Day 1, July 13, 2018
In a house situated along the coastline of Rockport, Massachusetts, seated on a hill overlooking the dunes and edge of the Atlantic Ocean, five people were seated at the alter they came to time and time again. They were men and women in their mid-thirties, all dressed in fine, casual wear one would expect to find on a summer holiday. They sat on leather couches, velvet armchairs, and one patterned ottoman, and stared at the large screen television hanging on the wall. Four of them kept their gaze on the news report; the fifth merely typed away at his laptop.
The television depicted a local news anchor telling the same story that had been running all day. Survival of the Fittest had returned, taking over 150 students from Chattanooga, Tennessee to fight to the death on an unknown island. Reports of a bot had spread over the internet, and now it was clear those students were truly fighting for their lives on an island somewhere. Well, were fighting for their lives. The group had known the footage was shot earlier, compared to their youth when it aired live.
As the anchor continued her speech about President Canon’s response, opinions from various pundits and critics, and even interviews with families of students abducted in the six previous games, one person broke the silence. The one with the laptop stopped typing and spoke to the group.
“Okay, I found the footage,” he said. “Let’s cast it onto the TV.”
The man seated closest to him grabbed the television remote and pressed a few buttons. The man with the laptop clicked away, and soon, everyone in the room could see what was on the laptop. Before them, in high definition, was a website that hosted all the streams of Survival of the Fittest. With just a click, they could view any student's time on the island, and get up-to-date death counts.
“Man, I can’t believe the luck that we would get to watch this again when we're all on vacation together,” the man with the laptop said.
“Yeah, I can’t believe you found it, Reed,” the man with the remote said.
“Don’t doubt me, Norman,” Reed said. “You know I’ve always been the most capable person.”
“Of course, Reed,” Norman replied meekly.
The red-haired woman on the couch next to Norman shifted around a bit in place.
“Are we really going to watch this?” she asked. “I mean, I sort of thought we’d just spend the next few weeks drinking and kayaking. Not seeing kids fighting to the death.”
“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport,” the woman on the armchair said, flicking her wavy, black hair over her shoulders. “You used to love this sort of thing.”
“Yeah,” the redhead said. “And I’m not saying I wouldn’t enjoy revisiting this. I dunno. Maybe my tastes have changed with age. I'm not as excited to view this again.”
“I agree with Shanna,” the gangly man on the ottoman said. “Do we need to watch this?”
“Well, I think we have a majority-rule,” Reed said. “Norman, Celestine, and myself want to watch it. Shanna, Amory, you can leave the room if you don’t want to.”
“Nah, I’ll stay,” Shanna said. “It’s just…”
“Just what?” Reed asked.
Shanna shrugged.
“I don’t know. I thought we put this sort of event behind us in college.”
Reed chuckled to himself.
“Come on, Shanna. You watch the Superbowl every year. You watch the Oscars. What’s wrong with watching one of our favorite sports and engaging in some of that good-ole nostalgia, for old times sake?”
It had been quite some time since Shanna had willingly watched Survival of the Fittest, but she understood what Reed was suggesting.
The year was 2005. Shanna was in her final year of her undergrad at Harvard. She and her friends had been busy with finals and grad school applications, when Reed one day approached the group and asked them if they had been watching the new show on television. It was called Survival of the Fittest, and soon, everyone was talking about it. The quintet had gathered around the television in Reed’s apartment and had been gripped by the drama. They watched it religiously, the television in Reed’s place never going cold. They had to attend classes and deal with other matters during this, but they always returned, excited to see the next twist and the latest drama. It wasn’t until Adam Dodd reigned victorious that the group had felt content to have seen the entire spectacle unfold.
The following year, to their surprise, the series returned. Yes, there had been talk about how the show was a terrorist attack and the people who died were real teenagers abducted and murdered. And yet, the five of them gathered again at Reed’s apartment to watch when the series found itself on their airwaves. They placed bets with one another, they chatted on message boards, and they shared artwork and pieces they found on the internet. Even the finale had some personal drama, as Celestine had shown up dressed as Mariavel Varella and squared up to Norman and his Bryan Calvert fanboying. The fight soon subsided when Bryan prevailed, but it meant Norman and Celestine wouldn’t be talking for a while. And they didn't, not for the next three weeks.
In 2007, as Shanna was finishing up her MBA, Reed once again called the group over when the third game began. At this point, the whole ritual had taken form. Amory brought snacks, Reed provided the venue, Celestine kept the alcohol supply steady, Norman gathered the odds and predictions, and Shanna merely watched. She watched as J.R. Rizzolo won after committing horrible acts against various members of his class. Even if it disgusted her, she couldn’t help but continue watching. Not if the friend she had known since freshman year were so intrigued by it.
By 2008, when the fourth version came, the group was starting to stagnate. By now, everyone was in their mid-twenties and focusing on starting their lives. Shanna was to return to Florida after her year-long internship and work at her family’s business. Norman had started his Ph.D program, while Reed was close to finishing law school. Celestine was already talking about moving away from Boston to pursue new opportunities in New York City, while Amory barely saw the group. They all knew this would be the last time they could watch Survival of the Fittest, and that melancholic air hung over them as Kimberly Nguyen got her revenge on Kris Hartmann and managed to be the sole survivor following Ilario’s suicide.
Of course, the public opinion of the game had changed. The quintet had spent a good part of their youth watching the game when it was less taboo to watch. But by the end of Version 4, it was seen as tasteless, merchandise was being pulled, and the 30-plus survivors made it clear that society wouldn’t tolerate any open fans of the game. The group had their time to enjoy Survival of the Fittest as a televised competition, but society was moving on, and so did they.
Shanna had returned to Florida and dove into her family’s sugar business. She still kept in touch with the rest of the group, although her visits with them were sparse. She saw them at Celestine’s wedding when Shanna had to stand in a gaudy maroon dress as one of her bridesmaids. She had seen Reed and Norman when she returned to Boston for a work trip. She didn’t really get to see Amory. He had moved to teach at Notre Dame, and she rarely found herself in those parts.
Over the next ten years, Shanna was able to put the odd following behind her. She’d get messages from Reed asking if she saw Survival of the Fittest had returned in 2012, and while she did read the news, she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She had a business to run, so it was easier to ignore. It was much of the same in 2015 when the game happened again. She could offer thoughts and prayers to the victims and donate proceeds to the survivor funds, but there wasn’t much else to think of.
It wasn’t until last year that she ran into all four again. Reed’s father, who Shanna and the others had gotten to know quite well in their time at Harvard, had passed away. They all convened in Boston to offer their respects to Kabir Banerjee and to catch up. Shanna was surprised by how much the group had changed over the last seven years.
Reed had taken over his father’s place at the law firm of Banerjee, Horvath, and Marzano LLC. He had done outstanding work for local businesses and had carried on Kabir’s legacy quite well. Norman, meanwhile, was now a professor of statistics at Harvard, also having followed in his father’s footsteps. Shanna was also pleased to see Norman and his wife Dena had finally welcomed a baby boy into their family the previous year, so seeing little Aldo Shafer touched her heart.
Amory, meanwhile, had barely spoken about himself. He was still teaching music at Notre Dame and working on music projects, but most of his work was online. He did mention he had been living with a woman named Willa for the last few years, but he didn’t have much else to say. Celestine, meanwhile, had a lot to say. She had moved to Toronto a year after she arrived in NYC to marry a man named Yuri, and now they had twin daughters, Titania and Ursula. Celestine was living the high life as a Toronto socialite and philanthropist, so she couldn’t stop radiating happiness during the solemn funeral.
To Shanna’s surprise, once all five were in the same room, it was almost exactly like old times. They fell back into their old routines, asking if anyone remembered specific events, any school events they participated in, any pranks that were pulled, and they were making themselves laugh as they remembered their good ole college years. It was during this that Amory made an interesting comment.
“It sure is a shame we don’t see each other that often.”
Much like a dam breaking after a heavy rainstorm, that was when everything fell into place. Reed, naturally, had orchestrated the entire plot. The next summer, the group would take two weeks to stay at the beach house Reed owned in Rockport. They’d spend their days drinking, reminiscing, and enjoying the beach. Everything would be provided for, so all they had to do was show up. Shanna, swept up in the thrill of the suggestion, agreed with the others. The dates were set, arrangements were made, and one-by-one, they all showed up at Reed’s home, ready for the five of them to have the secluded vacation they had all sorely been lacking with their lives.
Unfortunately, as they all arrived and unloaded their goods, the news came rolling in. Survival of the Fittest had returned. Now the fantasized days of drinking wine while watching the sunset on the beach had vanished, and the five had stayed in the house, keeping an eye on the news. Reed had mentioned he wanted to check something, and had gotten to work tracking the streams down on his computer.
Now, as they looked at the site hosting all the streams, they had to sit and wonder what to do.
“So, how many are dead so far?” Norman asked.
Celestine looked at her phone.
“Looks like just four,” she said, reading a web page on her phone’s internet browser. “Some boy named Abel started it off. A few more have died since then. Let’s see… Dante Valiero, Toby Underwood, and Violet Quinn.”
“So with 159 to start, we’re down to 155,” Norman said. “Interesting.”
“How so?” Shanna asked.
“Well, it’s not that interesting,” Norman said. “But it’s a good number.”
“Yes, a good number,” Reed said, stroking his chin.
“Yeah, I guess it’s a good number,” Amory said. “But I don’t see the point. I mean, we could watch people die horribly like we did back in school, but what’s the takeaway?”
“You’re right,” Reed said. “There is no takeaway.”
“Oh,” Celestine said. “Then should we find something else to do or-”
“So let’s make there be something to takeaway.”
The other four looked at Reed as he set his laptop aside and stood before them.
“You know, it’d be one thing to just watch the streams and comment on this all. But why don’t we make it more interesting?” he asked.
“How so?” Norman asked.
Reed smiled. “Do any of you play fantasy football?”
“I do,” Norman said.
Amory and the women shook their heads.
“Well, I played a sort-of fantasy league for Version 6,” Reed explained. “Believe it or not, there’s a lot of people who do that sort of thing, and it’s easy to find games online if you know where to look.”
“You were betting on the kids dying?” Amory asked.
“No, I was betting on which kids would live,” Reed said. “It didn’t work in the end. I put most of my stock on that Kao girl and my hopes blew up in my face. Just as much as that bomb blew up in hers.”
“Dude…” Shanna muttered.
“But you know, it’s one thing to play the game with a bunch of faceless strangers,” Reed continued, “but when it’s friends, it’s a lot more interesting.”
“It is?” Celestine asked.
