"Hi there," Crystal said. "How's your mom doing?"
"Hi pumpkin," Helen waved. "Come have a seat and tell us all about it."
"Don't worry about stepping on anything," Crystal said. "Just kick it out of your way."
"Or rent a bulldozer," Laura replied dryly. She carefully stepped over dirty clothes until she reached the bed, sitting cross legged on the lower corner near the door leading to the balcony. It allowed her to look at her aunt directly with only minimal eye movement to see Crystal. "So I see you two found something in common," her tone making it clear what she thought of that.
"You take after your mother too much." Helen frowned and took the little blue pipe from Crystal. "So tell us, how is she?" "She looks a hundred times better than when she went in," Laura said. "If everything goes well tonight they might even let her out tomorrow morning."
"What time are you going to see her tomorrow?" Helen asked.
"I'll most likely head up there around nine or ten."
"I'll go with you." Helen said, holding her hand out for the lighter which Crystal finally handed over.
Laura watched her fifty year old aunt take a small hit off the pipe, thinking eerily that she had fallen into something from the Twilight Zone. Laura was still uncomfortable watching Crystal light up but to see her own aunt doing it was something else altogether. "Um, Aunt Helen?"
"Yes pumpkin?" Helen looked at her but all Laura saw were slits for eyes. Clearly her aunt and roommate had been in this room for some time. "Could you not smoke that in front of me? It just seems so odd to me to see you doing that."
"I got an idea," Crystal said, taking the pipe and setting it in her ashtray. "I could go for a cigarette. Why don't we go out on the deck and that way we don't asphyxiate poor Laura here."
"Splendid idea, deary." Helen got her feet, wobbled a little, then straightened out and headed for the screen door.
"So what have you two been talking about?" Laura asked Crystal, hanging back so they weren't overheard.
"All sorts of stuff," the younger woman replied. "Sisters and families and freedom and of course you."
"Me?"
"Well," Crystal's eye took on a wicked glint. "You are the main thing we have in common. By the way, not too bright trying to jump those barrels with your bicycle."
"She told you about that?" Laura was shocked, remembering that as one of her most embarrassing moments, especially when the base commander called her father down to explain why she was playing in an unauthorized area.
"She told me a lot of things," Crystal said smugly. Helen had a bit of a wicked streak herself and had conveyed with painstaking detail about some of Laura's most embarrassing tales of childhood. "Or there's the time you went to visit her and got lost on the subways." "She said to stay on the red line and I'd be fine," Laura grumbled as they stepped out onto the deck. "So you spent your free time telling stories about me, did you?"
"You're just lucky I didn't remember to bring the scrapbooks," Helen said. "You remember summer at my campsite? When your cousins were up?" Laura was truly appreciative of the darkness which kept her blush from being seen. "I remember. Can we change the topic now?"
"But it's much more fun to tease you," Crystal said, leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up on the railing. "So Helen, you were telling me about the first time Laura got drunk."
"Oh no," the subject in question groaned. "And you wonder why I don't drink very often? Let your aunt get you drunk for the first time." "Hugged that porcelain goddess a few times, did you?" Crystal teased.
"It was her best friend that night," Helen said cheerfully. "The next morning too."
"But I'm sure you're more familiar with that particular goddess than I am," Laura teased back.
"Oh, you got me, pardner." The single bulb lighting the back deck gave little illumination but it was enough for Laura to see Crystal pantomime being shot in the chest. "But I never tried to crawl down the stairs."
"You don't forget anything, do you Aunt Helen?"
"Not much, pumpkin," Helen replied, clearly enjoying the banter. Both her and Crystal had cigarettes going and the older woman took a long drag on hers before continuing to embarrass her niece. "You should have seen her, Crystal. She was talking to the banister."
The friendly chat continued for the better part of an hour but Laura was spared any more embarrassment after her experience with the banister was told. Finally one too many yawns indicated the need to wind down for the night and Helen made her exit through the screen door to Laura's bedroom where she was staying. Laura followed Crystal in through her entrance, stepping on a pair of shorts laying on the floor near the sliding door. "How do you manage to get around in this mess?" Laura asked.
"I know where everything is. It's an organized mess," Crystal said, flopping down on her bed and quickly pushing herself up against the headboard. "So are you really beat or do you feel up to visiting for a while?"
Usually evenings while Helen had been spent downstairs, not allowing the opportunity for the two friends to just sit and talk to each other and Laura found she was missing those chats very much. "Sure but keep your smoking limited to cigarettes, okay?"
"Deal," Crystal cheerfully agreed, reaching out to pat the arm of the overstuffed orange chair. "Have a seat, take a load off." "You certainly seem to be in a good mood tonight," the writer noted as she took her seat. "I still can't believe you and my Aunt Helen were getting along, much less smoking pot with each other."
"I was kinda shocked when she asked me if I had any," Crystal said, fluffing a pillow before sticking behind her back for support. "But once I stopped being annoyed with her, she turned out to be a okay person. A bit out there, but okay."
"She hasn't given you her dissertation about aliens and secret labs hidden in the desert yet."
"Ah, something to look forward to. She already told me about your cousin, the one that does the drag shows in New York."
"You realize of course that not everyone she calls a cousin really is," Laura explained. "I think most of them are her friends children and she truly loves playing the rich maiden aunt."
"Hmpf. I wouldn't have minded having a rich aunt when I was growing up."
"Well, it was nice for what it was but I never wanted her money. Visiting Aunt Helen was like taking a trip to an amusement park. I never what I was going to do but it was always fun for just so long." Without thought Laura kicked her sneakers off and put her feet up on Crystal's bed. "Trust me, there's only so much of a good thing one person can have, hence the crawling trip down the stairs." She reached out and gently slapped Crystal's outstretched leg. "Hey, I got a royalty check today. How about tomorrow night after everything settles down with Mom and you get home from work we go out for dinner?"
"What about Helen?"
"I'll dump her off on Bobby for the evening. She hasn't had a chance to spoil him yet." The writer's creative mind worked for only a minute before she came upon the perfect scenario for her little plot. "I'll plant a bug in her ear about how he would love an evening with her before he leaves for school."
"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Crystal said.
"You know she bought me my first car when I went to school? It wasn't new but it was rust free and the mileage was low. A nice little hatchback to scoot around campus with."
"You're looking at my first car," Crystal said, nodding with her chin toward the parking lot. "I used my tax return and made payments for three months to get that rust bucket. Had it almost a year now."
"And you probably appreciate yours far more than I ever appreciated my Ford. No snow tires in the middle of a storm plus inexperience led to totaling it less than four months after Aunt Helen bought it for me."
"Ooh, that sucks."
Laura smirked at her friend's terminology but nodded in agreement. "That's one way to look at it, I suppose. The insurance gave me money I needed in time for books so I didn't have to ask Mom and Dad for it so close to Christmas. I put what was left over away and did private tutoring to get another car."