Chapter 22

No one spoke until Trent said, “Speaking of Mavis, have you seen her afro, Vivvie? She’s dyed parts of it pink. Told me and Paul it was the color of her aura.”

Kayla said, “She told me she thought my aura was orange and suggested I start wearing the color.”

Eva said, “Don’t. You’ll look like a pumpkin. Round and plain.”

I gasped at her cruelty. Kayla ran into the house, tears streaming down her face. The guys turned on Eva. Trent’s face was twisted in fury. Paul said, “I can guess the color of your aura, Eva. It’s red. Isn’t red the color whores wear?”

One of the servants interrupted us. “Sorry to interrupt, Master Bow-Ridge but the party’s breaking up and your friends’ parents are asking for them.

“Thanks, Melvin,” said Javelin. He waited until Melvin was a few feet away, then said, “Eva, you’re never invited back to this house again. Regardless of whose guest you are. I’ll make sure you’re turned away and I don’t care if it embarrasses them. Do you guys hear me?” He looked at Dirk, Paul and Trent. Freddy had left behind Kayla. “None of you can ever bring this bitch to my house again. Ever. Now leave or I‘ll have Melvin and a few of the other male servants to toss you down the freaking path.”

Eva didn’t say a word. She took Dirk’s arm and pulled him into the woods. I could hear her berating him for not defending her honor. Sadly I said, “What happened to her? She used to be our friend.”

Paul said, “I don’t know, Vivian. She’s out for revenge on us for some reason. Trent’s put up with her longer than I would have.”

Trent shook his head, “I feel sorry for her. She’s the daughter of a maid and thinks she’ll end up one. Eva’s just trying to find her place in this world.”

“She could go about it in a nicer way.” I said. With that, we went inside to find our parents. Javelin went with me to say good night to his Grandfather, who whispered in my ear, “You come back soon.” I kissed his forehead.

Javelin also escorted Mother and I to our car. Father followed behind, laughing at Javelin’s compliments to us women. He said, “Young man, you should write a book for us bumbling men and title it “1001 Ways to Charm a Lady.”

In my ear, Javelin whispered, “I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon.” We kissed and as I was about to climb into the car, he said, “Blueberry Girl!” I turned and he mouthed, “I love you.” I blew him a kiss and mouthed it back.

On the drive home, I hummed. Mother said, “Now that’s a dinner party.” She was happy and I was glowing. It was the perfect way to end a dinner party.

The morning after the party, Mother and I worked on making more jam and preserves. We passed the time gossiping about fashion and trying to figure out some of the recipes. She told me how charming Sheriff Florence and Javelin’s father were and how they fought over who would fetch her drinks. She told me she felt like a princess for the first time in her life and found she liked it. I felt a bit sorry for father. He was more of a frog than a prince and Mother would have to learn to accept it.

As I worked I thought about Eva and how hateful she acted at the party. She and I had never been as close as Mavis and I were. But I considered her a close friend. Her attitude changed towards me after she saw the painting I did of Javelin. On the social status scale, my family wasn’t much higher than the family of a maid. My mother might be a social climber, but I wasn’t. It didn’t bother me if Trent didn’t invite me to parties that his family were obliged to attend. I wasn’t worried about my place in the world. Somehow I would figure it out as I went through life. I had to agree with Trent, that Eva was just trying to fix her spot in town and she wouldn’t let it be as a maid.

A thought occurred to me, Eva enjoyed painting but couldn’t afford private lessons. I could offer to help her or tutor her this coming school year. Maybe with some lessons, she would improve enough to get an art grant or scholarship. I thought I would run my idea by Mr. Watts and get his input before approaching Eva. I wanted her to be happy, so that all of us could be as carefree as we were before all this happened.

I didn’t take a lunch break, figuring that Javelin would call and we could slip away to the soda shop or the pizza pallor for a late lunch. After I finished my last batch of preserves, I ran upstairs and changed clothes. The phone rang and I yelled that I would get it. Using my sexy voice, I said, “Hello.”

“Vivian, I’ve got some bad news.” It was Mavis. Her voice was full of grief. “It’s Eva. She’s been murdered at the lake and Javelin was attacked, too. He’s at the hospital. It doesn’t look good.”

“How do you know? When did this happen?” I couldn’t believe her. This had to be a bad joke.

“Jerome and I went to the lake to have a picnic. Deputies were all over the place and wouldn’t let us get close. I saw Tiki Smith and he told us that Eva was dead, that it looked like a murder. And that Javelin was hurt. The ambulance was leaving as we left. They’ve rushed him to the hospital.’

“I’ve got to go, Mavis.” I hung up the phone and ran into the kitchen where Mother and Father were talking. “There’s been an accident. Javelin’s hurt. I need to get to the hospital. I’ll call.” I grabbed the keys to the beat-around car that Father let me drove on occasion. I didn’t wait to hear what they said. My mind was on Javelin. I couldn’t think about Eva. It was too horrific to imagine her dead, especially murdered!