“Yes. How about this?” Reed began.
Reed pointed at the screen.
“We can leave the stream playing here. That way, we’ll know each day who lives and who doesn’t. But we start playing now. We divide the 155 students among the five of us and keep a bank. 155 divided by 5 gives us 31 students each. Every day, we cross of the number of people who die each round. We can trade students with one another, but every morning, we update our numbers. If you run out of students, you’re out of the game. At the end, whoever possesses the winning student wins the whole game. If there is an escape and more people get out, then whoever possesses the most survivors including the winner is the winner of our game.”
“So why would we do that?” Norman asked. “We’re all pretty well-off, so unless we’re going to be bored, rich assholes who bet on weird sport like those Vegas guys from Rat Race-”
“Norman, we’re not like them,” Reed said. “I have an idea for the bet.”
Reed paced around the room.
“We’ll each bet one thing. It can be a possession, a favor, a secret, anything. We’ll write them down, seal them in envelopes, and lock them away. At the end, whoever wins will open the envelopes and reveal the four items they have won.”
“So we can risk anything we want? But why?” Shanna asked. “I mean, if there’s a 4 in 5 chance of losing, why would we want to risk anything?”
“Well, Shan,” Reed said. “I’m glad you asked. Don’t you want to know what I’d want to give up? Or Norman? Or Cel, or Amory?”
“Wouldn’t any of you like to think of what the others might find so worthy of gambling? These kids are risking their lives, so why don’t we do something similar? It’d be more exciting than just spectating and commenting.”
The others fell silent. Celestine then shrugged.
“I’m in,” she said. “Honestly, I’ve been pretty bored lately, and I think this might be the sort of vacation fun I need. Plus, it sounds like we don't have to do too much and can still make it interesting.”
Norman nodded. “Sure. I’ll play too.”
“Great,” Reed said. “Shanna? Amory? What about you two?”
Amory shook his head.
“Honestly, I don’t see the point. Like, what could I give you guys you’d want? And why would I even want to risk something I consider valuable?”
“That’s up to you,” Reed said. “But tell me, Amory, wouldn’t it bother you to not be included? To not have a stake in this? To watch all of us have fun while you’re in the corner doing nothing? Do you really want to be so alone on this trip?”
Amory fell silent.
“Fine,” he said. “I guess I can play.”
“Wonderful,” Reed said. “That just leaves Shanna.”
Shanna paused. She looked around the room at her old college friends, about to gamble on human lives and the misery. She thought about what they figured they’d all risk and what they’d want to offer up in exchange for the teenagers who were dying halfway across the world. After a few minutes, she let out a long sigh.
“Okay. I’ll play,” she said. “If anything, I just want to see you actually lose for once, Reed.”
“Hah. Good to know, Shan,” he said. “So, let me formalize the rules and we’ll get started."
After a few moments, the game was set. Reed found some notebook paper and wrote all the rules out, taping them on the wall near the television.
Rules
1. All five players will possess 31 students at the start of the game.
2. Every morning, the Game Master (to be decided each day) will tally the victims and remove them from the board.
3. Whichever player has the most surviving students each day will be the game master. If there is a tie, all players in the tie will be Game Master.
4. Game Master will possess the key to the prize box and will inspect it before each player that morning.
5. After the prize box has been inspected, trades and gifts may begin. Any player is allowed to swap with any other player or gift them a student to increase their numbers. Players may not swap or gift once they have five or fewer students left in their bank.
6. If a player runs out of students, they are out of the game. They are not allowed to receive any gifts once they hit zero. At the next prize box inspection, the losing player’s wagered item will be revealed to all players.
7. Whoever possesses the winning student will be the winner and will acquire all four wagered items of the other players. If an escape attempt occurs, the player with the most surviving students in their pool will win. The game’s official winner can count alongside any surviving students they have.
8. Trades and gifts can only occur at the morning meeting. Any deals outside that are forbidden. Discussion of trades and gifts to be performed at the next announcement is permitted.
9. Any player found breaking the rules is automatically disqualified and all their students will be divided evenly among the remaining players.
10. The Game Master is expected to adhere and enforce all rules. They may give up their daily game master privileges to one other player still in the game. If the Game Master breaks the rules and it caught, they are disqualified, and their remaining student will be divided among the remaining players.
Reed had also produced a box that required a key to unlock. He gave each person in the house a card and an envelope. They were instructed to write down the item they were betting, then place it in the envelope before it was sealed with wax. Once all five envelopes were placed, Reed sealed the box.
“Alright,” he said. “I’ll be Game Master for today. Now, let’s divide the students.”
The process was simple. Reed read the name of a student from the list of abducted students he found online, and they’d call out if they wanted them or not. Reed didn’t offer any descriptions to avoid any attempt to pick based off who had kills this early on. After some time, all five of them had 31 names, etched onto a dry erase board Reed had brought in from his garage.
“Okay. Let’s see how this plays out,” he said. “Good luck, everyone.”
Norman laughed.
“Man, you were way too prepared for this,” he told Reed. “It’s like you knew this game was going to happen.”
“No,” Reed said, “but I had been thinking of it for a few hours, so I was just waiting for the right time to unveil it.”
“You have quite the crafty mind,” Celestine said.
“He is a lawyer,” Amory said.
“Well, anyways,” Reed said. “Let’s let the game play out. I’m sure we’re in for some surprises.”
Reed pressed some buttons on his computer, and the video started. And thus began the game that, for the next few days, would capture the minds of the five men and women in this house, and would forever change their relationships.
The Games We Used to Play
Rockport, MA; ongoing
Day 2, July 14, 2018
“Alright. Good morning, everyone,” Reed said, standing before the white board. “How are we all doing today?”
Amory let out a short groan. The others had remained quiet. Even though it was supposed to be a vacation, the five of them all found themselves awake and sitting in the living room, spread out on the furniture in sweat pants and other casual sleepwear. Reed had been the first to wake up and scoured the internet for information about who had died on the first day.
“Now, before we begin, I have something to say,” Reed told the others. “So, I know we said we were going to take out the first four to die in order to evenly divide the contestants among the five of us, but according to the official death tally, some of those people died later than others. So let it be known that the standings are definitely going to be off to begin with.”
“Hey, that website I checked said those four were the first to die,” Celestine protested, raising her hand up from under the pink knit blanket she wrapped herself in.
“Well, clearly,” Reed said, through a forced smile, “you were wrong.”
“Maybe the site was still updating when she was reading it,” Norman said. “Besides, you permitted it without double checking, so I think this falls more on you, Reed.”
Reed rolled his eyes.
“Right. I guess I should have consulted the statitician first,” Reed said.
Norman raised a mug of coffee to his mouth.
“You could have,” Norman muttered to himself as he took a sip.
Shanna shook her head, her red hair flopping around in a side plait.
“Look, can we just move on?” she asked. “The end result will be the same, and this just seems like the kind of chaos theory that comes from spontaneous planning. I’m sure we’ll realize we fucked up elsewhere down the road, but let’s just see where we are.”
Reed smiled at Shanna.
“Thank you, Shan, for getting us back on track.”
Shanna rolled her eyes. She noticed Amory sitting quietly on the ottoman, his gaze looking off towards one of the large windows overlooking the coast.
“Anyways, discounting the four who Celestine removed from play,” Reed began, “that means we have five people to take off the board. So, let’s take them out of the running.”
Reed read out the names of the students who had died. As he did, he moved the marker over the names of the students on the board. Once he was done, he erased the numbers listing how many students each player had left and wrote in the new numbers.
“So, in last place, having lost two kids each, are myself and Amory. Such a shame,” he said.
Amory shrugged, his first real acknowledgement of the entire ordeal.
“That leaves Celestine in third, having lost one kid.”
“Hey, better than losing two,” she said.
“Which means we have a tie for Day 1,” Reed finished. “Neither Norman nor Shanna lost a single person.”
“Okay,” Norman said, clapping his hands together. “Not bad.”
He turned to Shanna for approval. She shrugged.
“Sure, I guess.”
“So we have a tie. Then what?” Celestine asked.
Reed smiled, pointing to the rules list.
“Well, both Norman and Shanna can be Game Master,” he said.
“But isn’t that a bit weird?” Celestine asked. “I mean, they both get to hold the key and lead the game tomorrow. Sounds easy to exploit.”
“Ah, so there’s more of that chaos theory,” Norman said.
“It’s not chaos theory,” Reed insisted. “Fine. How about this? The people in the tie can decide that one person can be Game Master. So, Norman, Shanna, would one of you like to concede?”
Norman and Shanna looked to one another. Shanna kept her expression neutral, while Norman slowly smiled.
“Well, I think the gentlemanly thing to do would be to let the lady have the first day,” he said. “I don’t think I need the key that badly, and I think we’d all prefer Shanna to lead this tomorrow.”
“You would,” Celestine muttered under her breath.
“Well, if Shanna’s fine with Norman’s chivalry, she can be our first day winner,” Reed said, eyeing Shanna in anticipation for her response.
Shanna glanced around. Reed and Norman both looked at her with interest. Amory was still looking out at the window, while Celestine seemed more interested in something under her fingernail. Shanna shrugged.
“Fine. I’ll take it.”
Reed clapped.
“It’s settled. Shanna is our new Game Master. She will hold the prize key and manage the game until she’s defeated.”
Reed reached into his pocket and fished out a key. He handed it over to Shanna, who stared at the key in her hand.
“Use it well,” Reed said.
“Uh, sure,” Shanna said, her gaze still on the key.
Amory stood up from the ottoman and stretched.
“So we’re done? I’m gonna take a shower.”
Amory walked out of the room before anyone said anything. Reed smirked as Amory left, then turned back to Shanna.
“Well, now that Shanna leads, I think we should move on and enjoy our day,” Reed said. “I’m sure everyone has stuff they want to do.”
“Yeah,” Shanna said, pocketing the key. “I was probably gonna go into town.”
“I need to walk,” Cleestine said. “I need to get some cardio in.”
She then noticed Norman sitting next to Shanna, starring at her.
“Norm,” Celestine said, “would you like to come with me?”
Norman glanced over. “Pardon?”
“On a walk,” she said. “Would you like to come with me?”
“Yeah, Norman,” Reed said. “Do you want to come with her? Don’t be so quick to reply.”
Norman rolled his eyes.
“I dunno, Cel,” he said. “I’m not one for early morning walks.”
Shanna stood up and walked away from the group. Seeing her go, Celestine moved over to sit next to Norman.
“Come on, Norman,” she said. “I feel like we don’t talk as much as we used to. That’s what this trip is for.”
