THE GOLD FISH: Uncle (2.5)

If you’re new to THE GOLD FISH, start from the beginning.

← Prev. The Gingerbread Man (2.4)

The sky darkened as Bridge strode up to Donna and her lackeys. “Hey Pickles. Made any calls lately?” she demanded, lifting her voice over the gathering wind.

Like a villain in a movie, Donna turned slowly, as if Bridge hardly merited her attention. “Oh look who it is. Another Sullivan. Thought I smelled something. Which one are you again?”

Bridge placed her hands on her hips. “Oh right. Pickles can only keep boys’ names straight. Or can you? I guess there are just too many to keep track of.”

Donna had been enduring comments like this all summer and was sick to death of them. Her eyes narrowed. “Bitch.”

“I know you are, but what am I?” sneered Bridge.

Bits of trash now whirled around the girls in a tempest, electricity crackling between them and in the dark clouds above.

“Make like a tree and leave, little baby.” warned Donna, advancing on Bridge. “Or you’ll be sorry.”

Bridge met Donna’s advance, her face turning feral. “You wanna try and make me?”

Donna needed no further encouragement. She rushed at Bridge, confident she could make her sorry. Very sorry.

But what Donna failed to consider was Bridge’s seven siblings and the twelve years of sibling fight school training she had inadvertently gotten in the Sullivan’s free-for-all basement. In a surprising and lightening fast reversal, Bridge had gained the advantage, pinning the bigger girl to the ground and grinding her bony knees painfully into Donna’s shoulders.

Donna writhed and bucked like a trapped bug. “Oww…” she groaned. “Get off me.”

But Bridge was possessed, a demon wronged. She dug her knees in deeper, leaned down, and spat straight into Donna’s face. “That’s for making those crank calls, you ignorant bitch. Use my name again, and I swear, I’ll kill you.”

Donna’s so-called friends now backed away slowly, uncomfortable with the sight of their queen bee being squashed and humiliated, yet unwilling to enter the fray themselves to defend her.

Donna whipped her head from side to side in an attempt to shake off the spittle. “I didn’t, I swear.”

“You’re a big fat liar!”

“Get off me!”

“Not until you admit you did it!”

“I swear to God, I didn’t.”

Big fat raindrops began to fall. Bridge spat again.

“Oh yes you did. And I know it for a fact. Jeannie told me all about it, cuz she was THERE.”

“Okay, okay! I did it. It was just a stupid game. Now let ME UP!”

Bridge relaxed. “Not until you say Uncle.”

“I’m not going to say Uncle!”

Bridge spat yet again, her spittle now mixing with the rain.

“BITCH!”

“SAY IT!”

“Okay. UNCLE. Now get OFF ME.”

Bridge dug in her knees once more for good measure, then rolled off and jumped to her feet. “That’s all you had to say.” She gave Donna one final glare, then splashed off into the parking lot like she owned the world.

A stunned Barbie followed as the rain became a roaring deluge around them.

“Run” Bridge shouted over her shoulder.

Barbie needed no further encouragement. Together, the girls raced towards the guard rail at the far end of the parking lot, hopped it, and slip-slid their way down the muddy embankment towards the Tunnel, which conveniently waited below.

Once inside, the girls paused to catch their breath, their sneakered feet spread wide to avoid the gushing torrent below. The din of rain and rushing water was deafening.

Barbie finally managed to speak. “Jeez Bridge. I thought she was going to kill you. And then... then... I thought YOU were going to kill HER.” She giggled. “She didn’t stand a chance.”

Bridge shrugged. “Yeah. Whaddya expect? She’s an only child.” She pulled the earrings from her pocket and handed them to Barbie. “Help me get these in?”

“You really are cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs,” said Barbie as she fished the earrings through the holes in Bridge’s ears.

“May-beeeee...” Bridge leaned down and pulled the embroidery thread from her sneaker. “But look what I got you.”

Barbie’s eyes went wide at the sight of the orange-y gold embroidery thread. “Oh Bridge.”

“It’s a little wet, but still okay, I think.”

“I really shouldn’t.”

“But you will.” Bridge wheedled. “I saw you staring. And I wanted to get you something.”

The guilt and unease over the theft battled with another feeling inside Barbie. A feeling of love. Of gratitude. Of real friendship. Because if a friend risks jail for you, she thought, that’s gotta mean something, right? She took the thread from Bridge and pocketed it. “Thanks Bridge.”

Bridge shrugged. “No biggie.”

In companionable silence, the girls listened to the pounding rain and rushing water, until Bridge grinned and broke into song. “Raindrops keep falling on my head.”

