In Brist's Time - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

            “Brist, dear, your father and I are going – Oh! I didn’t realize you had company!” Brist’s mother exclaimed upon finding guests in her daughter’s room three days later. It was the day before Brist’s birthday, and Ellen hated to leave her alone tonight, but perhaps Brist wouldn’t mind if she had company.

“Mom, this is Belana and Randy. They’re from the town about a mile away from Treepass,” Brist introduced the two friends she had spent most of the last three days with.

“Nice to meet you,” Ellen expressed with immaculate manners, modeling to the cousins just exactly where Brist learned her manners from. Brist denied that hers were anywhere near the perfection of her mother, but Randy and Belana knew better. Brist exuded the aura of a well-bred lady, albeit a teenager, and manners were just a part of the package.

“Brist, I just came in for a moment to inform you that your father and I are going to a dinner party, and seeing as how it’s the night before your birthday, and I’m feeling ever so guilty for leaving you alone tonight, I’m going to give you a few thousand to go shopping with. If your friends would like to join you and spend the night afterward, well, I see no problem with that,” Ellen permitted, embracing her daughter, then handing her the envelope containing money that she had prepared in anticipation of giving it to her daughter.

“Also, here are the keys to the Rolls. Tell your brother that while your father and I realize that he has made up his mind to return to Minnesota tomorrow afternoon, we would have no objection if he wished to spend his last night in Atlanta doing God knows what. Or if he would prefer, there are some chips to the Silver Star casino in Dunwoody. Maybe if finds some entertainment here in Georgia, he might decide to stay.” Ellen sighed somewhat wistfully. Even though she would win no medals for mother of the year, she certainly wouldn’t get jailed for parental neglect, but for reasons of control more than anything. She hated to have either of her children out of her range of influence for very long.

“Ellen! We’re going to be late!” Edward called as he made his way to Brist’s bedroom.

“Coming Dear,” Ellen responded, obeying her husband’s request to hurry. Just as she was about to exit the room, Edward entered it.

“I don’t know where my son is, Brist, but if you should see him, please tell him for me that he can spend however much he wants if he goes to the casino, and anything he wins is his to keep.”

“I will Daddy,” Brist answered.

“We’ll not be home until after 10. I can’t say exactly when. I love you honey, have fun,” Ellen wished, standing by her husband.

“Yes, have fun princess, and be a good girl, okay?” Edward added to his wife’s instructions. Then he held his arm out, which Ellen took, and the two of them departed the room. Soon, they were completely out of the house, safely ensconced in the car that had been waiting for them.

“Do either of you want to go shopping before the mall closes?” Brist asked her two friends.

“Sure!” They answered simultaneously.

“Okay then.” Brist smiled.

*******

“Hey! What do you know, they have what I need here, cool! Now I can go home and test out my mini digital video camera, woohoo!” Brist said to herself in a softly excited voice.

“Are you done shopping then?” Randy asked.

“It’s time we got home, or else my mom’ll get pissed,” Belana added.

“Sure, just as soon as I purchase this,” Brist replied.

“It’ll be quicker if you just stuff it down your shirt.” Randy grumbled, and Belana nodded. Both were truly afraid of what Belana’s mom might do if they were late.

“Not if I got caught, besides there’s no line.” Brist pointed to the lane that just opened, then quickly got into it before anyone else discovered it. Gently, Brist set her shopping basket on the counter, allowing the clerk to ring up the tower of 100 DVDs that she had decided to buy.

“That comes to $31.86.” The clerk stated. Brist handed her the money, and then held out her hand for the change. Once it was placed in her hand, she gathered up her belongings, thanked the clerk, then left the store with Randy and Belana close on her tail.

Soon, the trio was at Brist’s car. Brist opened the trunk and motioned for Randy and Belana to place their bags inside it. Belana thanked Brist again for the outfits she now owned. Randy followed suit, waiting for Belana to get out of his way so that he could place his bag in the trunk.

“You guys! It was nothing!” Brist demurred. “I happen to have parents with money, and most of my friends do not. I just consider this my way of sharing the wealth.”