Norman looked at Celestine, then over to Reed and his smirk. He bit the inside of his cheek, then turned back to the woman next to him.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Norman stood up while Celestine slightly bounced in her seat.
“Awesome. I’ll go get ready,” she said, jumping off the couch and leaving the room. Norman watched Celestine run out of the room, his eyes tracing her body as she walked. Norman could hear Reed chuckling to himself.
“What’s so funny?” Norman asked, turning back to Reed.
“Nothing. Just never thought I’d see you so excited to spend time with Celestine. Granted, you’d do anything a pretty woman would ask you to do,” Reed said.
“Oh please, not anything,” Norman said.
“Not even oral?” Reed asked. “Gosh, don’t you treat your wife on Valentine’s Day?”
Norman rolled his eyes. He was about to respond when he felt his phone vibrate. As the first few notes of his ringtone began, he looked at the screen.
DENA
Norman rolled his eyes and hit the silence button. He put his phone down and looked back at Reed.
“Oh, Reed,” Norman said. “Maybe with the way you waggle that tongue of yours so much, you can teach me a thing or two about eating pussy. But I think you’re too busy tasting defeat in this game to have anything worthwhile to do with your mouth, so I guess we’ll have to take a raincheck.”
Reed’s smirk disappeared, transferred to Norman’s face. Norman stood up, patting Reed on the back.
“Don’t worry. Maybe you can use your mouth for something to help you win. I gotta go.”
Norman happily walked away as Reed stood there slackjawed. Norman had never stood up to him before, not in their 20 years of friendship. Was he just riding the high of being ahead in this game? That had to be it, Reed thought to himself. A weakling like Norman was never that confident.
Reed felt his phone start to ring in his pocket. He pulled it out and groaned at the screen.
STEPHANIE
“Oh, fuck off,” he muttered to himself, silencing his phone.
He was too mad to talk to her. She was probably just calling because Norman ignored Dena. Otherwise, she was just calling to talk about that, and Reed was in no mood to discuss it. He was on vacation, after all. He was supposed to do things he enjoyed.
With that, Reed sat down on the catch and resumed the streams on the television. Maybe he’d feel better after seeing some more drama from these kids.
In her bedroom, Shanna looked at the key. It felt weird to hold it. Sure, the key was just to keep an eye on a box of envelopes, but to be trusted with such a burden felt heavy to her. Maybe it’s because of what she knew was in her envelope, maybe it was because they were expecting her to see what everyone else put in their envelopes, but she knew all eyes were on her. Suddenly, she was back at her cotillion, and she definitely didn’t want to revisit that.
Shanna opened the bedside dresser and dropped the key inside. She then pulled out a plastic pill bottle and opened it up.
“Man, it’s too early to feel this way,” she muttered to herself as she shook a pill out into her hand.
She quickly put the pill in her mouth and dry-swallowed it. She groaned and laid down on her bed, rubbing her temples. This was going to be a long vacation.
“Hah! I can’t believe you said that,” Celestine said as she and Norman walked along the neighborhood path.
The house was located in a small vacation area, with small paths leading all around the coast. Celestine and Norman picked a direction and began to make their way to the beach.
“Yeah, it felt super good,” Norman said. “Reed’s even more smug than usual. And all just because he thinks he came up with a good idea for a game. Like, come one, man.”
“Well, it is already interesting,” Celestine said. “I mean, Shanna, of all people, is winning. I don’t even think she wants to play.”
“Eh, she probably just doesn’t want to be left out,” Norman said. “I think a southern belle like her just likes to be included.”
“Hmm. Well, I think she just wants to win so she can act like she has some moral high ground. She was always kind of proud about that.”
“Really? She didn’t seem to have issues when we would watch the show back in school.”
“You probably didn’t see it, but Shanna started moralizing more towards the end of V4,” Celestine explained. “It always came off as kind of fake, but I think she was just using it to cover up something.”
“Cover up? Like what?”
Celestine shook her head.
“I don’t know. It was the sort of thing that never came up in girl talk.”
“Well, I doubt Shanna will always be leading,” Norman said. “I tried to do some reading last night, and I think some of her kids won’t be lasting much longer according to some oddsmakers.”
“Yeah, actually, about that,” Celestine said.
Celestine stopped walking. Norman turned around and stared at her, her gorgeous black hair blowing in the seaside wind. He could see a smile starting to form on her lips.
“Norman,” she began. “Why don’t we try to make this game more interesting?”
Later that night, Shanna rolled out of bed, rubbing the back of her neck. She could hardly sleep. It had been a while since she had a truly good night’s sleep, and now she was up at 1 am and feeling pathetic. She stepped out of her bedroom, gingerly walking towards the kitchen. It had been an uneventful day since they split. Shanna went to town to do some shopping, but everyone else seemed preoccupied. They had all hardly said anything over dinner.
As she stepped into the kitchen, she noticed a light in the living room was on. She stepped in, wondering who else was up. When she did, she noticed Amory sitting in a corner chair, the floor lamp beside it on. He was in his pajamas, his head leaning against the window. His eyes were open, but starring off into the distance. Shanna moved in closer.
“Amory?” she asked.
Amory didn’t respond.
“Amory?”
Amory snapped up, his gaze quickly turning to Shanna.
“Hey, are you having trouble sleeping too?” she asked.
She stared at Amory. Amory averted his gaze, then stood up. He quickly moved past Shanna and down the hall to his room. Shanna looked as Amory disappeared into the darkness.
“Wonder what that was about?” she asked.
She moved over and turned off the lamp. She’d have to talk to Amory in the morning.
“Alright. Good morning, everyone,” Reed said, standing before the white board. “How are we all doing today?”
Amory let out a short groan. The others had remained quiet. Even though it was supposed to be a vacation, the five of them all found themselves awake and sitting in the living room, spread out on the furniture in sweat pants and other casual sleepwear. Reed had been the first to wake up and scoured the internet for information about who had died on the first day.
“Now, before we begin, I have something to say,” Reed told the others. “So, I know we said we were going to take out the first four to die in order to evenly divide the contestants among the five of us, but according to the official death tally, some of those people died later than others. So let it be known that the standings are definitely going to be off to begin with.”
“Hey, that website I checked said those four were the first to die,” Celestine protested, raising her hand up from under the pink knit blanket she wrapped herself in.
“Well, clearly,” Reed said, through a forced smile, “you were wrong.”
“Maybe the site was still updating when she was reading it,” Norman said. “Besides, you permitted it without double checking, so I think this falls more on you, Reed.”
Reed rolled his eyes.
“Right. I guess I should have consulted the statitician first,” Reed said.
Norman raised a mug of coffee to his mouth.
“You could have,” Norman muttered to himself as he took a sip.
Shanna shook her head, her red hair flopping around in a side plait.
“Look, can we just move on?” she asked. “The end result will be the same, and this just seems like the kind of chaos theory that comes from spontaneous planning. I’m sure we’ll realize we fucked up elsewhere down the road, but let’s just see where we are.”
Reed smiled at Shanna.
“Thank you, Shan, for getting us back on track.”
Shanna rolled her eyes. She noticed Amory sitting quietly on the ottoman, his gaze looking off towards one of the large windows overlooking the coast.
“Anyways, discounting the four who Celestine removed from play,” Reed began, “that means we have five people to take off the board. So, let’s take them out of the running.”
Reed read out the names of the students who had died. As he did, he moved the marker over the names of the students on the board. Once he was done, he erased the numbers listing how many students each player had left and wrote in the new numbers.
“So, in last place, having lost two kids each, are myself and Amory. Such a shame,” he said.
Amory shrugged, his first real acknowledgement of the entire ordeal.
“That leaves Celestine in third, having lost one kid.”
“Hey, better than losing two,” she said.
“Which means we have a tie for Day 1,” Reed finished. “Neither Norman nor Shanna lost a single person.”
“Okay,” Norman said, clapping his hands together. “Not bad.”
He turned to Shanna for approval. She shrugged.
“Sure, I guess.”
“So we have a tie. Then what?” Celestine asked.
Reed smiled, pointing to the rules list.
“Well, both Norman and Shanna can be Game Master,” he said.
“But isn’t that a bit weird?” Celestine asked. “I mean, they both get to hold the key and lead the game tomorrow. Sounds easy to exploit.”
“Ah, so there’s more of that chaos theory,” Norman said.
“It’s not chaos theory,” Reed insisted. “Fine. How about this? The people in the tie can decide that one person can be Game Master. So, Norman, Shanna, would one of you like to concede?”
Norman and Shanna looked to one another. Shanna kept her expression neutral, while Norman slowly smiled.
“Well, I think the gentlemanly thing to do would be to let the lady have the first day,” he said. “I don’t think I need the key that badly, and I think we’d all prefer Shanna to lead this tomorrow.”
“You would,” Celestine muttered under her breath.
“Well, if Shanna’s fine with Norman’s chivalry, she can be our first day winner,” Reed said, eyeing Shanna in anticipation for her response.
Shanna glanced around. Reed and Norman both looked at her with interest. Amory was still looking out at the window, while Celestine seemed more interested in something under her fingernail. Shanna shrugged.
“Fine. I’ll take it.”
Reed clapped.
“It’s settled. Shanna is our new Game Master. She will hold the prize key and manage the game until she’s defeated.”
Reed reached into his pocket and fished out a key. He handed it over to Shanna, who stared at the key in her hand.
“Use it well,” Reed said.
“Uh, sure,” Shanna said, her gaze still on the key.
Amory stood up from the ottoman and stretched.
“So we’re done? I’m gonna take a shower.”
Amory walked out of the room before anyone said anything. Reed smirked as Amory left, then turned back to Shanna.
“Well, now that Shanna leads, I think we should move on and enjoy our day,” Reed said. “I’m sure everyone has stuff they want to do.”
“Yeah,” Shanna said, pocketing the key. “I was probably gonna go into town.”
“I need to walk,” Cleestine said. “I need to get some cardio in.”
She then noticed Norman sitting next to Shanna, starring at her.
“Norm,” Celestine said, “would you like to come with me?”
Norman glanced over. “Pardon?”
“On a walk,” she said. “Would you like to come with me?”
“Yeah, Norman,” Reed said. “Do you want to come with her? Don’t be so quick to reply.”
Norman rolled his eyes.
“I dunno, Cel,” he said. “I’m not one for early morning walks.”
Shanna stood up and walked away from the group. Seeing her go, Celestine moved over to sit next to Norman.
“Come on, Norman,” she said. “I feel like we don’t talk as much as we used to. That’s what this trip is for.”
