Karolina Waclawiak: The Invaders

I saw my mother’s power over men when I was a child. When they’d first come around, they were insatiable. The gifts were always best, the perfumes and lotions and fancy clothes. My sisters and I would ransack the bounty when she went out. Later, I’d channel her when I felt the need for attention. The sweet lilt in her voice transferred into mine like magic; a quick flick of my index finger along a man’s broad shoulder while whispering my want always worked. These were just dates, though. Nothing permanent. I wanted to keep moving, until I found Jeffrey. Already soured by the lengths she would go to as her attractiveness waned and she aged, my mother changed her focus: it became less about the gifts men gave her and more about the necessities of living they provided for with their cash. When I met Jeffrey at thirty-four, he had made me feel that those impermanent early-on-in-the-relationship feelings could indeed be permanent, the gooseflesh rising with the simplest touch forever. I forgot that those thrilling feelings were still possible.

I smiled at Jeffrey. I poured myself some gin, threw in a few cubes, and didn’t even bother to top it off with tonic. Jeffrey raised his eyebrow. I went over and rubbed his shoulder and he jumped away from me as soon as Teddy barreled down the stairs. Teddy didn’t even look at us as he went to the fridge, pulled out a beer, and took a swig.

“Already starting, huh?” Jeffrey said.

“You want to do this now? I figured we’d wait until after dinner,” Teddy said.

Jeffrey stared at him as I kept sipping my gin, hoping I would never reach the bottom. Jeffrey made one for himself out of anger or maybe defeat. Teddy had messy hair but was still handsome, golden-haired and fresh-faced. And I could understand that girls probably cried over him for hours, because he did not give a shit about anyone at all. I saw the older women at the club looking at him, and not as though they admired him for their daughters. They wanted him all to themselves, even at their age. Did they really think we still existed to boys his age?

“I found pants, Cheryl,” Teddy said.

“Good, I’m glad.”

“He was walking around without pants?” Jeffrey asked.

“No, jeans. Don’t worry about it.”

Jeffrey eyed us both as if we were the same. A problem for him. “Maybe you want to brush your hair,” he said to Teddy.

I was sure that Jeffrey would take him to his barber and cut off the length, make him nip it to right above the ears so he could go to corporate meet-and-greets. This was just a phase, a last sigh of careless independence before it was time to be a man and follow his father. Maybe. I just hoped he would let us live in peace while the last bit of wildness seeped out of him.

Jeffrey finished off his drink and I knew that he’d be switching to scotch at dinner. It was going to be just like that all night.

Teddy pulled a rubber band from his pocket and tied his hair back. Jeffrey watched him do it and then studied him. He was taller than Jeffrey and he looked dirty and mean to me. Like the kind of men I once liked but now steered clear of.

“You look like a woman,” Jeffrey said.

“What do you know?” Teddy asked.

Teddy turned to me and looked me up and down, making me instantly uncomfortable.

“What?”

“Did you buy that at the fashion show?” Teddy asked.

“No, I didn’t. Why, is it bad?” I asked, looking down at myself.

He shook his head and said, “You’re looking more and more like the rest of them. All you’re missing is that leathery tan and a fluorescent onesie like old Elaine.”

“I think I’ll change.”

“Don’t change. Come on, I’m kidding,” Teddy said, laughing.

“I’m not like them,” I said. Why was I even arguing with him?

“Jesus Christ,” Jeffrey said, already halfway out the door.

I drank the rest of my gin in a rush and followed Teddy out.

• • •

“I hope you aren’t doing this on my account,” Teddy said at the table. “I’ve been sick since I got here. Can’t eat.”

Jeffrey lowered his menu and took a large sip of scotch. I could hear Teddy’s leg bouncing under the table. It was making me nervous and I wanted to put my hand on his knee to make him stop.

“Isn’t that the friend you used to play golf with sitting over there?” I asked.

Teddy turned to look, then turned back quickly and said, “Nah, I wasn’t his type.” Jeffrey nearly spit out his scotch and I stared down at the menu with newfound fascination, trying not to laugh. There had always been rumors.

“Will you grow up?” Jeffrey said, pissed. He looked at both of us in disgust, as if he was thinking This can’t be who I ended up with.

“Cheryl!”

I looked up and Bunny Fogherty was standing above me, wearing the all-pastel-pink number she had modeled earlier. Teddy was right: I had completely fallen for this. Her short cotton pants had bows at the pockets. I covered myself with my arms and wanted to hide.

“Bunny! I thought I saw you over there,” I said. “You were marvelous today.”

“Oh, stop. I’m too old to be a real model,” she said, smiling and loving it. “The whole family’s here. How nice!”

“Impromptu,” I said.

Bunny was eyeing us all. Teddy was staring at the menu and the floor under the table nearly shook from his anxious leg bounce.

“Are you okay?” I whispered to him.

He stopped his anxious tics and focused his attention on Bunny. She pounced on him, rubbing his shoulders vigorously.

“We were wondering when we were going to see you again!” she said.

“Who’s ‘we’?” Teddy asked.

“All of us,” Bunny said, waving her arm to reveal the crowded room of diners. “We all missed you,” she continued.

“I missed you, too,” Teddy said, amused.

Bunny pointed out the window at the boats bobbing in the harbor and said, “What’s not to miss?” She laughed and laughed. “What do you think you’ll do now? Are you out of school?” Bunny asked.

“Yeah, I’m out. The sky’s the limit, really. I can do it all,” Teddy said, smiling.

He had turned on the charm and it was working. Bunny clapped her hands together.

“A boy like this can do anything! That confidence is an asset!” she said. She held her hands together and stared at Teddy, who was still smiling at her with all his might.

“We are just so happy to have you back. We need a little young blood around here.” She nudged me and I agreed.

“We do need some young blood to give those guys on the golf course a run for their money!” I said.

“I hate golf,” Teddy said. Jeffrey wiped his brow and looked away from our table.

“You love the water,” I said.

“I do, that’s true,” he said, staring off into space. “I do love that water. I do love to sail.”

“We got it,” Jeffrey said.

“Did Cheryl tell you about her near-death experience today with Lori and…” She trailed off and leaned in close.

She whispered, “A Mexican.”

“How do you know he was Mexican?” Teddy asked.

She waved him off, adults-talking style. Jeffrey said Lori had mentioned it and I wondered what embellishments she had added.

“We’re fine,” I said.

“Just barely, I heard,” Bunny said.

“This has been a long-term problem and I’m surprised it’s just coming to a head now,” Jeffrey said. “There are families setting up picnics on the rocks like they live here.”

“Right. What gives them the right to enjoy it? Do they pay taxes here? No, they don’t. I do,” Bunny said aggressively.

“They just want to see a bit of beach. It’s all private up and down the coast except for one place,” I said.

“They can go there then and pay the entrance fee. Nothing’s for free,” Bunny said. She narrowed her eyes at me and said, “Don’t you care about safety?”