Home Fries

Chapter 2

Chapter 2Josie had never been more grateful for Rebecca in her entire life.

Okay, well, maybe the first time they’d met one another in the waiting room of Dr. Lambert’s office, and she was in so much pain even sitting hurt, and Rebecca had told her a joke to break up the tension, had been the most grateful she’d ever been. But that had merely been her first impression of Rebecca, a tall yet sometimes haunted dark-haired woman with, like her, something wrong with her body no one but Dr. Lambert seemed to understand. Their friendship in that waiting room had been fast and intense. They skirted around their issues back then and still did now, but their past issues were still something that bonded them. They looked healthy on the surface, young and wild and carefree, but they were also both in a lot of physical pain.

Josie touched her temples. She was in more psychic pain now than physical. She couldn’t believe she’d messed this night up, and this next month up, so profoundly. She was going to need to apologize profusely to Dom, who had been looking forward to this adventure in podcasting since she realized who Rebecca actually was online.

“Spud!” Dom had said in an excited and agitated voice over the phone. “You live across from a famous YouTuber.”

Josie had never heard of Rebecca’s channel, and even when she’d watched a handful of videos that night, she still couldn’t think of Rebecca in that manner—as Spud. She was always Rebecca, the girl who’d made Josie laugh when she wanted to cry.

And now, she was the girl who was saving Josie’s ass when she’d completely screwed up. Yet again. Josie was able to pack at warp speed and strip her bed sheets for new bedding for her parents in under an hour. The remaining time, she darted back and forth to Rebecca’s place so she could leave her collection of DVDs with her and all other items she might need to understand the history of horror before they began recording.

“Recording!” Josie stammered. “s**t. I’m going to have to pack some mics if I’m recording there. I hope this house has Wi-Fi.”

“Everywhere has Wi-Fi,” Rebecca said. “We’re gonna get cancer from the radio waves.”

“Hush. No cancer talk.”

Rebecca lifted her hands in acquiescence and then zipped her lips. Her gestures were wide and comic; she would have been a great Jim Carry or Steve Carell.

Josie was almost in awe until she was diverted back to the panic of the moment. “I don’t know about this house. It’s a very rural area of North Carolina, just along the coast. The outer banks. We went there as kids, but there wasn’t anything close to Wi-Fi back then, so…”

“Just assume it does. Pack for the best case scenario and, if need be, eat the roaming fees.”

“Right. Roaming fees. Shit.” Josie hadn’t upgraded her cell phone plan to cover all the headaches of international travel. She looked at her phone, hoping that maybe she could call in some kind of roaming plan, but saw her parents name come up on her screen. Her mother was texting that they were in the parking lot but needed an exact number. “It’s not even nine yet,” Josie said. “I thought I had more time. Did my father speed?”

“Probably,” Rebecca said. She was quiet for a moment, assessing the situation with a calm Josie did not have, even remotely. “Okay, let’s do this. You get your parents in the lobby and make sure to chat them up about their trip. Meanwhile, I’ll have enough time to grab the recording equipment, and then we can just hang out at my place and figure out the rest.”

Josie nodded. Most of her stuff was in Rebecca’s place anyway, so this worked. She met Rebecca’s gaze. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you, seriously.”

“You’d probably curse more,” Rebecca said. “But you’d survive.”

“We always survive,” Josie added. She pumped her fist in the air and chanted her and Dom’s catch phrase from the podcast. “Because girls are always the final ones.”

Rebecca laughed and gave Josie a high five. “Now go!”

Josie darted down the stairs since she was filled with too much nervous energy for the elevator. She swallowed hard and adjusted her shoulders, taking a deep breath in and out, before she greeted her parents. It wasn’t like Mike and Diane were bad, intense, or crummy parents. They were wonderful, honestly, and so was the rest of her family, all the insane and bigger parts of it. They were just a lot to take in all at once, and even Josie sometimes forgot how intense it all could be.

Her mother Diane stood in the glass vestibule of her apartment. She squinted as she read off the names on the front part, raising her finger to buzz. Her father was wiping down the headlights and windshield of the car, as if they had gone through a mud pit to get there. The farm roads leading to Waterloo—the ones he most likely took to beat traffic—were not that bad, but her father was fussy and liked everything to be ordered perfectly.

“Don’t buzz, Mom,” Josie said, darting to the door. “I got it. We’re just going to head upstairs now.”