Norman looked at Celestine, then over to Reed and his smirk. He bit the inside of his cheek, then turned back to the woman next to him.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Norman stood up while Celestine slightly bounced in her seat.
“Awesome. I’ll go get ready,” she said, jumping off the couch and leaving the room. Norman watched Celestine run out of the room, his eyes tracing her body as she walked. Norman could hear Reed chuckling to himself.
“What’s so funny?” Norman asked, turning back to Reed.
“Nothing. Just never thought I’d see you so excited to spend time with Celestine. Granted, you’d do anything a pretty woman would ask you to do,” Reed said.
“Oh please, not anything,” Norman said.
“Not even oral?” Reed asked. “Gosh, don’t you treat your wife on Valentine’s Day?”
Norman rolled his eyes. He was about to respond when he felt his phone vibrate. As the first few notes of his ringtone began, he looked at the screen.
DENA
Norman rolled his eyes and hit the silence button. He put his phone down and looked back at Reed.
“Oh, Reed,” Norman said. “Maybe with the way you waggle that tongue of yours so much, you can teach me a thing or two about eating pussy. But I think you’re too busy tasting defeat in this game to have anything worthwhile to do with your mouth, so I guess we’ll have to take a raincheck.”
Reed’s smirk disappeared, transferred to Norman’s face. Norman stood up, patting Reed on the back.
“Don’t worry. Maybe you can use your mouth for something to help you win. I gotta go.”
Norman happily walked away as Reed stood there slackjawed. Norman had never stood up to him before, not in their 20 years of friendship. Was he just riding the high of being ahead in this game? That had to be it, Reed thought to himself. A weakling like Norman was never that confident.
Reed felt his phone start to ring in his pocket. He pulled it out and groaned at the screen.
STEPHANIE
“Oh, fuck off,” he muttered to himself, silencing his phone.
He was too mad to talk to her. She was probably just calling because Norman ignored Dena. Otherwise, she was just calling to talk about that, and Reed was in no mood to discuss it. He was on vacation, after all. He was supposed to do things he enjoyed.
With that, Reed sat down on the catch and resumed the streams on the television. Maybe he’d feel better after seeing some more drama from these kids.
In her bedroom, Shanna looked at the key. It felt weird to hold it. Sure, the key was just to keep an eye on a box of envelopes, but to be trusted with such a burden felt heavy to her. Maybe it’s because of what she knew was in her envelope, maybe it was because they were expecting her to see what everyone else put in their envelopes, but she knew all eyes were on her. Suddenly, she was back at her cotillion, and she definitely didn’t want to revisit that.
Shanna opened the bedside dresser and dropped the key inside. She then pulled out a plastic pill bottle and opened it up.
“Man, it’s too early to feel this way,” she muttered to herself as she shook a pill out into her hand.
She quickly put the pill in her mouth and dry-swallowed it. She groaned and laid down on her bed, rubbing her temples. This was going to be a long vacation.
“Hah! I can’t believe you said that,” Celestine said as she and Norman walked along the neighborhood path.
The house was located in a small vacation area, with small paths leading all around the coast. Celestine and Norman picked a direction and began to make their way to the beach.
“Yeah, it felt super good,” Norman said. “Reed’s even more smug than usual. And all just because he thinks he came up with a good idea for a game. Like, come one, man.”
“Well, it is already interesting,” Celestine said. “I mean, Shanna, of all people, is winning. I don’t even think she wants to play.”
“Eh, she probably just doesn’t want to be left out,” Norman said. “I think a southern belle like her just likes to be included.”
“Hmm. Well, I think she just wants to win so she can act like she has some moral high ground. She was always kind of proud about that.”
“Really? She didn’t seem to have issues when we would watch the show back in school.”
“You probably didn’t see it, but Shanna started moralizing more towards the end of V4,” Celestine explained. “It always came off as kind of fake, but I think she was just using it to cover up something.”
“Cover up? Like what?”
Celestine shook her head.
“I don’t know. It was the sort of thing that never came up in girl talk.”
“Well, I doubt Shanna will always be leading,” Norman said. “I tried to do some reading last night, and I think some of her kids won’t be lasting much longer according to some oddsmakers.”
“Yeah, actually, about that,” Celestine said.
Celestine stopped walking. Norman turned around and stared at her, her gorgeous black hair blowing in the seaside wind. He could see a smile starting to form on her lips.
“Norman,” she began. “Why don’t we try to make this game more interesting?”
Later that night, Shanna rolled out of bed, rubbing the back of her neck. She could hardly sleep. It had been a while since she had a truly good night’s sleep, and now she was up at 1 am and feeling pathetic. She stepped out of her bedroom, gingerly walking towards the kitchen. It had been an uneventful day since they split. Shanna went to town to do some shopping, but everyone else seemed preoccupied. They had all hardly said anything over dinner.
As she stepped into the kitchen, she noticed a light in the living room was on. She stepped in, wondering who else was up. When she did, she noticed Amory sitting in a corner chair, the floor lamp beside it on. He was in his pajamas, his head leaning against the window. His eyes were open, but starring off into the distance. Shanna moved in closer.
“Amory?” she asked.
Amory didn’t respond.
“Amory?”
Amory snapped up, his gaze quickly turning to Shanna.
“Hey, are you having trouble sleeping too?” she asked.
She stared at Amory. Amory averted his gaze, then stood up. He quickly moved past Shanna and down the hall to his room. Shanna looked as Amory disappeared into the darkness.
“Wonder what that was about?” she asked.
She moved over and turned off the lamp. She’d have to talk to Amory in the morning.
Day 3, July 15, 2018
“And then there’s the double whammy of Regina Petrov and Caroline Ford,” Reed said, reading off his laptop.
Shanna moved the marker over the names, crossing out the names listed under Reed and Celestine’s names. She quickly capped the marker and began to count the names under each person. The second announcement had been announced a few minutes ago, and now, as Game Master, Shanna had to go through the list and figure out who was left. She wasn’t too pleased with this, but figured it’d be easy to just cross the names off the board than do much else. Besides, she wouldn’t have to do this much longer.
“Okay, going by my count,” Shanna said. “It looks like Reed and Celestine have 26 kids left, I have 27, and Norman and Amory have 28. I guess Norman and Amory are today’s winners.”
She gave a weak fist raise in the air.
“Congrats, I guess,” she said.
Norman smirked, stroking his chin.
“Well, I guess this says I have quite the best luck here,” he said. “Two days, two wins.”
“The names were assigned randomly,” Reed reminded Norman. “Luck is all it took.”
“Yes, luck is why I’m on top, and why you’ve been on the bottom both days,” Norman replied.
Reed rolled his eyes, while Celestine giggled to herself.
“Nice job,” she said, scooching closer to Norman. “Keep it up.”
Shanna ignored the discussion and checked the box of envelopes. Everything was still sealed, so she closed and locked the box.
“Okay, I don’t see any tampering,” she began. “So I guess I give the key to...Norman? Or Amory?”
She turned to Amory. He had his legs up on the couch and pulled to his chest. He was balancing a coffee mug on his knee.
“Amory can have it if he wants,” Norman said. “I’m just happy to have this streak.”
“I don’t want it,” Amory quickly stated. “You can be in charge.”
Norman shrugged. “Alright. I can take this burden upon myself. Thanks, Ame.”
Shanna walked over and handed the key to Norman. Norman smiled and rubbed his thumb over the key in his hand. He then stood up and walked to the front of the room.
“Well, this was a good day,” Norman said. “We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning to see where the next day will take us.”
He stomped a foot on the ground.
“Meeting adjourned,” he said.
Reed rolled his eyes. Amory stood up and began to walk back to the kitchen. Reed turned back and looked towards Amory.
“Hey, where are you going? You should bask in your success,” Reed asked Amory.
“I can celebrate privately,” Amory said. “I don’t need to have others heap praise on me.”
“Hm, I would have thought you’d be someone who needs that,” Reed said.
“Reed, don’t be a dick,” Shanna said.
“I’m fine,” Amory said. “It doesn’t matter at all.”
“It does matter,” Celestine said, standing up from the couch and walking over to Amory. “He’s jealous of you and you have a right to stand up for yourself.”
She smiled at Amory.
“After all, I liked it when you were assertive.”
Amory stared at Celestine.
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Amory said.
Amory set his mug on the kitchen counter and walked towards his bedroom, leaving Celestine behind. Reed raised his eyebrows.
“Okay, guess he’s off to compose a song or something,” Reed said.
Celestine rolled her eyes and turned back to Reed.
“You sure are acting quite haughty despite being on the bottom,” Celestine said. “Maybe Amory just needs some support.”
“Sure. Because you were always so supportive of him back in school.”
“I was a darling to him. I was a muse,” Celestine said.
“Right. And that’s why everyone knows the power ballad named after you.”
“Reed, shut up already,” Norman said. “You probably should go pray to Krishna or Ganesh or whoever you worship and hope they can get you out of the bottom.”
“I don’t need my religion to help me,” Reed said. “I can affect my own place in this world, thank you very much. So you and your racist statement can just sit on that.”
“Guys, it’s too early for this kind of cock-swinging,” Shanna said. “Can we just chill out? Weren’t we going to go fishing today or something?”
“Yes,” Reed said. We can leave in a little bit. I just need to go light some incense so the stench of Norman’s morning breath dissipates.”
Reed got up from his seat and walked towards his room. Norman turned over to Shanna.
“Thanks for that,” he said. “You may not be the GM anymore, but you really are a leader.”
“Yeah, it comes from running a sugar empire,” Shanna said. “But really, I don’t think you guys need to be as harsh to one another. It’s just a game.”
“It’s not just a game,” Celestine said, walking back over and leaning over the edge of the couch, resting her arms near Norman. “The only people who would say that are people who don’t think they’ll lose. And Norman clearly doesn’t want to lose, so I think you should recognize that, Shan.”
Shanna stared at Celestine. “Sure. Whatever.”
“Of course, if you’re really that laissez-faire,” Celestine added, “maybe it’s because it’s because of what you put in that box. Maybe you’re not playing as hard as everyone else here because you’re not trying to play hard. Just little Shanna taking the easy way out.”
Shanna rolled her neck and looked at Celestine.
“Or, maybe I didn’t put something extremely valuable and risky in the box and am not so desperate to play,” she replied. “Maybe I’m not trying to upend my whole life with some dumb vacation game.”
Shanna stood up. “I’m going to go get ready. See you guys in a bit.”
Shanna walked out of the room, with Norman and Celestine staring at her. Celestine groaned.
“Christ, I can’t believe her,” Celestine said.
