Young Writers Society

Chapter Eleven

A few days later, Curi woke up to loud, disgruntled sounds coming from the kitchen. She contemplated for a few seconds which was less work, laying her head back on the fluffed pillow or finding out the cause of the sounds. Knowing she wouldn't get back to sleep, she headed toward the noise. Her sleeping mask hung around her neck, and she smoothed out her yellow nightgown to no avail.

She blinked her eyes and pulled up a seat at the barstool near the kitchen.Her parents, talking loud as ever, were upset about something. Did someone forget to pay a bill? Curi thought sleepily.

"I can’t believe that wrinkled old—"

"Essence," Dad stopped Mom, though he seemed to share her sentiments. The couple wore matching frowns.

"He's threatening— a tell-all book about us?" Her mom started and stopped, slamming her fists on the kitchen table. The jam and bread spread across the table narrowly missed Mom’s white cotton shirt and blue jean capris.

Dad sighed, rubbing the creases on his forehead."You are talking in fragments.”

“Mom, Dad, what's wrong?” Curi asked, trying to make sense of her mother's fragments because someone had ticked her off for sure.

“This fool—”

“Who?”

“Digi!” Her mom threw her hands into the air. “He badmouthed us! All over the internet and he has the nerve to be scheduled for a local news interview!”

“Whaaa?” Curi gaped. Badmouthed? All over the internet? What was happening?

Mom hummed. “Mhmm, I already told Taveo, but you know that boy don't care about nothing but math and that phone of his,” she complained. “Anyway, Morris waited a week to bring bad news!”

“Well, how is he badmouthing us?” Curi felt her insides twist, as she asked the question. Her hands suddenly felt sweaty, and she rubbed them on her nightgown, creating new wrinkles.

“How isn't he, is what you should be asking,” her dad chimed in, taking long sips of his coffee.

“If you don't know I don't want to tell you.” Mom tried to calm down. “Don't even bother trying to look it up either. You will know soon enough when he spews his garbage on TV.”

Curi felt frustrated. She didn't want to hear her parents' names involved with baseless slander.

“Keep your head high and ignore it. Besides, it shouldn't affect you anyway with you being home-schooled,” Dad said, pulling the cup away from his mouth.

“But everyone in the neighborhood knows you are my parents!” Curi said. If her stomach hadn't eaten anything since the night before, she would have been too upset to eat. Reputation was important to her, and her parents had made a name for themselves in their city with those parties. Now, someone who hadn't even shown up had the nerve to badmouth them!

“Yeah, I guess ya do look like us. Good thing we cute,” Mom said lightly, already content to talk about something frivolous.

“How are you changing the subject like that? This guy is saying erroneous garbage about you and dad, right?” Curi pushed away from the bar counter, her young features turning into a frown.

“I have been talked about before— it's called high school, boo. Ain't nothing the Digis can really say to hurt us.” Her mom poured a glass of juice.

“MOM!” Curi whined. Didn't she even care? Mom had been so upset that it woke her up, but now she was just letting it go? Maybe her parents had kissed up to the Digis so long that it was hard to stop excusing all the trouble they caused.

Dad reached for a slice of toasted bread and dipped it lightly into strawberry jam. “It's just unfortunate he chose to do it now. I thought we ended our party with a bang, the most attendance, and fun we ever had. I guess he and his wife had a lot to say after the counseling session, which probably brought out their feelings.”

“You guys, don't make excuses for them!” Curi said. Her parents gave a slight nod. It was no use going hoarse when her parents couldn't care past five minutes.

“I just can't figure out the Digis. They decide not to show up, and now they are mad!” Curi thought out loud.

“They are probably mad because they didn't get invited this year,” Taveo said, coming from his room, cellphone in his hand. He was fully-dressed, being the early riser that he was.

“Morning, baby,” Mom kissed her son's forehead. He mumbled sleepy greetings to her, grabbed a box of cereal, and returned to his room.

“Mom, is that true?” Curi asked, trying to get back on subject. "You guys always bend over backward for them!”

Her mom leveled a look at her, but it was her dad who responded. “We have never bent over backward, but why get on someone's bad side if you don't have to. Besides, they brought a little entertainment to past parties.”