“Still, you are way too generous. You bought each of us not just one new outfit, but practically a whole new wardrobe, and accessories to match!” Belana said in awe, still not able to believe how much money had been spent on just shoes alone.

“My mom doesn’t buy me this many shoes in a year, let alone at the same time,” Randy added. “I really appreciate it. We – and all the kids in our small town – go to school with a lot of kids whose parents do buy them these kinds of clothes, and now, for once, we won’t look so different.”

“I agree, but I hope you don’t think of us as the type of people who will be your friend so long as you give us stuff,” Belana stated, worried.

Brist smiled and shut the trunk. She had spent the last few moments fussing with the contents of the trunk in order to hide her modest blush, but since she could no longer pretend to organize their things, she had to close it and fend off these compliments before she burned up completely.

“Listen, I know what kind of people you are; you proved your niceness before I ever flashed any money. If you were just being friends with me to get money out of me, you wouldn’t have been able to spend these last few days giggling and playing silly games with me without some ulterior motives creeping in. So what if I am way too generous, it’s in my nature and I can’t help it! Now, let’s get y’all home before you get in trouble,” Brist demurred. She climbed into the driver's seat. The cousins shrugged and joined her in the car. Belana sat in front; Randy lay across the back seat.

The two girls chatted on about everything from favorite colors to favorite actors. Belana curiously asked Brist more about sex, and Brist answered as accurately as possible. Meanwhile, Brist was doing her best to get the cousins home on time.

“Damn!” Randy exclaimed as he happen to see the speedometer and how fast Brist was going, but all too soon they were in front of Belana’s house. They were even on time!

Belana’s family, like just about every family that lived in this tiny town, had a farmhouse that had started out small, and then grew over the years. Each of the town’s families had a small parcel of land that they worked, not really for profit, but for themselves. They all kept most of what they grew, and only sold their crops when there was an excess.

All in all, the town was self sufficient, but not monetarily well off. Which was just fine by them, they were simple folks and they took care of their own. Usually, their children didn’t attend school beyond what was required by law, and nearly everyone who had ever been born here, died here. There were only a few exceptions, one of those being Randy’s great-grandmother. She had married a man who asked her to move to another state, they became ranchers and were prosperous enough to last for a few generations, but Brist had learned over the past few days that Randy’s mother had fallen ill a few years ago, and caring for her had taken up all of their resources. Then, she had cruelly died anyway. (His father had died when he was still very little.)

Naturally, his mother and her ancestors had always kept in touch with their relatives in this small town. So when she died, they hadn’t even hesitated a second in deciding to take him in.

Brist looked admiringly at the house as they approached; it had survived so much. Amy was waiting on the porch when they arrived, and she did not look pleased to see Brist. In her mind, in addition to any prior reasons Amy had for hating Brist, she now hated her for stealing her friends, the only two people in the whole town who were exactly her age.

“What have you been doing all day?” She snapped. She looked positively pissed-off.

“We shopped,” Randy answered simply.

“Will you stay awhile?” Belana asked as her mother stepped onto the porch.

“Actually, I’m feeling a little tired, and so I think I’ll go home, but tomorrow – since it’ll be my birthday – I’ll ask my parents if we can use the jet to fly to Disneyland and stay in our beach house for a week, or maybe to Paris and stay in our house overlooking the Champs Elysee,” Brist suggested.

“Disneyland!” The cousins exclaimed. “How cool is that?!”

“I’m sorry, but you two can’t go,” Belana’s mother stated with a firm frown.

“But-” Belana protested.

“No buts! I said no!”

“No problem, we can go somewhere closer to home, say more shopping at the mall?” Brist suggested, directing the question at Belana’s mom.

“We’ll see,” Belana’s mom responded. Brist smiled one of her dazzling and disarmingly charming smiles that lit up a whole room.

“Marvelous! I’ll come by about 10 am then, Okay?”

“Sure,” Belana’s mom said dryly, tempted to roll her eyes.

“Bye Belana, bye Randy.” Brist turned to wave at Amy, who looked about ready to kill her, then got in her car and left.

Go To Chapter 5