“Don’t worry,” Norman said. “Shanna’s only calm because she’s not in last. If there’s more stress on her, she’ll fold. You should have seen her on group projects.”
Celestine smiled. “Yeah, that’s probably true. We’ll just have to make her stress out more.”
Celestine walked around the couch and sat next to Norman, cuddling up to him.
“After all, we’re not going to be on the bottom,” she continued. “And as GM, you won’t let me stay on the bottom with Reed, won’t you?”
Norman smiled and began to stroke Celestine’s hair.
“Of course not,” he said. “I plan to ensure we win. I’ll scratch your back, and you scratch mine.”
Celestine smirked. “I’ll do more than scratch.”
Norman chuckled to himself. “I’m sure you will.”
Amory leaned back in one of the rocking chairs on the deck. He took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled. He pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. As he did, the sliding door opened and Shanna stepped out. She walked over and took a seat next to him.
“Hey, how are you holding up?” she asked.
“Fine.” Amory said, taking another drag.
Shanna stared at Amory. Amory glanced over at Shanna.
“What?” he asked. He gestured the cigarette in his fingers. “Want one?”
“No, I quit,” Shanna said. “Honestly, tobacco wasn’t helping me the way I thought it would. You know what I mean?”
Amory shook his head. “Nope. Works like magic for me.”
Amory took another drag. Shanna glanced down a bit.
“Ames, what was last night about?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Last night you were just sitting in the living room, just staring off. What was that about?”
Amory shrugged.
“I haven’t been sleeping well,” he said. “Just figured I’d get up and read a bit.”
“You weren’t reading.”
“That’s why I figured I’d do that, but then found I didn’t have it in me to read more of Where’d You Go, Bernadette?. So I thought I’d just sit there and wait until I was ready to sleep.”
“Oh,” Shanna said. “Do you need Ambien? I have some in case-”
“I don’t need pills,” Amory said. “I’m done with pills.”
“But Ambien’s fine and-”
Amory stood up and flicked his cigarette over the edge of the deck, into the dirt below.
“I’m fine. Just a bit restless. Way too much stimulus going on.”
Amory walked past Shanna and towards the door to the house. He slid it open and stepped in before Shanna could say anything. She leaned back in her seat and sighed. She then heard the door open again. She turned around, hoping to see Amory, but instead saw Reed.
Reed was talking on his cellphone as he stepped out. Shanna tried to pay him no attention so as to not eavesdrop.
“Look, Steph,” Reed said. “I’m not ready to talk about it. Just let me enjoy my trip, and we can discuss it when I get home.”
He paused, standing by the deck railing.
“Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay then. Love you.”
He hung up and sighed.
“Was that Stephanie?” Shanna asked. “How is she?”
“Fine. Fine,” Reed said. “Just some bullshit that was going on before the trip is seeping back into my life.”
“Is it bad?”
“It’s not important,” Reed said. “Look, Shan, I’m actually glad you’re here. I want to talk to you about something.”
“What is it?” she asked.
Reed paused. “So, it’s about the game.”
“Uh huh.”
“I can’t let Norman win,” Reed said. “Any of you can win, but not him. He really can’t be the winner.”
“Why not? It’s a fair game, so he could win the game you designed.”
“I know,” Reed said, sitting down in the chair Amory was in. “But… look, it pains me to admit that there are things I don’t like about myself, and don’t want others to know.”
“Okay,” Shanna said, looking incredulous.
“What I mean is...it’s the prizes.”
“The prizes?”
“Yes. I may have wagered something I don’t want to fall into Norman’s hands.”
“What is it?”
Reed bit his lower lip. “I can’t tell you.”
“And yet you still expect me to help you, or something? Is that what this is?”
“Look, all I’m saying is, I wouldn’t ask you what you put in that box,” Reed said. “So trust me when I tell you that, when this game and the winner learns what they won, things may change when my prize is revealed.”
“Change how?”
Reed tilted his head and pursed his lips. “Again, I can’t say. Point is, if you, Amory, or Celestine won, I won’t mind it being announced. If I win, no one will have to know. If Norman wins...well...I can’t let that happen.”
“So what are you asking me?” Shanna asked.
Reed moved the chair closer to Shanna, who looked a bit unnerved that Reed would get closer to her.
“Shanna,” Reed said. “I think we can win this game. And I have a plan.”
Norman looked at his phone as it began to ring. He was in the kitchen making himself some oatmeal when he was interrupted by the familiar sight on his phone.
DENA
Norman rolled his eyes and sighed. He ignored his wife yesterday, so he may as well take the call today. It wasn’t like him to ignore Dena when she called. Norman answered the phone and held it to his ear.
“Hey, Dena.”
“Hey, Norman, did you get my message yesterday?” Dena replied.
“I did,” Norman said. “Sorry, it’s been busy here so I didn’t get to listen to it.”
“It’s about Aldo,” she said. “I’m worried about him.”
“What do you mean? He’s not sick is he?”
“No, he’s fine. It’s just…”
“Dena?”
“Look. I’ve been hearing talk, and if it’s what I think it is, you may need to come home early.”
“Dena, what’s happening?”
“It’s what we feared the most.”
Norman paused. He could feel the sweat starting to bead on his forehead.
“Look. I’ll call our lawyer. Odds are we can get it to go away if it does come to that. But I don’t think it’ll happen.”
“Did you talk to Reed about it?” Dena asked. “I know you don’t want him to represent us, but-”
“Reed...might not be the best person to talk about this with,” Norman said. “Look, I gotta go, but keep me updated. I’m sure it’ll be nothing.”
“Okay,” Dena said, her voice sounding quite worried. “Oh, Aldo’s reaching for my leg. Wanna talk to him?”
“Yeah, put him on.”
Norman smiled. “Hey, buddy. How are you?”
As Norman began to chat with his son, Shanna walked past the kitchen and towards her room. Her breathing was a bit ragged. All she knew was that she wanted to get away from Reed.
Shanna walked into her bedroom, not caring that the door was open. She walked over to the bedside dresser and opened the drawer. She pulled out the pill bottle and quickly opened it. As she tried to pour a pill into her hand, she spilled a few more than expected into her palm. A few of the pills fell out and onto the floor.
“Dammit,” Shanna muttered.
She set the bottle and the pills in her hand onto the bed. She got on her knees and began to pick up the pills one by one. While Shanna was distracted, she didn’t realize that someone was standing in her doorway. If she had, she would have noticed that they were watching her, and that they slipped away before she realized they were there.
In the kitchen, Norman was finishing his call with his son. As he hung up, the person who was previously in Shanna’s doorway walked in.
“Okay, I love you buddy,” Norman said in a childish tone. “Bye bye. Bye bye.”
Norman hung up. He then noticed the other person in the kitchen.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Celestine replied. “I just saw something interesting. Something we could use.”
Celestine looked up at Norman and smiled. He smiled back. He didn’t know what she was talking about, but he always loved the way Celestine looked when she had an idea.
“And then there’s the double whammy of Regina Petrov and Caroline Ford,” Reed said, reading off his laptop.
Shanna moved the marker over the names, crossing out the names listed under Reed and Celestine’s names. She quickly capped the marker and began to count the names under each person. The second announcement had been announced a few minutes ago, and now, as Game Master, Shanna had to go through the list and figure out who was left. She wasn’t too pleased with this, but figured it’d be easy to just cross the names off the board than do much else. Besides, she wouldn’t have to do this much longer.
“Okay, going by my count,” Shanna said. “It looks like Reed and Celestine have 26 kids left, I have 27, and Norman and Amory have 28. I guess Norman and Amory are today’s winners.”
She gave a weak fist raise in the air.
“Congrats, I guess,” she said.
Norman smirked, stroking his chin.
“Well, I guess this says I have quite the best luck here,” he said. “Two days, two wins.”
“The names were assigned randomly,” Reed reminded Norman. “Luck is all it took.”
“Yes, luck is why I’m on top, and why you’ve been on the bottom both days,” Norman replied.
Reed rolled his eyes, while Celestine giggled to herself.
“Nice job,” she said, scooching closer to Norman. “Keep it up.”
Shanna ignored the discussion and checked the box of envelopes. Everything was still sealed, so she closed and locked the box.
“Okay, I don’t see any tampering,” she began. “So I guess I give the key to...Norman? Or Amory?”
She turned to Amory. He had his legs up on the couch and pulled to his chest. He was balancing a coffee mug on his knee.
“Amory can have it if he wants,” Norman said. “I’m just happy to have this streak.”
“I don’t want it,” Amory quickly stated. “You can be in charge.”
Norman shrugged. “Alright. I can take this burden upon myself. Thanks, Ame.”
Shanna walked over and handed the key to Norman. Norman smiled and rubbed his thumb over the key in his hand. He then stood up and walked to the front of the room.
“Well, this was a good day,” Norman said. “We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning to see where the next day will take us.”
He stomped a foot on the ground.
“Meeting adjourned,” he said.
Reed rolled his eyes. Amory stood up and began to walk back to the kitchen. Reed turned back and looked towards Amory.
“Hey, where are you going? You should bask in your success,” Reed asked Amory.
“I can celebrate privately,” Amory said. “I don’t need to have others heap praise on me.”
“Hm, I would have thought you’d be someone who needs that,” Reed said.
“Reed, don’t be a dick,” Shanna said.
“I’m fine,” Amory said. “It doesn’t matter at all.”
“It does matter,” Celestine said, standing up from the couch and walking over to Amory. “He’s jealous of you and you have a right to stand up for yourself.”
She smiled at Amory.
“After all, I liked it when you were assertive.”
Amory stared at Celestine.
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Amory said.
Amory set his mug on the kitchen counter and walked towards his bedroom, leaving Celestine behind. Reed raised his eyebrows.
“Okay, guess he’s off to compose a song or something,” Reed said.
Celestine rolled her eyes and turned back to Reed.
“You sure are acting quite haughty despite being on the bottom,” Celestine said. “Maybe Amory just needs some support.”
“Sure. Because you were always so supportive of him back in school.”
“I was a darling to him. I was a muse,” Celestine said.
“Right. And that’s why everyone knows the power ballad named after you.”
“Reed, shut up already,” Norman said. “You probably should go pray to Krishna or Ganesh or whoever you worship and hope they can get you out of the bottom.”
“I don’t need my religion to help me,” Reed said. “I can affect my own place in this world, thank you very much. So you and your racist statement can just sit on that.”
“Guys, it’s too early for this kind of cock-swinging,” Shanna said. “Can we just chill out? Weren’t we going to go fishing today or something?”
“Yes,” Reed said. We can leave in a little bit. I just need to go light some incense so the stench of Norman’s morning breath dissipates.”
