A Rock and Family Vacation

[18]

“Is it riding up my ass crack?” Lacy fussed with the new swimsuit that Blair bought her, lifting up the gray robe she was wearing over it.

Whatever concerns Blair may have momentarily had about her younger sister acting unnaturally cute or sweet sublimated away with Lacy sticking out her butt. There wasn’t enough of an opening in the back to get even close to being a concern. Blair flatly assured her it looked fine, noting, “Aren’t you gonna wear the robe outside the whole time?”

Lacy tugged at the bottom of the leg section but made no progress in stretching them to her knee. ”Well, not in the water. And I may just hold onto it rather than wear it. I don’t know…”

If Blair wanted to pester her, she could’ve easily pointed out how girly Lacy looked posing and turning in front of the mirror. But she was still rather shocked that her sister was even wearing a woman’s swimsuit without screaming, shaking protest. Lacy probed the little bun their mother put her hair in. “That dumb freaking rock is forcing me to have long hair! I just wanted to cut it! Why won’t it let me do it? Now I got this total pain in the butt thing I gotta keep it in. Do I have to keep it dry?"

To that, Blair shrugged and casually eyed the closet door in which she had placed the rock that started all of this. No visible reaction bled through. Perhaps her notion that the rock was somehow alive or could move was a bit too much.

Lacy still focused on her reflection as she fussed with the small details. “I’ll just have to keep my head out of the water. Never thought the first girl I’d see up close in a swimsuit would be me. Should’ve been my dream date, Krystal.” Blair sighed. She knew plenty about ‘Krystal’.

It started about two years ago. Lacy was still reeling from abusive former friendships and barely wanted to have anything to do with other people. Additionally, his dry, eczema skin got incredibly bad, to the point that if he wasn’t flinching from the fear of hugs turned into pain then he was whimpering because some stray patch of skin got caught on his clothes. The skin often split, tore, or had wool embedded. It made sports impossible, handwriting in classes an ordeal as the teachers blamed him for the little marks of blood left on his sheets, and getting close to anyone even worse.

Blair had no idea how it started, but everyone started calling him “badger boy” under their breath or whenever he tried to volunteer in class. Rough, irascible, and antisocial was how everyone saw him. Poke the funny creature and have a laugh. That was the low point. Then, along came Kristen.

She had hair as dark and striking as Lacy’s was bright and shimmering. And she didn’t give a flying crap what people thought of Lacy or how isolated he became in classes. She boldly included him in every conversation and really stoked the idea of modeling. Blair understood why Lacy hated modeling far more than some moments where he was mistaken for a girl. Those were just easy excuses. He was terrified of the exposure and scrutiny. The camera seeing and capturing all the shaky, wounded places. But Kristen didn’t care, she exuberantly pushed and embraced Lacy. Then, she was gone.

It wasn’t quite as sudden or dramatic as what happened with Riley for Blair, but he could feel the difference in Lacy when a shuffle of classes and a new grade brought Kristen‘s mercurial streaks into focus. It wasn’t intentional, she just kind of forgot about Lacy. Lacy told him that Kristen was okay but the real girl for him was this dream date notion, Krystal. She was the real deal.

Krystal, her appearance fluid depending on whatever popstar, teen actress, video game character, skateboarding princess, or neighbor caught Lacy’s eye, had all the open qualities of Kristen but with a confident certainty and consistency that meant she would keep things stable and never hurt him. An acknowledged dream girl Lacy knew she would never actually meet.

Blair lifted up her phone again. Lacy eyeballed it skeptically. She stuck out her tongue and fanned her hands around her neck to give the impression of swamp monster gills. Letting the camera dip in her hands, Blair waited out her sibling. All the childish, goofy poses cycled through until Lacy started to settle again. The wildness quieted and a placid smirk slipped over her features. She delicately adjusted the hem of the robe. With one leg raised and bent slightly, Lacy looked up as her sibling tapped the screen.

Lacy’s heart fluttered at the image captured on Blair’s screen. That couldn’t be her. That was a girl! Not just from the obvious aspects, but in so many minute details of her demeanor.

“Delete that… Please.” Lacy looked at her pensively. This wasn’t a sibling huffing and puffing and joking around about a bad picture. Blair could tell Lacy saw her delicate places captured in that image. Without complaint, the photo went away. Unfortunately, that also revealed the previous one taken. Blair dashed a finger to the right to expose her changing room antics. Lacy snickered, scoffed, and pronounced her sibling’s narcissism at two-and-a-half dozen shots.

For the beach, Blair used one of the travel totes they placed in the closet. While she packed the bag with sunscreen and several extra-large towels, Lacy took on the task of clearing away the empty Taki and snack bags scattered around their room. This, more than anything, raised alarm bells for Blair that her sister may have been somehow brainwashed. Glancing at the closeted, mysterious rock gave her no apparent visual signs that it was doing anything nefarious.