“Of course. But don’t you want to give your mother a hug first?”

Diane held out her arms. Her beige blouse had hints of peachy-orange in it. She had a scarf, which also brought but the same shades, and pale champagne-coloured earrings. Her clothing was soft and made the hug feel so wonderful. For a moment, Josie became a little kid again as she embraced her mother.

“Happy early birthday, sweetheart.”

“Happy birthday,” her father said. He held two gigantic shopping bags, filled to the brim with the food products their company made. “I can’t hug you, but I come bearing gifts.”

“So many gifts! We can’t eat all this tonight.”

“Don’t worry, all frozen. We figured your fridge was probably cleared out in preparation to go, so we should have something for the morning. That is, if you don’t want Starbucks?”

“Honey, it’s easier to get Starbucks.”

“Do they have that here, though? Waterloo isn’t Toronto.”

“But it’s not the hills. In spite of the Mennonite village you went through to get here.”

Normally, Josie would have wanted to cut in and ask far more questions, but she let her parents go back and forth. They talked excessively about the ride up here, the state of the stores before they left, and the new products their company had unveiled.

“We have a new series of home fries and French fries. I think they’re great.”

“I think they’re frozen food,” her mother said. “And it’s always mediocre.”

“But the customers seemed to like them,” her father insisted. “And we serve the customers.”

“Great, great.” Josie grabbed one of the bags from her father but felt a sharp pain in her elbow.

“Honey.” Her mother stopped. They were barely at the elevator.

Josie was sure Rebecca had found the recording equipment and all was moved, but they were still dallying as long as they could. Her mother touched her elbow, the one that had just smarted.

“Are you doing okay?”

“Yes. Just stress, I guess. I must have missed all the emails about this. I thought it was after Halloween.”

“Are you not reading emails? Does the screen hurt your eyes?”

Josie baulked. “No. I’m twenty-two, not forty-eight.”

“Hey now,” her father said, nudging her other shoulder. He grabbed the bag from her and pressed the elevator buttons himself.

Their conversation faded, and Josie was relieved to not have to talk about her lack of reading emails. She was sure she’d gotten only a handful, as if some were going in spam, or something else had happened. Maybe you just didn’t want to go this year. Maybe you just—

“I think I might have forgotten to CC you,” her mother said as they were in the elevator. “Now that I think of it. We did have this planned for after, for Cormac’s birthday, but with the way things are headed with him…”

“He’s fine,” her father said. “But Amanda has news as well, and she’ll be in DC this weekend, so everything just sort of fell into place.”

“And off my emails?” Josie’s stomach stirred. She knew she shouldn’t have been this upset by it, but now that the fault was no longer on her, she felt her exclusion like a wound.

Was it just because she was the youngest in the family, save for the grandkids? Was it because she lived here, while everyone else still circled around Toronto? Or was it because she, unlike her siblings, was gay and still hadn’t found The One yet. Josie knew her parents were okay with her being gay. Truly. But because she’d never once had a steady girlfriend, they often didn’t invite her to couple-centered events. She was still a kid to them, something her illness made that much worse.

“Who is this?” her mother asked, knocking Josie from her self-pitying thoughts.

Rebecca stood in front of her apartment door, a smile on her round, heart-shaped face. She stepped forward as Josie and her parents moved toward her, extending her hand as she did. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. West. I’m Rebecca, Josie’s neighbour.”

“Rebecca!” her mother said happily. She placed another hand over Rebecca’s as they shook in a familiar and friendly gesture. “I remember you. Josie has spoken highly of you.”

“She has?” Rebecca said, her tone playful as she shot a look to Josie. “Because the pleasure has been all mine.” Rebecca seamlessly shook Mike’s hand and then offered to carry the groceries without missing a beat. “Are these the President’s Brand home fries?”

“Indeed,” her father said. He looked to his wife with a told you so expression. “Do you like them?”

“I love them! Some of my favourite kinds of fries.”

“See?” Mike said, though it was completely unnecessary. “Told you it was a good choice. Consider them all for you, Rebecca. Are you joining us?”

“Not tonight,” Rebecca said. “Josie here was going to stay at my place, while you two could have her apartment. Sort of more like a hotel that way.”

“Romantic, nice,” Diane said. “Do come in for a bit, yeah? We would love to hear all about you.”

Rebecca’s mile faltered but only enough for Josie to notice.

“Let us put this away,” Josie said, referring to the groceries. “And then we can stop by for a bit. I need some clarification on the plans anyway.”