Reed got up from his seat and walked towards his room. Norman turned over to Shanna.
“Thanks for that,” he said. “You may not be the GM anymore, but you really are a leader.”
“Yeah, it comes from running a sugar empire,” Shanna said. “But really, I don’t think you guys need to be as harsh to one another. It’s just a game.”
“It’s not just a game,” Celestine said, walking back over and leaning over the edge of the couch, resting her arms near Norman. “The only people who would say that are people who don’t think they’ll lose. And Norman clearly doesn’t want to lose, so I think you should recognize that, Shan.”
Shanna stared at Celestine. “Sure. Whatever.”
“Of course, if you’re really that laissez-faire,” Celestine added, “maybe it’s because it’s because of what you put in that box. Maybe you’re not playing as hard as everyone else here because you’re not trying to play hard. Just little Shanna taking the easy way out.”
Shanna rolled her neck and looked at Celestine.
“Or, maybe I didn’t put something extremely valuable and risky in the box and am not so desperate to play,” she replied. “Maybe I’m not trying to upend my whole life with some dumb vacation game.”
Shanna stood up. “I’m going to go get ready. See you guys in a bit.”
Shanna walked out of the room, with Norman and Celestine staring at her. Celestine groaned.
“Christ, I can’t believe her,” Celestine said.
“Don’t worry,” Norman said. “Shanna’s only calm because she’s not in last. If there’s more stress on her, she’ll fold. You should have seen her on group projects.”
Celestine smiled. “Yeah, that’s probably true. We’ll just have to make her stress out more.”
Celestine walked around the couch and sat next to Norman, cuddling up to him.
“After all, we’re not going to be on the bottom,” she continued. “And as GM, you won’t let me stay on the bottom with Reed, won’t you?”
Norman smiled and began to stroke Celestine’s hair.
“Of course not,” he said. “I plan to ensure we win. I’ll scratch your back, and you scratch mine.”
Celestine smirked. “I’ll do more than scratch.”
Norman chuckled to himself. “I’m sure you will.”
Amory leaned back in one of the rocking chairs on the deck. He took a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled. He pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. As he did, the sliding door opened and Shanna stepped out. She walked over and took a seat next to him.
“Hey, how are you holding up?” she asked.
“Fine.” Amory said, taking another drag.
Shanna stared at Amory. Amory glanced over at Shanna.
“What?” he asked. He gestured the cigarette in his fingers. “Want one?”
“No, I quit,” Shanna said. “Honestly, tobacco wasn’t helping me the way I thought it would. You know what I mean?”
Amory shook his head. “Nope. Works like magic for me.”
Amory took another drag. Shanna glanced down a bit.
“Ames, what was last night about?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Last night you were just sitting in the living room, just staring off. What was that about?”
Amory shrugged.
“I haven’t been sleeping well,” he said. “Just figured I’d get up and read a bit.”
“You weren’t reading.”
“That’s why I figured I’d do that, but then found I didn’t have it in me to read more of Where’d You Go, Bernadette?. So I thought I’d just sit there and wait until I was ready to sleep.”
“Oh,” Shanna said. “Do you need Ambien? I have some in case-”
“I don’t need pills,” Amory said. “I’m done with pills.”
“But Ambien’s fine and-”
Amory stood up and flicked his cigarette over the edge of the deck, into the dirt below.
“I’m fine. Just a bit restless. Way too much stimulus going on.”
Amory walked past Shanna and towards the door to the house. He slid it open and stepped in before Shanna could say anything. She leaned back in her seat and sighed. She then heard the door open again. She turned around, hoping to see Amory, but instead saw Reed.
Reed was talking on his cellphone as he stepped out. Shanna tried to pay him no attention so as to not eavesdrop.
“Look, Steph,” Reed said. “I’m not ready to talk about it. Just let me enjoy my trip, and we can discuss it when I get home.”
He paused, standing by the deck railing.
“Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay then. Love you.”
He hung up and sighed.
“Was that Stephanie?” Shanna asked. “How is she?”
“Fine. Fine,” Reed said. “Just some bullshit that was going on before the trip is seeping back into my life.”
“Is it bad?”
“It’s not important,” Reed said. “Look, Shan, I’m actually glad you’re here. I want to talk to you about something.”
“What is it?” she asked.
Reed paused. “So, it’s about the game.”
“Uh huh.”
“I can’t let Norman win,” Reed said. “Any of you can win, but not him. He really can’t be the winner.”
“Why not? It’s a fair game, so he could win the game you designed.”
“I know,” Reed said, sitting down in the chair Amory was in. “But… look, it pains me to admit that there are things I don’t like about myself, and don’t want others to know.”
“Okay,” Shanna said, looking incredulous.
“What I mean is...it’s the prizes.”
“The prizes?”
“Yes. I may have wagered something I don’t want to fall into Norman’s hands.”
“What is it?”
Reed bit his lower lip. “I can’t tell you.”
“And yet you still expect me to help you, or something? Is that what this is?”
“Look, all I’m saying is, I wouldn’t ask you what you put in that box,” Reed said. “So trust me when I tell you that, when this game and the winner learns what they won, things may change when my prize is revealed.”
“Change how?”
Reed tilted his head and pursed his lips. “Again, I can’t say. Point is, if you, Amory, or Celestine won, I won’t mind it being announced. If I win, no one will have to know. If Norman wins...well...I can’t let that happen.”
“So what are you asking me?” Shanna asked.
Reed moved the chair closer to Shanna, who looked a bit unnerved that Reed would get closer to her.
“Shanna,” Reed said. “I think we can win this game. And I have a plan.”
Norman looked at his phone as it began to ring. He was in the kitchen making himself some oatmeal when he was interrupted by the familiar sight on his phone.
DENA
Norman rolled his eyes and sighed. He ignored his wife yesterday, so he may as well take the call today. It wasn’t like him to ignore Dena when she called. Norman answered the phone and held it to his ear.
“Hey, Dena.”
“Hey, Norman, did you get my message yesterday?” Dena replied.
“I did,” Norman said. “Sorry, it’s been busy here so I didn’t get to listen to it.”
“It’s about Aldo,” she said. “I’m worried about him.”
“What do you mean? He’s not sick is he?”
“No, he’s fine. It’s just…”
“Dena?”
“Look. I’ve been hearing talk, and if it’s what I think it is, you may need to come home early.”
“Dena, what’s happening?”
“It’s what we feared the most.”
Norman paused. He could feel the sweat starting to bead on his forehead.
“Look. I’ll call our lawyer. Odds are we can get it to go away if it does come to that. But I don’t think it’ll happen.”
“Did you talk to Reed about it?” Dena asked. “I know you don’t want him to represent us, but-”
“Reed...might not be the best person to talk about this with,” Norman said. “Look, I gotta go, but keep me updated. I’m sure it’ll be nothing.”
“Okay,” Dena said, her voice sounding quite worried. “Oh, Aldo’s reaching for my leg. Wanna talk to him?”
“Yeah, put him on.”
Norman smiled. “Hey, buddy. How are you?”
As Norman began to chat with his son, Shanna walked past the kitchen and towards her room. Her breathing was a bit ragged. All she knew was that she wanted to get away from Reed.
Shanna walked into her bedroom, not caring that the door was open. She walked over to the bedside dresser and opened the drawer. She pulled out the pill bottle and quickly opened it. As she tried to pour a pill into her hand, she spilled a few more than expected into her palm. A few of the pills fell out and onto the floor.
“Dammit,” Shanna muttered.
She set the bottle and the pills in her hand onto the bed. She got on her knees and began to pick up the pills one by one. While Shanna was distracted, she didn’t realize that someone was standing in her doorway. If she had, she would have noticed that they were watching her, and that they slipped away before she realized they were there.
In the kitchen, Norman was finishing his call with his son. As he hung up, the person who was previously in Shanna’s doorway walked in.
“Okay, I love you buddy,” Norman said in a childish tone. “Bye bye. Bye bye.”
Norman hung up. He then noticed the other person in the kitchen.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Celestine replied. “I just saw something interesting. Something we could use.”
Celestine looked up at Norman and smiled. He smiled back. He didn’t know what she was talking about, but he always loved the way Celestine looked when she had an idea.
Day 4, July 16, 2018
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Reed, you don’t need to be like that.”
“Oh, shut up, Norman.”
Reed rolled his eyes and looked away from Norman. Norman was standing at the board, fulfilling his duties as Game Master. They had just finished counting the victims listed on the third announcement, and Norman had revealed the new rankings.
“So with that,” Norman began, “Celestine has dropped to the bottom with 21 students left. Reed is ahead of her by two, then Shanna and Amory are tied for second with 25 students remaining. Looks like I have won for the third consecutive day.”
Norman chuckled and then bowed before the four pajamed individuals sitting around the living room. It was probably for the best that he closed his eyes as he did so, as three of the people in the room could barely hide their disgust for the action. Reed continued to groan at Norman’s display. Shanna merely closed her eyes and sighed, while Amory found it more interesting to look at how his thumb traced along the handle of his coffee mug. Only Celestine seemed happy to see Norman on top, and for that she gave a short clap.
“Well done,” she said. “I wonder if you’ll keep the streak going.”
“Well,” Norman said, “speaking as a Harvard statistician, I’d say the odds are good if the pace continues as is.”
“Don’t forget to factor chaos theory into this,” Reed muttered. “It wouldn’t be too out of place for it to all go wrong for you.”
“I highly doubt it,” Norman said. “I think it’s just the universe saying I deserve this bit of fortune.”
“I don’t know if the universe could factor into this sorta thing,” Shanna said. “I mean, you did pick your bunch without knowing they’d have better luck surviving than Reed’s or Celestine’s.”
“I’d like to think I got the right vibe,” Norman said. “I mean, I clearly have some tough kids in my group.”
“Okay,” Shanna said, “but don’t get too arrogant.”
“I think he’s the right amount of arrogant,” Celestine said. “I think the three of you are just butthurt.”
“Says the woman in last,” Reed muttered.
“Not for long,” Celestine said. “Just you wait.”
“Sure,” Reed said.
Reed stood up from his chair.
“Well, I’ve got better things to do than marvel at Norman’s victory stiffie,” he proclaimed, “so I’ll leave you all for now.”
“And that’s an image I didn’t need,” Shanna said.
Reed walked out of the room, with Amory excusing himself to the porch without telling anyone. Shanna also stood up, brushing some hair back.
“Look, I’m glad you’re doing well,” Shanna said to Norman, “but let’s not make this vacation any more tense than it already is. I mean, that’s definitely not what I gave up two weeks of my time for.”