“Yeah, like the one where the Digis were drunk that night,” Mom said, biting into her own piece of heavily jammed toast.

Curi tilted her head in confusion and took off the sleeping mask around her neck as if it would help her think better. “Which one was that, Mom?”

Mom waved her hand nonchalantly. “It was the one where we almost banned them from future parties.”

Curi blinked.

“You know, peanut jars…” Mom drawled.

Oh!

“Mom, I thought Mister Digi had just been irrational as usual.”

“Well, I mean those two are known for fighting, but that peanut jar incident was bad for their reputation. No one outside of those who attend our parties knows how ridiculous the Digi couple can get.” Mom explained.

“I guess it makes sense why they are still affluent business people in this city if there's a side of them most people don't know,” Curi reasoned. Slowly the pieces were coming together.

Dad set his ¾ eaten bread down on his plate. With crumbs in his beard, he said, “This also might be why Wolfeman's father distanced himself from them. Apparently, that story is circulating again. I hadn't thought anyone cared, but he's blaming us because he acted a monkey-dee-diddle-fool.”

“Really?”

Mom interjected. “Tis' life, baby, the sad thing is he dragged sweet little Ophelia into it too.”

Curi kept her mouth shut. They didn’t know how manipulative Ophelia could be. She hadn’t known either for that matter.

“I need to see how she's doing. After Wolfeman's foolery at the party, I didn't get a chance to talk to her," Mom rambled on, “Today she’s supposed to be at Gloria's house.”

Gloria NoLastName?

Curi jumped off her bar stool. “Hey, that’s Cooleo's mom! Why is Miss Ophelia over there?”

“Well, it's Saturday,” Dad unhelpfully added.

“Be serious, De'ron.” Mom rolled her eyes. “She's helping Gloria design business cards for Carver's music services.”

A lightbulb went off in Curi's head. Ophelia might know how to help muzzle the Digis' mouth. She probably had resources and influence herself, and she owed Curi for not ratting her out.

“Mom, can you give me a ride to Cooleo's house?”

“He comes over so often that you will probably see him next week.”

“I gotta ask Miss Ophelia something. I don't think Mrs. Gloria will mind!” Curi said.

Mom frowned.“You don't need to be over there distracting them.”

“You said you wanted to ask Miss Ophelia how she was doing. Why don't you let me ask her? You want to know how she felt about the party, right? Well, she's more likely to be honest with me than the hosts.”

“Get real, missy I know you don't care about our party business.” Mom knew better.

Curi sighed at how quickly her mom had found her out. She took a deep breath and decided to be honest. She wasn't going to get there beating around the bush.

“I want to know what Miss Ophelia thinks about this whole situation. I feel like she might be able to help us.”

“The Digis are free to say what they want, but I guess there’s no harm in taking you.”

-----

Curi yelled out, “I don't understand you! How can you not help, especially since I didn't rat you out? This affects us both!”

Ophelia leaned against her car, nonchalantly listening to Curi go off in the NoLastName's yard. Ophelia had finished a template for Cooleo’s father, Carver cards when she burst in. After Gloria had let her in, Curi had startled the woman at the computer table.

“First, no one told you not to rat me out, so I owe you nothing in that regard. Second, the Digis and I already have a bad history, and I don't care to change it. That nasty man and his wife owe me a lot considering the work we have done in the past. I will never play music for them again, and I can't believe I forgot who they were.”

Ophelia pulled out a cigarette from her dress pocket and placed it in her mouth and lit the end.

Curi stopped mid-rant, “That's not—”

“Healthy. A lot of things aren't healthy, cutie. This world is one of them,” Ophelia breathed out the smoke.

Curi tried to distance herself from the secondhand smoke. She didn't know what to say next. Ophelia, self-confident and selfish, didn't care about her name being dragged through the mud less alone Curi's parents. She shouldn't have expected better from the same woman that sabotaged a party by people who had been nothing but nice to her.

“Miss Ophelia, I don't get your logic,” Curi weakly said. Ophelia had qualities she could look up to, but this side of her was disappointing.

After a few seconds, Ophelia stamped out the cigarette with the heel of her boot. “Ahh, I never liked smoking that much, it's just something I do when I am upset.” She rubbed her knuckles. “Curi, if I thought helping would change something I would have done it. You can't stop slander. You can only prove it wrong.”