Grabbing the large umbrella last, they were about ready when they faced a new conundrum: To get out of the house, the only exits were downstairs. The front door, the sliding doors behind the kitchen, and Blair had actually discovered a mostly hidden door adjoining a small mudroom next to the side wine cellar and Jacuzzi.

The plan hadn’t been to sneak out but Lacy definitely gave off the vibe that she wasn’t interested in letting anyone else know that they were going to the beach but, moreover, that they were wearing swimsuits. This preparation and precaution were completely ruined when Lacy noticed and cried out that Clare’s eyeball was peeking through their door, which was no longer successfully closed and blocked.

She managed to catch their little sister before she could escape, griping her by her star field dress.

“NO! Don’t rip it!”

“Chill out, dork! Stop yelling. Not gonna hurt you or your stupid clothes.”

It was a tense standoff between the two of them, with Clare looking like she was ready to vault the steps and Lacy unwilling to release the fabric. Blair ultimately had to step in and hold Clare before she ran off. She attempted to hoist her little sister up onto her shoulders like she’d done several times before, but her muscles fluttered and gave up with just a little lifting hop.

Instead, she pulled Clare against her protectively. Clare’s initial reaction was to bend and flex away, rather like Lacy when encountering a hug. She stopped though and eased into Blair with curiousness followed by an exuberant embrace that knocked the wind out of her. Her face right near her chest, Clare softly explained, “You feel just like mom.”

Blair was willing to bet some of that came from wearing her clothes. It had been years since Clare got this close to Blair. He used to give him big hugs when he felt out of sorts from one of his nightmares. Young Lacy would scream, “BEAR!” and scramble wildly like a cub crossed with an octopus. Eventually, he got too cool for all that. Blair inwardly flinched but physically reached out a hand to brush Clare’s hair. She cried hot tears as Blair focused on using her legs to successfully lift her up.

Back in the room, Clare sat on the edge of the big bed as Lacy stood over by the doorway and professed, “Come on. I wasn’t going to do anything. We just wanna quietly go to the beach without everyone making a fuss about it.”

“…You promise?” Clare blubbered. “You’re not gonna punch me or rip my dress?”

Lacy rolled her eyes with her arms folded quite a ways from her chest. “I’m not gonna do either of those. I just wanna go see the waves and the beach.”

“Can I come too? I got a swimsuit.” Lacy pressed a hand to her face in consternation. “Why don’t we just go tell everyone then? Why bother sneaking out?”

Blair shrugged and gestured towards the door. So, they just told their parents.

Eliot was watching a Netflix series that Blair recognized as a deep dive into a variety of popular fantasy and science fiction book series and how they were envisioned and developed. He expressed open-mouthed surprise that Lacy was wearing a swimsuit. It wasn’t immediately visually obvious, but Clare blurted it out and Lacy fussed in place. After giving her little sister a bump on the shoulder, Lacy muttered through her teeth, “I would really hate to break a promise…” Clare grimaced and put her hand to her mouth.

It wasn’t long before Brooke emerged from the side cellar with a bottle clutched in her hands by the neck. She explained, “One of the wine bottles was left out for us with a note of…thanks and greeting. Nice vintage. I’ll let it chill in the fridge.” Brooke held a yellow-tinted, folded-over piece of paper in her hands. She casually tucked it into a pocket and walked the wine bottle over to the fridge.

Brooke initially frowned at the idea of the kids alone on the beach. She immediately recalled those two, suspicious men in green uniforms similar to people who worked security for her father roaming around. But it was a hot, embarrassing coal of fear that she swiftly extinguished. She looked Blair in the eye though and firmly advised her that her sisters were her responsibility, and that out there she had the same authority as their parents. They weren’t to go beyond sight of the house on either side and if anyone approached them, they were to return through the nearest door immediately.

Lacy pouted with narrowed eyes but shrugged and agreed. Clare happily nodded and rushed to put on her new swim clothes. Since Blair’s phone needed recharging from recent events, Lacy‘s phone came with them for emergencies.

They decided to exit through the lower cellar because it was the only part of the house they hadn’t explored yet. Brooke wasn’t concerned about them being in there, but she did reflexively warn them not to touch anything or mess with the glass bottles. The room was surprisingly spacious for being tucked away around behind the laundry and bathroom on that side of the house.

Curvy, quaint candelabras connected to fake stone walls. The soft, golden light cast lent the space a mysterious, storied air that reminded Clare of the pirate ride at Disneyland. It was the only one that their mom actually liked to ride. Dark wine bottles lay in silvery holders. A large fridge with a glass front looked more like something Blair expected to see in a medical lab. Her brain turned with scintillating notions.

This place felt like a puzzle in need of scrutiny more than any other room in the house. She decided this sort of place had to contain a secret sex dungeon locked with a special key code. But there were no vivid clues for her mind to latch onto.

