Even at thirteen now, I thought I was still such a child as I giggled. 

The kitchen was quite a distance from the dining hall and I always wondered about the sense of having a dining hall so far from the kitchen, but that was until I found out there was a secret corridor or shortcut between the two areas. It passed the gym and sports area, the bar, and the library. This house was huge for just me. Before I was born, I heard that this house hosted many parties. It was a house of legacy through many McQuoid generations.

***

As we entered the kitchen, a group of people jumped from nowhere and yelled Surprise! 

I looked around the kitchen, taking in the sight of a huge banner hanging from the ceiling with my name and Happy 13^th Birthday. In the middle of the preparation table was a three-tiered crooked Mad Hatter birthday cake. It was just as I imagined the same one in the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland. Tears filled my eyes; this was the best gift ever.

  “Happy Birthday, Willow.” Susan smiled, “This is your special day.”

  “We couldn’t do very much, but we did our best.”  Mrs. Bradford said, “Especially with the limited time we had.”

  “Your Mother did not give me an itinerary for your birthday like she usually does for functions or specific meals,” Graham added, his British accent captivating as always. “She’s most likely arranged outside catering so I decided to do a little something of my own. I know how much you love Alice in Wonderland and I took this opportunity to create your perfect birthday cake.”

My tears fell down my cheeks like a river. I hadn’t felt this happy in a long time.

 “Silly girl, stop crying now,” Susan gave me a big hug.  “Let’s have some cake.”