Curi smiled. “So, let's do just that!”

“You are so naïve.I hope you don't get corrupted too fast.” Ophelia gave her a look of sympathy, which annoyed Curi, who didn't want to feel belittled. She wanted help! Why had she gone to Ophelia in the first place?

“Pessimist,” Curi mumbled.

“I am a realist. However, I will tell you though, if you want help maybe you should ask Wolfey. He told me your parents and the Digis wrecked his whole week, so no doubt he's free.”

“Wrecked his week? Like the both of you tried to wreck my parents' dinner party?” Curi spat sarcastically.

“Touche. Later cutie!” Ophelia opened her car door, putting her laptop and bag inside.

“Wait! How am I supposed to find Mister Wolfeman? I don't even know where the Digis live.”

Ophelia rummaged through her bag and pulled out a small heavyweight card. “Take this bus card. It's good for the rest of the week. See if that hairy guy will help you because I am a lost cause.”

“This is great, but I can't go on the bus by myself,” Curi said, feeling a bit lame. “And, my mom's supposed to pick me up from here.”

Ophelia gave her an incredulous look.

“Sheltered much? Just tell your mama to pick you up, when you get back here from your bus trip.”

Curi nodded, feeling a bit ashamed.

“Eh, I can't blame you. I was the same until my teens. Use today to experience a little life on your own.” Ophelia smiled genuinely.

Curi clutched the bus card.

Ophelia shut her car door and rolled down her window. “Just swipe that and you will be fine!”

Curi smiled to herself until she realized Ophelia had basically told her she was on her own. She hoped Wolfeman would feel guilty and help.

–----

Riding the bus hadn't been fun, but when had it ever been? Still, Curi considered it growth that she managed to ride it by herself.She was getting a little more independent.

She got out near the Wolfeman office complex, which was a separate building from the corporation. Ophelia had told her this was where she would find him.

The receptionist told her she couldn't speak with Wolfeman Sr. without an appointment until Curi explained she wanted his son. He then told her to look for the pile of suitcases and a blowup mattress. Curi thanked him and passed by the empty cubicles, looking for the traveler. The walls were gray and there were too many windows. She couldn’t see Wolfeman enjoying his time here.

She heard two women whisper that if Wolfeman wasn't the boss's son, he would have been thrown out of the building already. Curi knew he had to be nearby.

When she saw a cubicle taped and pinned with photos of different locations and a black fur hoodie on the chair, Curi knew she had found him. An air mattress lay in the middle of the floor. She leaned his mattress against one of the cubicle walls and sat in his brown rotating chair, waiting a few minutes until he got there.

“Ahh, little Curi—” He greeted, mildly surprised to see her. His dreadlocks were scooped into a low ponytail, and he wore a dark green lightweight parka. Well, Curi hadn’t expected to ever see him in business clothing.

“You have toilet paper stuck to your foot, Wolfeman.” Curi pointed out. Her pleasantries were running out with Wolfeman. She hadn't even called him mister.

“So, I do.” He quirked an eyebrow. He flung the paper into a waste basket. “No ‘mister’ today? You are awfully informal. Something serious?” He frowned. “Also, you are in my chair.”

Curi spun around for good measure until he firmly grasped the top of the chair.

“What do you want, Aucuria-dear? You are running into my nap time,” he said, beginning to sound annoyed.

“I need help.”

“Sure, here's some help. First, remove yourself from my chair and stop wasting my time.”

Curi scoffed. “You said you were going to sleep anyway. Did you hear about the slander the Digis put out on Miss Ophelia and my mom and dad, Mister Wolfeman?”

“Ah, you said mister. I see you can't escape your polite ways,” Wolfeman pointed out. “Were sir and madam your first words?”

Curi contemplated walking out of the building and leaving Wolfeman to rot in his obnoxiousness. Thankfully, he started taking her serious. He could see she was not in the mood.

Wolfeman sighed. “Yeah, I heard. Thanks to your parents it's why I am living here. I should tell your mom where you are. You should not be here.”