Everything appeared strikingly normal. Nothing out of place. There was a yellow writing pad and a ballpoint pen shoved to one corner. She could imagine rubbing a pencil across the top sheet to decode the last few messages but couldn’t come up with sufficient cause to attempt it. The place was a little weird, but not weird enough to go that far.

The Jacuzzi had marble and wood all over and a slight ramp to get in without having to go down steps. It looked like exactly the sort of thing mom needed for her tweaked back.

Outside, it didn’t take long for them to set up the blankets and umbrella. Laid out with rocks (hopefully, normal boring ones) to weigh them down, they had a king-sized spread and enough space for each of them to stretch out.

Clare started to work with her sand bucket as Lacy lamented that they didn’t have anything like a kite, especially with the wind picking up from an idle breeze to a brisk flow. Over by the waves, a crab dashed in front of them, pausing only for a second to shift its claws, as though waving politely, before hurrying along. Lacy fiddled with the placement of the umbrella to spread the most shade but fished some sunscreen out of the tote.

They had sunglasses and hats in the bag but not any bottles of water. Hopping up, Blair advised her sisters that if they saw anything weird to immediately ring the house with Lacy‘s phone. She was just going to go inside for one thing. At least one thing.

Clare paused and frowned but Lacy fanned her hand and announced, “Seeya in literal seconds.”

Blair had a few things in mind as she returned through the side cellar door. First of all, she checked that it didn’t lock them out and was easy to open in an emergency. The frame was a tight fit for the door, but she had noticed that when first closing it. Likely because of the warmth of the summer and the sea moisture.

In the cellar, she locked her eyes on the writing pad and made her way back around. Her parents were talking in the living room on the couch, so she snuck slowly around and up the stairs to the bedrooms. In a way, the idea that Lacy planted in her head to sneak out together desired satisfaction. If her parents caught her in the wrong place, it was an easy thing to say that she was looking for her water bottle while grabbing water for her sisters. Her destination was the master bedroom and her father’s writing satchel. It took just a few seconds of digging, but she quickly came up with one of his Ticonderoga pencils for jotting down notes and ideas.

From there, she just positioned herself logically and put on a bit of panting to show she was hurrying. Wiping her nose and mouth with a long sigh, she accepted her regular water bottle filled by dad and three bottles in a plastic bag to carry back.

Before she could head off, her mom held her and set her hands on her shoulders before asking, “Are you okay? Managing despite how crazy this all is?”

Blair chuckled to herself in her usual way. “I’m doing what I can. I’m alright. I’d rather things weren’t like this, but I’m doing what I can to take care of my brothers and myself. And I know you both are here if there’s ever anything I need to talk about. But I don’t think I’m ready to talk yet. I’m still figuring stuff out. Okay?”

Her mother pressed about Lacy and what Blair had gathered. She reassured her that it was just the usual craziness plus an additional dose of craziness, like doubling up on puberty. And she figured that was hitting her especially hard because of all the stuff she’d gone through.

Brooke stepped back and nodded. It was everything she surmised, even if she couldn’t understand all of it. But she wanted Blair to pass along to Lacy that her parents were looking out for her, mom was sorry that she made her uncomfortable earlier, and that she could talk to them anytime about anything that bothered her. Blair smiled and assured her she would pass all that along.

Back in the side cellar, Blair retrieved the pencil she tucked under her clothes, in a particular spot, for complete concealment. Although she realized that she definitely could’ve come up with a reason for having a pencil with her, like playing some kind of drawing game with Clare. Oh well.

She scrutinize the paper pad and saw that there were indeed some indentations on the surface. Gently brushing the side of the pencil lead against it, Blair managed to resurrect the entire document written on the paper just above.

It read, “Greetings to the Muller family! It is my honor to be your host. I have known Vincent Muller for decades and it’s a privilege to provide a place for his grandkids and his beautiful daughter and her spouse. I’ll forgo my life story and just say you’re welcome to all the food on the premises and all the amenities. Please enjoy my weird windows. I love showing them off at parties! I hope the grandkids can feel at home! Feel free to explore the entire grounds. You can find so many unusual rocks and stones washed up by the tides. Vincent tells me that the youngest loves examining and collecting rocks and I encourage him to pick up and keep whatever he finds. Maybe he’ll come across something truly special. Cordially Yours, Your Airbnb Host and Friend.”

Some of the sections were a little challenging for Blair to deduce, especially with the low light, but she was confident in her reading. Brooke had that exact message in her pocket. She noticed the same curious focus of the message but did her best to ignore any strange and absurd notions percolating through her thoughts. Blair smirked and ripped the message from the pad before whispering to herself, “Curiouser and curiouser…”

[I have a question at the end of the chapter again to help with suggestions for where the story should go. I'm a couple chapters ahead but I love seeding ideas from people as much as possible. Feel free to add an idea which doesn't show up in the options. Thank you for reading!]

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