“Well, I would figure someone like you would have trouble relaxing anyways,” Celestine said, curling her legs up on the couch.
“Pardon?”
“Come on, Shan,” Celestine said. “I still read business news. I know you’re family’s company hasn’t been doing so well the last few years. I imagine that stress has become a part of you like oxygen is a part of any living being.”
“It’s been better this year,” Shanna said. “Don’t let the WSJ tell you otherwise.”
“Of course,” Celestine said. “I mean, it must be if you came here for two weeks.”
“Just like I’m sure you’re husband is okay looking after your kids for two weeks during summer break,” Shanna said. “Have you even talked to them since you came here?”
“Plenty,” Celestine replied. “You probably just haven’t noticed.”
“Okay, ladies,” Norman said, getting between Shanna and Celestine. “There’s no need to fight.”
“We’re not fighting,” Celestine said. “We’re merely having a girl’s chat.”
“The first girl chat in ten years that Celestine hasn’t gotten red-faced about,” Shanna said.
“Hah hah,” Celestine sarcastically replied. “I bet I can make you redder than your hair before this trip ends.”
Shanna brushed off Celestine’s comment.
“You’re free to try. I’m gonna take a shower.”
Shanna marched out of the living room, leaving Norman and Celestine behind.
“Well, that was tense,” Norman said.
“It shouldn’t be,” Celestine muttered. “I’m so sick of Shanna acting like she’s better than everyone.”
“She hasn’t been like that so far.”
“Read between the lines, Norm. She’s always lorded that moral superiority above us, even back at school. She even tried to drag my kids into this shit and probably thinks it was justified because I called her out on being a stress-filled mess.”
Norman shook his head.
“Well, I’m sure Shanna won’t be ahead of you for long.”
“Right, because we’re going to ensure that,” Celestine said, standing up from her place.
She walked over to Norman and put a hand on his shoulder. She then moved closer to his ear, not noticing how red Norman was starting to get.
“I have two things to help us stay ahead of Shanna,” she whispered. “I’ll take care of one of them myself, but you’ll help me with the other.”
“And what’s that?” he asked.
Celestine smiled and moved her lips closer to his ear, moving her knee closer to his groin.
“No one has done a swap yet,” she said. “Reed put that in the rules. Tomorrow, based on the spread, you’re gonna give me some of your kids. If you can maintain your lead, you can make sure that I’m higher than Shanna without sacrificing your place as Game Master.”
“That’s gonna be really hard,” Norman said. “I mean, that depends on quite a lot of thing falling into-”
“Well, we’ll make sure they do,” Celestine said. “I’ll plan it out, and tomorrow, you’ll act.”
Celestine moved her mouth and kissed Norman on the cheek.
“I trust you, you know,” she told him.
Celestine shifted her knee a bit. It was getting a bit uncomfortable where she positioned it, not that Norman was complaining. He was blushing and his eyes were darting between her face and her chest. She could tell he was hoping she wouldn’t notice, but she could. It was kinda cute how obvious his affections could be.
“Always have,” she said, patting him on the cheek before she walked out of the room.
Norman sat down on the chair, crossing his lips and trying to hide the smirk. It had been a long time since he felt like this, and it made him feel manlier than he had in the last eight or so years.
“What, Stephanie? What is it?” Reed snapped as he answered his phone.
Reed was in the car port of the house, leaning against Celestine’s rental car.
“Reed, don’t talk to me like that,” Stephanie said over the phone. “Look, I’m just calling to say I heard back from Dr. Lan.”
“Did you now?”
“Yes. She said we can do the test after you get back.”
“Great.” Reed blurted.
“Reed, hon,” Stephanie continued, “you sound really tense. I know it’s hard but-”
“I’m not mad,” he insisted. “Just...just…”
“Just what?”
Reed shook his head.
“I’m on vacation right now. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But Dr. Lan-”
“I gotta go.”
Reed hung up before Stephanie could reply. He groaned and put his free hand to his forehead. As he let out another groan, he heard some creaking on the nearby steps. He quickly turned and saw Shanna there.
“What?!?” he barked at her.
Shanna was taken aback.
“Nothing,” Shanna said. “I was just going for a walk. Sorry to bother you.”
Shanna continued down the steps and began to walk past Reed. Reed sighed and pocketed his phone.
“Wait, wait,” he said to Shanna, causing her to stop in her tracks. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. It’s not you I’m mad at.”
“I know,” Shanna said. “It’s Norman.”
“No, it’s not even Norman,” Reed said. “Well, he’s definitely part of it, but that’s not all.”
“Sure.”
Reed smiled and walked over to Shanna.
“Say, you don’t have to walk in our neighborhood. Let’s go get lunch in town and walk around there.”
He put a hand on Shanna’s shoulder.
“I don’t know,” she said, slightly recoiling from his touch.
“Come on, Shan,” Reed insisted. “It’ll be my treat. And more importantly, I’ll explain my behavior. You’re a good friend, and I know I can trust you with it.”
Shanna rolled her eyes.
“Fine. I am kinda hungry,” she said. “Plus, I do want to hear what’s going on.”
“Splendid,” Reed said. “I’ll get my keys. Wait here.”
Reed hurried back up the steps to the house. He sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Shanna everything about his call with Stephanie, but a lunch out with someone like her is what he probably needed to put himself in the right mindset to continue on with their game.
Celestine looked out the window and watched as Reed’s car pulled out of the carport and down the street. She walked away from the window and saw Norman standing in the kitchen, filling a glass of water from the sink.
“Hey, Norm,” Celestine said. “Reed and Shanna just left.”
“Did they now?”
“Yup. Hey, remember when I said I saw something interesting yesterday?” Celestine asked.
Norman smirked a bit. As he did, his phone started to ring. He glanced at the screen. It was Dena.
“Yeah, I do,” Norman said, staring at the screen.
He hit the button to ignore the call, stopping the ringing from filling the kitchen. Celestine smiled.
“So, I was thinking,” Celestine said, walking over to Norman.
She started to rub his back.
“I think now’s the time. While they’re gone.”
“You’re quite devilish to suggest that,” Norman said.
“Hey, we’ve got to win this game,” Celestine said. “I mean, you’re going to help me out, right?”
She moved her hand down his back, resting it right at his pelvis.
“Of course,” Norman said. “What are friends for?”
Celestine quickly smacked Norman’s rear, causing him to jump in place a bit and chuckle.
“Great. Then cover me.”
Celestine and Norman made their way over to Shanna’s room. Norman stood in the doorway as Celestine went inside. She hurried over to Shanna’s bedside drawer and opened it up. She smiled as she pulled the bottle of pills out.
She read the name on the bottle, then quickly pulled out her phone. She typed in the name on the bottle, then smiled when she saw the results.
“Hmph,” she said. “And she always thought she was the most stable person.”
Celestine quickly pocketed the phone and the bottle and made her way out of the room.
“Where’s Amory?” she asked Norman.
“Probably on his fifth cigarette this hour,” he replied.
“God, I can’t believe we’re friends with such addicts,” she exclaimed.
“Really? Is Shanna on some serious shit?”
Celestine smiled and patted Norman’s cheek.
“I think it’s best you don’t know yet,” she told him. “Go distract Amory.”
Norman walked down the hall and towards the deck. Celestine moved the opposite way, heading for Amory’s room. She quickly made her way inside. She could see open suitcases and clothes hanging on the backs of doors. She rolled her eyes.
“Once a mess, always a mess.”
She walked over to Amory’s bedside dresser and opened it up. She quickly stuffed Shanna’s pills into it, using the various packs of tissues, condoms, and other items stuffed in it to keep it out of sight. Celestine had to wonder if Amory brought those or if some real crazy shit happened in this bedroom during the normal season.
“Now, to see where this will go,” she said to herself.
Norman saw Amory sitting on one of the deck chairs, looking out into the horizon. Norman walked over and sat next to Amory.
“Hey, can I bum a cigarette?” Norman asked.
“I thought you quit,” Amory said.
“Yeah, when we adopted Aldo,” Norman said. “But it’ll be weeks before I see him again, so I can have one and not have it be an issue for Dena.”
Amory tossed his pack and lighter to Norman, who quickly lit the cigarette and let out a long exhale.
“God, I missed this,” Norman said.
Amory looked over at his friend as he took another drag.
“I figure you want to smoke a lot raising a kid,” Amory said.
“Oh, I want to all the time,” Norman said. “But Dena was very demanding about us adopting a healthier lifestyle once we brought Aldo home. I mean, he’s the kid we’ve been waiting for for years, so it’s not like I wasn’t willing to stop smoking and eat better. But man, sometimes I need a bit of vice.”
Amory looked at his friend.
“Yeah, I get that,” Amory said. “I mean, when I’m at home with Willa-”
“Like, you got to change everything once you decide to have a kid,” Norman interrupted.
Amory fell silent.
“I barely get to see Reed now because I have to factor in everything about Aldo into my life. And since Dena wants to still work, it means I have to have as many demands and expectations as I would have for her.”
“Well, it’s a partnership,” Amory said. “That’s expected.”
“But you think you have it all ready, and then shit just comes knocking on your door, and suddenly, all that time you could have spent having a smoke or drinking a bit at home or going somewhere fun is wasted because some fucker decided to renege and complicate everything.”
Amory stared at Norman.
“His birth mother?”
Norman put the cigarette out on the chair.
“Yep. His fucking birth mother.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Reed, you don’t need to be like that.”
“Oh, shut up, Norman.”
Reed rolled his eyes and looked away from Norman. Norman was standing at the board, fulfilling his duties as Game Master. They had just finished counting the victims listed on the third announcement, and Norman had revealed the new rankings.
“So with that,” Norman began, “Celestine has dropped to the bottom with 21 students left. Reed is ahead of her by two, then Shanna and Amory are tied for second with 25 students remaining. Looks like I have won for the third consecutive day.”
Norman chuckled and then bowed before the four pajamed individuals sitting around the living room. It was probably for the best that he closed his eyes as he did so, as three of the people in the room could barely hide their disgust for the action. Reed continued to groan at Norman’s display. Shanna merely closed her eyes and sighed, while Amory found it more interesting to look at how his thumb traced along the handle of his coffee mug. Only Celestine seemed happy to see Norman on top, and for that she gave a short clap.
“Well done,” she said. “I wonder if you’ll keep the streak going.”
“Well,” Norman said, “speaking as a Harvard statistician, I’d say the odds are good if the pace continues as is.”
“Don’t forget to factor chaos theory into this,” Reed muttered. “It wouldn’t be too out of place for it to all go wrong for you.”