How would someone like Ophelia respond to him? The clever woman apparently had her ways of getting the troublesome Wolfeman to listen to her.

Curi confidently said, “I am not a child, Mister Wolfeman. How in any way is my family responsible for your inadequate living in an office space?”

“Don't get mouthy. You are asking for my help, aren't you?” Wolfeman chided her.

“Sorry,” Curi squeaked, deflating from her arrogance. “I don't quite know myself how you can help. I thought Miss Ophelia would have done it but...”

“That's just how she is,” Wolfeman finished, understanding what she meant.

“You live with the Digis, so I thought you might know what made them start the slander.”

“Get outta my chair, and I will tell you what I know. I can't be too long either, as my old man's office space closes early on Saturdays.”

------

Curi felt more upset but better from knowing the full story. No wonder her parents hadn't told her all the details, she had been upset enough at breakfast.

The marriage counseling hadn't helped the Digis’, but the couple could now work together to achieve a common goal. They blamed her parents for Naomi, her mom's nurse friend, who somehow forced them into a week's worth of marriage counseling. The counseling session had made them miss a business prospect with Wolfeman corporations. The Digis’ were surprised Wolfeman Sr. wouldn't allow them to remake the meeting. Their resurfaced peanut jar incident only added salt to the injury. And the Digis’ after finding out Ophelia's involvement with the Andrews decided to drag her name through the mud too.

Wolfeman leaned back in his chair while her exhaustion showed.

“You mean to tell me the Digis- I mean those jerks...” Curi dropped her politeness. “Are blaming my parents for their lost deal? Pfft... He's the one that got drunk that night! I bet they are just too embarrassed that my parents didn't invite them this year.”

“They aren't all bad because they do give to charity and help fund a foster home.”

Curi groaned.“I know that, and I mean you do too. They took you in their home after all, but it doesn't excuse their behavior.”

Wolfeman scratched behind his ear. “Tch, the geezers thought offering to take me in their humble abode sealed the deal with my old man. They were on thin ice for missing that meeting, but the peanut jar story broke it. The flaw is money means everything to that devil. If you can be expendable you are not valuable.”

Curi treaded lightly, “Surely, he doesn't think that way about you?”

Wolfeman squeezed his eyes shut, but his voice stayed leveled. “Reputation is big to him. He doesn't count me as a mistake because his out of wedlock baby gave him an heir. Now, he won't have to worry about who will take over his company when he dies. I hope he goes bankrupt.”

Curi heard the grit in his voice.

Coughing as if he realized it himself, Wolfeman continued much calmer, “Sorry daddy issues and all that jazz. I don't like or appreciate because I was birthed into the Wolfeman family that my future is decided for me. Traveling is important, and I can't keep living out my parents' orders without ever venturing out on my own. It is scary to have such a monotonous life.”

"Why don't you just talk to him, Mister Wolfeman?"

"He can't see past his own pride to listen. He's always questioning me about why I need to travel, and how all I care about is my half-baked fantasties. God forbid, someone actually wants to broaden their horizons. There's more to the world than our small circle."

Curi blinked.

Wolfeman rubbed his scalp, "Gosh, I am ranting to a kid."

"I am not a kid!" Curi retorted. “Anyway, just say no. He will be forced to find someone else.” It surprised Curi how the conversation turned from how self-righteous the Digis’ were to his family issues.

The depths of Wolfeman's amber eyes seemed to fight off more emotion.

“That is easier said than done, Curi-dear.” He raised a brow at her. “Don't give me that sympathetic look. You are a mature kid. Who else would I talk to about this? Ophelia?”

“A therapist?” Curi rubbed her arm awkwardly.

He blinked. “Eh, that's actually a good idea though it will have to wait.”

“Why?” Curi asked, trying to see what he meant.

“Well, Curi-dear, the show's starting,” He un-muted the office's sole hanging TV, as the local news logo flashed on. Sitting next to two news anchors was Morris Digi!

Curi swore she heard Mr. Digi taunt through the screen, “Dear, did you think it was over?”

-----------------------

This is chapter eleven of a story I wrote almost two years ago. I am posting each chapter now to get an idea what to edit for. This was one of my favorite chpaters to write because of Wolfeman. I love Curi, but he's my own favorite character.