Murmurs of ascension flowed through the four of them. Rebecca took the bags and opened her apartment door with her free hand, while Josie opened her door for her parents. She was about to slip them a key when her mother tugged on her T-shirt.

“You should have told us you had a girlfriend.”

“What? No—”

“It’s okay, Josie. I understand wanting to keep new romance under wraps. I didn’t even tell your Aunt Helen for six months that I was dating Mike.”

“Didn’t you get married after six months of dating?”

“That was dating everyone then knew about. So it was really like a year.” Diane beamed. “How long have you been with Rebecca? No, wait, don’t tell me. I get it. But is it long enough to bring her to meet the rest of us?”

“I…uh. Isn’t this a family thing? Just for the Wests and such…”

“Brian and Jamal are coming, and they’re your sister’s husbands. Even though, technically, they are now part of their families, too, they still belong in North Carolina with us. So invite Rebecca. What do you say, Mike?”

“I like her,” her dad shouted from her kitchen. “And this apartment! Josie! I love these posters.”

Josie realized her father was gawking at her classic horror cinema collection in her bedroom. Oh, they were going to be sleeping while staring at an image of a cenobite from Hellraiser, weren’t they? This…this was so not how she imagined her night going. When she heard her apartment door shut, she realized she was running out of time.

“Gimme two seconds. Then I can make tea or something.”

“I got it,” her mother said. “Your kitchen is so beautiful!”

Josie left her place and met Rebecca in the hallway. Her cheeks were red, her joy evident.

“Oh, I love those fries! I should have held out for dinner. Mel’s was good, but their fries are nothing compared to the President’s Brand, man. Why did your dad bring so many? Was he, like, anticipating this?”

“My family runs the company.”

“Oh, so they like have a store?”

Josie tilted her head. When Rebecca ceased to respond, she realized the two of them had never spoken about this in explicit terms. Josie had always figured her last name was obvious. Her life story was imbedded in such a simple surname, not to mention the fact that she often had this brand of food at her place. Hadn’t Rebecca put it together? She was Josie West, daughter of the manufacturing giant Diane West, whose father was Cormac West, Jr., the son of the first president, Cormac West, Sr. The man had opened one grocery store in downtown Toronto in the early 1900s and now owned half the grocery stores in the country. He was a big damn deal.

Rebecca’s face revealed nothing of this. She waited for Josie to explain. Josie remembered her mother’s request.

And then realized she had to do something, say something, soon.

“My mom invited you.”

“For just a coffee or something, right? Because I do want to watch at least one movie tonight. The scariest one, too, since I don’t think I can handle some of them alone.”

“No, she invited you on the trip. To North Carolina.”

“Whoa. What? Why?”

“She liked you? I don’t know. I think she’s just, you know, very appreciative for all you’ve done.”

Rebecca chuckled but didn’t question the sincerity. “Wait until you see how I packed your recording equipment, then maybe you can retract that thank you.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, and if not, we’ll just get something there.” Josie bit her lip. We. She was already thinking of this trip as one the two of them would take together. “Look, she invited you. I’d love it if you would come. It would make handling my family a lot easier. Someone to commiserate with.”

“They seem nice. And really, vacation house on the beach? What could go wrong?”

“Not wrong, but…I just like having someone there I can talk to about movies. Podcasts.” Josie bit her lip. She wanted to add and pain but didn’t. She instead focused on how her mother had left her out of the email exchange because she was the youngest kid, and all without kids. “It’s going to be family city there. So many babies, so many couples…I’d like to have a friend.”

Rebecca considered this for a long time. “It’s expensive, though, right? I mean they already have the house rented, and you guys are going there, so it won’t be that big of a deal for gas, but food and other expenses.”

“Please,” Josie said. “Expenses are the last thing you need to worry about.”

“Why? Was this sponsored by Ed McMann?”

“First of all, super old reference,” Josie said. “Way to make me feel ten times younger.”

“And me geriatric. Ew.”

“But seriously…. expense is not an issue. House and whatnot is already paid for, same with hotels on the way there if I know my family. And I do know my family. We’re the Wests.”

“Yeah.”

“We’re the Wests,” Josie said. She didn’t want to spell it out—because, deep down, she still feared she was the “rich b***h” Dom sometimes called her on the air—but she needed to make this point clear. When Rebecca still showed no trace of recognition, Josie went to Rebecca’s freezer. Next to several ice packs were the frozen fries. She grabbed one and held it out so the logo and the brief story about the brand was visible.