“I highly doubt it,” Norman said. “I think it’s just the universe saying I deserve this bit of fortune.”
“I don’t know if the universe could factor into this sorta thing,” Shanna said. “I mean, you did pick your bunch without knowing they’d have better luck surviving than Reed’s or Celestine’s.”
“I’d like to think I got the right vibe,” Norman said. “I mean, I clearly have some tough kids in my group.”
“Okay,” Shanna said, “but don’t get too arrogant.”
“I think he’s the right amount of arrogant,” Celestine said. “I think the three of you are just butthurt.”
“Says the woman in last,” Reed muttered.
“Not for long,” Celestine said. “Just you wait.”
“Sure,” Reed said.
Reed stood up from his chair.
“Well, I’ve got better things to do than marvel at Norman’s victory stiffie,” he proclaimed, “so I’ll leave you all for now.”
“And that’s an image I didn’t need,” Shanna said.
Reed walked out of the room, with Amory excusing himself to the porch without telling anyone. Shanna also stood up, brushing some hair back.
“Look, I’m glad you’re doing well,” Shanna said to Norman, “but let’s not make this vacation any more tense than it already is. I mean, that’s definitely not what I gave up two weeks of my time for.”
“Well, I would figure someone like you would have trouble relaxing anyways,” Celestine said, curling her legs up on the couch.
“Pardon?”
“Come on, Shan,” Celestine said. “I still read business news. I know you’re family’s company hasn’t been doing so well the last few years. I imagine that stress has become a part of you like oxygen is a part of any living being.”
“It’s been better this year,” Shanna said. “Don’t let the WSJ tell you otherwise.”
“Of course,” Celestine said. “I mean, it must be if you came here for two weeks.”
“Just like I’m sure you’re husband is okay looking after your kids for two weeks during summer break,” Shanna said. “Have you even talked to them since you came here?”
“Plenty,” Celestine replied. “You probably just haven’t noticed.”
“Okay, ladies,” Norman said, getting between Shanna and Celestine. “There’s no need to fight.”
“We’re not fighting,” Celestine said. “We’re merely having a girl’s chat.”
“The first girl chat in ten years that Celestine hasn’t gotten red-faced about,” Shanna said.
“Hah hah,” Celestine sarcastically replied. “I bet I can make you redder than your hair before this trip ends.”
Shanna brushed off Celestine’s comment.
“You’re free to try. I’m gonna take a shower.”
Shanna marched out of the living room, leaving Norman and Celestine behind.
“Well, that was tense,” Norman said.
“It shouldn’t be,” Celestine muttered. “I’m so sick of Shanna acting like she’s better than everyone.”
“She hasn’t been like that so far.”
“Read between the lines, Norm. She’s always lorded that moral superiority above us, even back at school. She even tried to drag my kids into this shit and probably thinks it was justified because I called her out on being a stress-filled mess.”
Norman shook his head.
“Well, I’m sure Shanna won’t be ahead of you for long.”
“Right, because we’re going to ensure that,” Celestine said, standing up from her place.
She walked over to Norman and put a hand on his shoulder. She then moved closer to his ear, not noticing how red Norman was starting to get.
“I have two things to help us stay ahead of Shanna,” she whispered. “I’ll take care of one of them myself, but you’ll help me with the other.”
“And what’s that?” he asked.
Celestine smiled and moved her lips closer to his ear, moving her knee closer to his groin.
“No one has done a swap yet,” she said. “Reed put that in the rules. Tomorrow, based on the spread, you’re gonna give me some of your kids. If you can maintain your lead, you can make sure that I’m higher than Shanna without sacrificing your place as Game Master.”
“That’s gonna be really hard,” Norman said. “I mean, that depends on quite a lot of thing falling into-”
“Well, we’ll make sure they do,” Celestine said. “I’ll plan it out, and tomorrow, you’ll act.”
Celestine moved her mouth and kissed Norman on the cheek.
“I trust you, you know,” she told him.
Celestine shifted her knee a bit. It was getting a bit uncomfortable where she positioned it, not that Norman was complaining. He was blushing and his eyes were darting between her face and her chest. She could tell he was hoping she wouldn’t notice, but she could. It was kinda cute how obvious his affections could be.
“Always have,” she said, patting him on the cheek before she walked out of the room.
Norman sat down on the chair, crossing his lips and trying to hide the smirk. It had been a long time since he felt like this, and it made him feel manlier than he had in the last eight or so years.
“What, Stephanie? What is it?” Reed snapped as he answered his phone.
Reed was in the car port of the house, leaning against Celestine’s rental car.
“Reed, don’t talk to me like that,” Stephanie said over the phone. “Look, I’m just calling to say I heard back from Dr. Lan.”
“Did you now?”
“Yes. She said we can do the test after you get back.”
“Great.” Reed blurted.
“Reed, hon,” Stephanie continued, “you sound really tense. I know it’s hard but-”
“I’m not mad,” he insisted. “Just...just…”
“Just what?”
Reed shook his head.
“I’m on vacation right now. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But Dr. Lan-”
“I gotta go.”
Reed hung up before Stephanie could reply. He groaned and put his free hand to his forehead. As he let out another groan, he heard some creaking on the nearby steps. He quickly turned and saw Shanna there.
“What?!?” he barked at her.
Shanna was taken aback.
“Nothing,” Shanna said. “I was just going for a walk. Sorry to bother you.”
Shanna continued down the steps and began to walk past Reed. Reed sighed and pocketed his phone.
“Wait, wait,” he said to Shanna, causing her to stop in her tracks. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. It’s not you I’m mad at.”
“I know,” Shanna said. “It’s Norman.”
“No, it’s not even Norman,” Reed said. “Well, he’s definitely part of it, but that’s not all.”
“Sure.”
Reed smiled and walked over to Shanna.
“Say, you don’t have to walk in our neighborhood. Let’s go get lunch in town and walk around there.”
He put a hand on Shanna’s shoulder.
“I don’t know,” she said, slightly recoiling from his touch.
“Come on, Shan,” Reed insisted. “It’ll be my treat. And more importantly, I’ll explain my behavior. You’re a good friend, and I know I can trust you with it.”
Shanna rolled her eyes.
“Fine. I am kinda hungry,” she said. “Plus, I do want to hear what’s going on.”
“Splendid,” Reed said. “I’ll get my keys. Wait here.”
Reed hurried back up the steps to the house. He sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Shanna everything about his call with Stephanie, but a lunch out with someone like her is what he probably needed to put himself in the right mindset to continue on with their game.
Celestine looked out the window and watched as Reed’s car pulled out of the carport and down the street. She walked away from the window and saw Norman standing in the kitchen, filling a glass of water from the sink.
“Hey, Norm,” Celestine said. “Reed and Shanna just left.”
“Did they now?”
“Yup. Hey, remember when I said I saw something interesting yesterday?” Celestine asked.
Norman smirked a bit. As he did, his phone started to ring. He glanced at the screen. It was Dena.
“Yeah, I do,” Norman said, staring at the screen.
He hit the button to ignore the call, stopping the ringing from filling the kitchen. Celestine smiled.
“So, I was thinking,” Celestine said, walking over to Norman.
She started to rub his back.
“I think now’s the time. While they’re gone.”
“You’re quite devilish to suggest that,” Norman said.
“Hey, we’ve got to win this game,” Celestine said. “I mean, you’re going to help me out, right?”
She moved her hand down his back, resting it right at his pelvis.
“Of course,” Norman said. “What are friends for?”
Celestine quickly smacked Norman’s rear, causing him to jump in place a bit and chuckle.
“Great. Then cover me.”
Celestine and Norman made their way over to Shanna’s room. Norman stood in the doorway as Celestine went inside. She hurried over to Shanna’s bedside drawer and opened it up. She smiled as she pulled the bottle of pills out.
She read the name on the bottle, then quickly pulled out her phone. She typed in the name on the bottle, then smiled when she saw the results.
“Hmph,” she said. “And she always thought she was the most stable person.”
Celestine quickly pocketed the phone and the bottle and made her way out of the room.
“Where’s Amory?” she asked Norman.
“Probably on his fifth cigarette this hour,” he replied.
“God, I can’t believe we’re friends with such addicts,” she exclaimed.
“Really? Is Shanna on some serious shit?”
Celestine smiled and patted Norman’s cheek.
“I think it’s best you don’t know yet,” she told him. “Go distract Amory.”
Norman walked down the hall and towards the deck. Celestine moved the opposite way, heading for Amory’s room. She quickly made her way inside. She could see open suitcases and clothes hanging on the backs of doors. She rolled her eyes.
“Once a mess, always a mess.”
She walked over to Amory’s bedside dresser and opened it up. She quickly stuffed Shanna’s pills into it, using the various packs of tissues, condoms, and other items stuffed in it to keep it out of sight. Celestine had to wonder if Amory brought those or if some real crazy shit happened in this bedroom during the normal season.
“Now, to see where this will go,” she said to herself.
Norman saw Amory sitting on one of the deck chairs, looking out into the horizon. Norman walked over and sat next to Amory.
“Hey, can I bum a cigarette?” Norman asked.
“I thought you quit,” Amory said.
“Yeah, when we adopted Aldo,” Norman said. “But it’ll be weeks before I see him again, so I can have one and not have it be an issue for Dena.”
Amory tossed his pack and lighter to Norman, who quickly lit the cigarette and let out a long exhale.
“God, I missed this,” Norman said.
Amory looked over at his friend as he took another drag.
“I figure you want to smoke a lot raising a kid,” Amory said.
“Oh, I want to all the time,” Norman said. “But Dena was very demanding about us adopting a healthier lifestyle once we brought Aldo home. I mean, he’s the kid we’ve been waiting for for years, so it’s not like I wasn’t willing to stop smoking and eat better. But man, sometimes I need a bit of vice.”
Amory looked at his friend.
“Yeah, I get that,” Amory said. “I mean, when I’m at home with Willa-”
“Like, you got to change everything once you decide to have a kid,” Norman interrupted.
Amory fell silent.
“I barely get to see Reed now because I have to factor in everything about Aldo into my life. And since Dena wants to still work, it means I have to have as many demands and expectations as I would have for her.”
“Well, it’s a partnership,” Amory said. “That’s expected.”
“But you think you have it all ready, and then shit just comes knocking on your door, and suddenly, all that time you could have spent having a smoke or drinking a bit at home or going somewhere fun is wasted because some fucker decided to renege and complicate everything.”
Amory stared at Norman.
“His birth mother?”
Norman put the cigarette out on the chair.
“Yep. His fucking birth mother.”