Chapter 8: Don’t You Believe Me?

Susie had already prepared dinner, and when she saw Nathan enter the door that evening, she hurried to put out slippers for him. “Mr. Davis,” she said, “dinner is ready, but Ms. Crystal hasn’t come back yet. Would you like to have dinner first or wait for her?”

“I’ll wait for her,” Nathan said. “Susie, you can go home now.”

Susie’s daughter-in-law was pregnant and needed to be cared for, so Susie had to go home every night. So after Susie left, Nathan took a shower and went straight to the study, where he waited until nine o’clock, which was what time it was when Crystal arrived home.

Nathan heard a noise at the door, and then the study door was pushed open. Crystal staggered through the door. Her cheeks were glowing, her eyes were dim, and there was a murderous look in her eyes. When Nathan saw her, he frowned and asked her if she was drunk. 

Rather than answer the question, though, Crystal pointed her finger at him and shouted, “You! You! You! You...”

“What about me?” Nathan asked innocently. And when she didn’t reply, he asked her how much she’d had to drink.

“What about YOU?!?!?! “Crystal hissed.

“Your question is hilarious!” And then she grabbed an ashtray and threw it at Nathan’s head. Nathan dodged the porcelain projectile, and it smashed through the French windows behind him. “What gives you the right?!?!!?!?”

“Crystal?” Nathan cried as she began to pick up other things to throw at him: a cell phone, a book, a pack of cigarettes; anything that was within reach, and not attached to something, seemed to be fair game. “What’s gotten into you?”

As Nathan took shelter behind his desk, a deck of cards hit him in the forehead, and he cursed. A potted plant hit the bookcase that was beside the window, and a rain of shrapnel came down upon his head and shoulders.

“You bastard!” Crystal bellowed. “It is all because of you. You got me kicked out of school and stole everything from me. Why are you doing this to me? Why? What did I ever do to you to deserve this treatment?”

Eventually, Crystal ran out of steam. She began to weep, and she collapsed on the floor in a fit of despair. “What do you want from me?” she cried. “Why can’t you just move out? I don’t want anything other than this house. This is the only home I have. I grew up here, and all of my memories are here! Why don’t you move out? It would be best if you weren’t my guardian. I’m almost eighteen! Why do I even need a guardian? We don’t even know each other!”

Now that it seemed safe to come out, Nathan crawled over to where Crystal was sitting with her knees drawn to her girlish-flat chest, bawling like an infant. Nathan grabbed Crystal by the arms and forced her to look him in the eyes. Her tiny face, he saw, was wet with tears, and only then did he realize how much she hated him. “Do you want me to move out?” he asked hoarsely. “Truly?”

Crystal flashed her innocent eyes and nodded without hesitation.

Nathan: “Do you want me to have the Guardianship Order overturned?”

Crystal nodded again.

Nathan: “Okay. I will. I promise.”

“Wait a minute,” she said. “I’d like to record that.” Crystal found her phone. It was on the floor, near Nathan’s desk. She’d thrown it at him, but it still worked. She found her camera App, quickly pointed it at Nathan, and said, “Could you please say that again?”

Nathan scowled. “Don’t you believe me?” he asked. “You don’t need the camera. Look me in the eyes and see if I’m lying.”

Crystal looked Nathan in the eyes, and when she didn’t see any lies in them, she put her phone away and said, “Professor Davis, I hope that you keep your word.”

Nathan smiled and said, “I always keep my word.”

Crystal: “You swear that you will give up custody of me and move out.”

Nathan: “I swear it! You impossible girl!”.

Crystal sighed and thanked Nathan. Maybe this will all finally be over, she told herself. But she was afraid to count her chickens before they hatched. That being said, for the first time since her mother had died, she was hopeful. All of a sudden, Crystal felt claustrophobic- I can’t breathe. I need to get out of this room! She stood up quickly, and without saying another word to Nathan, she ran to her room.

Once Crystal was in her room, with her door closed and locked behind her, she called up Serenity to tell her the good news. Dorris had been plotting to get rid of Nathan for a long time, and his concession was like a dream come true, and she felt silly for drinking the two beers earlier and getting drunk when all she’d needed to do was ask him to leave with conviction so that he knew she was serious.

When Crystal told her friend about the fit she’d had and how she destroyed his office and hit him in the head with a deck of cards, she was stunned. “And after all that, he’s giving you what you want?” Serenity couldn’t believe it. 

“And he’s just going to give up custody and move out?” she asked incredulously. “Just like that? It sounds too good to be true. Do you think he’s tricking you?”

“It’s crossed my mind,” Crystal admitted. “I looked him in the eye, though, and I didn’t see any lies there. Anyway, whose side are you on? You are a real bummer...”

Serenity apologized and said, “Of course, I’m on your side. I was just playing the Devil’s Advocate. I am your friend, and I don’t want you to get your hopes up, just to be let down...”

“Don’t worry,” Crystal sighed. “I am just trying to stay positive: hope for the best and expect the worst, you know?”

There was a moment of silence, and then Serenity said, “Let’s change the subject. Did the thing I ordered for you online arrive?”

Crystal looked at the package on the dresser. “Yes, I got it this morning. What’s in it?”

Serenity: “Just open it and see.”

Crystal: “Well, I’ll open it later. I’m going to take a shower now. Talk to you later. Bye.” 

Serenity: “Bye-bye.”

After turning off her phone, Crystal took off her T-shirt and jeans and stood in front of her long mirror, naked except for her pink cotton Hello Kitty underwear. She raised her hand and rolled up her hair, clamped it in place with her other hand, and turned to look at the package lying quietly on her dresser.

What’s in it?- she wondered. She was curious. It felt like too much effort to tear off the packaging to see what was inside of it, but her curiosity finally got the better of her.

Crystal brought the package to her bed. She sat down and made herself comfortable, cross-legged on her comforter, with her back against her headboard. She placed the package between her legs, and then she began to pull at the tape.