Red Herring ✔️

50. There's No Place Like Home

"So what happened to Christian?"

The longest day in her entire existence just kept going. Once she arrived home, Mazie believed she might get a break. In fact, the moment she kicked her shoes off, she had every intention of running up the stairs and hiding away in her bedroom until dinner time. 

Unfortunately, Felecia had other plans. 

"What do you mean?" While snacking on a slice of homemade banana bread - fresh, warm, and moist - Mazie slid onto a stool and wilted over the corner, barely holding her head up in her free hand. 

Eyeing her curiously, Felecia tidied up the kitchen while the twins were occupied in front of the TV watching one of their silly shows and Chandler napped upstairs in his nursery. "Well, you went over there the other night. I never got to talk to you about it after that."

She was tired of thinking and didn't consider the complications of admitting to her family that Christian had been in an altercation. She couldn't very well tell her aunt that he had been jumped. That would raise too many questions. Also, Mazie didn't want to paint the picture that Christian was the type of boy to get himself into fights. "He...got in a fight." 

Raising her eyebrows, Fe flicked on the hot water and let it run to warm up while she cleaned off the counters with Lysol wipes. "Is there a particular reason he got in a fight?" 

Ugh, she didn't have the patience for this. "He didn't really want to talk about it with me."

"Is that normal behavior for him?" Fe asked cautiously, her hand slowly waxing in circles over the counter, paying more attention to Mazie than to her cleaning duties. 

It was probably the last thing Mazie should be worrying about on her long list of things that kept her up at night, but she still cared that Fe liked Christian. "Not at all. He got the worst of it. I think some guys ganged up on him. He didn't look so good when I saw him."

Shaking her head, Fe quickly brushed the remaining crumbs from the counter onto her hand and tossed that and the used wipe into the trash. "I hate to hear that. Do you have any ideas of what might have happened?"

"Boys do stupid things." Mazie shrugged, filling her mouth with banana bread so that she wouldn't have to speak. She had the keen ability to talk herself in circles so that others knew she was lying. She didn't want Fe to discern that Mazie knew more than what she let on. 

Testing the temperature of the water, Fe plugged the sink and squirted a generous portion of dish soap into the bottom of the sink as it rose with water. "Is he okay, at least?" 

She found the strength to nod her head. 

While she dunked her baking utensils in the hot water, Fe pretended not to watch Mazie slump over further in the stool as the day's stress succumbed to the comfort of returning home after a long day. The tension that stitched along her spine melted with the release of her muscles. In this space, she could relax and unwind. Her body sensed the peacefulness of home and uncoiled all of the tight muscles in her face that composed a frown on her face. 

"How's school been?" Fe asked, leaning around the corner to glance of the girls in the living room. Once she assured herself that they were okay watching their TV show, Fe returned to her station at the sink to wash dishes. 

She shrugged, lazily lifting her shoulders. "It's okay."

"You doing okay in your classes?" Fe inquired, tilting her head inquisitively. 

With her own parents, Mazie would have brushed off the intrusive questions to stow away in her room all night away from their meddling. For Fe, Mazie knew that she genuinely cared about whether or not Mazie succeeded, so she couldn't dip out without assuaging Fe's concerns. "I'm doing pretty good. My final paper for the Frankenstein book report is due at the end of the week. I've been going to see Mrs. Smith for all of my drafts and she says she's seen improvement."