Back in 1918, shortly after the First World War, Cormac West…

“Wait,” Rebecca said. “Cormac West? Is he your…?”

“This is my great grandfather. Cormac West, Jr. was my mother’s father. He is the grandfather with the birthday on November 11.”

“No f*****g way,” Rebecca said.

In the silence that followed, Josie prepared for the insults. For the scandals and the critiques of her family’s company, especially since, a few years back, there had been a bad lawsuit. She waited for the crook arguments, for the capitalist pig nonsense she sometimes got in the comments of her podcast. She waited, and yet, Rebecca’s face revealed zero animosity. Only utter elation.

“You own the best fries in the world!”

“I don’t think—”

“I love this. Oh, my God. Then, yes, yes, I would love to come.”

“Wait, you would?”

“I mean, if I’m invited. If that’s okay. And…” Rebecca smiled again, bearing her beautiful white teeth. “If I get to eat some of these fries tonight, then I’m definitely in.”

Josie laughed. Butterflies mixed with her relief, and she didn’t even feel remotely bad that, not once, had she corrected her mother about the girlfriend status. For now, it was a distant problem, and one which the solution, right now, was always fries.

After a brief check-in with her parents, where they mostly talked about their trip to Waterloo, Josie feigned exhaustion. They said goodnight, and Rebecca thanked them profusely for the invite.

“Be sure to pack a swimsuit,” Diane said. “The waves this time of year are incredible.”

“I don’t have a swimsuit,” Rebecca said once they were back at her place. “But there’s got to be a handful of places to get some, right?”

“Totally. And knowing my parents, they’re going to want to leave at the crack of dawn.”

Josie glanced at the clock in Rebecca’s place. It was eerie to see the same fridge, same stove, and same kitchen island—but an apartment that was so empty compared to her own. There was a desk that was set up to be the entertainment area, with a wide-screen computer and a tower that would play DVDs. Rebecca’s true work station was in her bedroom, where her laptop and numerous books about brain injuries were also kept. Josie had only ever been in Rebecca’s place once since moving in, and everything but a tacked-up poster of Rebecca and her parents, hung in a plastic page protector, was virtually the same.

“You should get a frame,” Josie said.

“Hmmm?” Rebecca looked up from her position at her oven. She was preheating it for fries, though it was almost midnight. When she cast a glance at what Josie referred to, she shrugged. “I like the photo as it is. Do you want some fries?”

“It’s nearly midnight.”

“That’s not a yes or a no.”

“Fine,” Josie said. “Sure. What ones are you making?”

“These smile ones. I think they’re ridiculous.”

Rebecca held up a bag of fries that had been shaped into happy faces. Josie was sure those were only for kids, but no amount of telling Rebecca this would change her mind. Or even reminding her that they would most likely need to get up at six tomorrow morning.

“So what? Whatever we don’t eat now, we eat for breakfast,” Rebecca countered. She gestured to her makeshift TV. “And if you’re so worried about being late, then put on the movie.”

“Still the scariest?”

“Obviously. Though I suppose we will have more than enough time to get through them all at the house, yeah?”

Josie considered this. All the problems that she now saw with going to North Carolina disappeared. If Rebecca was with her, they could watch movies to their heart’s content and then, when it was all done, record the podcast there. She remembered the sound of the waves from the last time she went to the Outer Banks and realized it would be the perfect backdrop. Sure, they’d have to Skype in Dom remotely to complete the podcast, but this was great.

“You sure you won’t be missing anything?” Josie asked as they settled in front of the TV with an enormous plate of smiley fries. Josie was still full, but the scent of this food made her feel at home. “You’re not late with the book, and you don’t need to call anyone—”

“Nope,” Rebecca said. Her gaze remained fixated on the screen. “The book was the only thing keeping me busy. And now the book is done, mostly. So…I’m all yours.” She met Josie’s stare with a smile, then placed one of the smile fries over her mouth. She giggled.

So did Josie, but her stomach did that same flip. Guilt? Desire? She was never fully sure, especially not when her parents and her pain made her confused.

“Now shush,” Rebecca said. “This is a very scary film.”

Josie shushed. She sunk deep into the couch, and when the hazy feeling of sleep overtook her, she did not fight her head against Rebecca’s arm.

There was nothing to worry about anymore.