Barbie joined in. “Just like a guy who’s feet are too big for his bed...”

The girls sang louder. “Nothing seems to fit. Those raindrops keep falling on my head, they keep falling.”

As they ran out of the lyrics they knew, Bridge lifted her head to the sky and howled. “WE’RE BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID!”

Barbie sat in bed that night working the new embroidery thread into her denim cut offs. To her delight, she was actually producing the likeness of a gold (pause) fish. But the work was coming at a price. Her fingers were cramping and by the time Karen came through the door, her eyes were drooping with exhaustion.

Karen usually did her best not to address her sister directly, but at the moment, she needed to vent to someone, and Barbie was, well, there.

“I swear to God,” she muttered, “I have never been so bored in my entire life. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I am so ready for school to start.”

“Mmm hmmm.” Barbie shook out her aching fingers before refocusing on her embroidery.

Karen flopped on her bed dramatically. While she herself had mastered the art of ignoring people, she absolutely hated to be ignored herself. “What’s that?”

Barbie held up the shorts and indicated the embroidery. “I’m making a gold (pause) fish.”

Karen rolled her eyes. “You and your stupid fish. Such a weirdo.” But curiosity got the better of her and she leaned up on an elbow to get a better look. “Not bad, I guess.”

A light bulb went off in Barbie’s head. “You know, I could do something for you. IF you pay me. I’m trying to make some money.”

Karen scoffed. “Why would I ever want a fish on my jeans?”

“It wouldn’t have to be a fish. I could do something else, like peace signs or something.”

Karen peered more closely. “Hmmm. Where’d you get the stuff anyway? That thick thread or whatever?”

A flash of guilt crossed Barbie’s face as she thought about the thread’s origin, but she pushed the feeling aside. “Joanne’s. Wes drove us up.”

Karen sat up with a bolt. “WHAT?!”

“Yep. Me and Bridge. And the other brothers too.”

Karen eyes narrowed. “Wesley Sullivan?!  Wesley Sullivan drove YOU?! In his car?! To the Mall?!”

Barbie returned to her work. “Uh-huh. And oh jeez. You should have seen it. We ran into Donna Bickell and Bridge beat her up. And spit on her!”

Karen growled and flopped back down. “Jesus Christ Almighty.”

“I know, right? It was bonkers. I guess a few weeks ago, Donna made a crank call to Robbie Nilsson who, you know, Bridge kinda likes? Donna pretended to be Bridge and said all these crazy things to him. Things that were kinda, you know, dirty? So then Robbie told Heidi, you know Heidi? Robbie’s sister? And Heidi called Bridge to yell at her and told her never to speak to her brother again.”

“I don’t believe it!”

“Yeah. Well Bridge couldn’t believe it either. Until she ran into Jeannie. Remember Jeannie Gibbons? She lives next door to Donna and was with her when she called Robbie.”

“Unreal.”

Barbie nodded, then turned her shorts inside out to knot the thread. “Anyway, Bridge said she wasn’t even that P.O.’d anymore. But when she saw Donna, she still felt she had to beat her up. To, you know, show her who’s boss.”

This convoluted revenge tale held absolutely no interest to Karen. She was fixated on the fact that her dumb sister got a ride with the coolest kid in the neighborhood. It defied logic, not to mention any sort of justice. “Wes drove YOU?!”

“Uh huh”

“Did you guys talk about anything...?” Karen hoped against hope that she herself had been a topic of discussion.

“Oh yeah. Lots of things.”

“Like...?”

“Well, we talked about painting pictures with words. And, um, looking for things if you want to find something. I don’t know. Stuff like that, I guess.”

“What the heck is that supposed to mean?”

Barbie shrugged. She didn’t know, but she knew she wanted to know. There was something about Wesley that made her head feel full, yet empty at the same time. Like there were all these things around her, mysterious things, fascinating things that he understood -- grokked, if you will -- and if only she could grasp them too, things would make sense. Fall into place. Like how a key fit a lock and unlocked other things. A snap barrette which unlocked the world’s secrets and treasures. Without sticky old lollypops, of course.

She snipped off the end of her thread, and looked at her sister.

“Wes is really cool, isn’t he?”

Karen nodded sagely in reply.

Barbie turned back to her work. “He didn’t drive us home though. We had to walk.”  She cracked up, remembering. “We got totally caught in the rain and had to hide out in the Tunnel. It was soooo fun. But scary at the same time. The water was rushing in and getting higher and higher. I thought we were going to have to SWIM out.”

She sighed with longing. “That would have been really cool.”

Karen fumed. “If I don’t get out of this goddamned house, I am going to lose my mind.”

Next → Jesse James (2.6)