I'd just finished a full day under the nonstop glare of Roy's video camera, and I was in no mood to be scrutinized by anyone. Even though my day hadn't been difficult by any stretch, all of those hours in the spotlight had left me feeling unsettled and stupidly exhausted.
Looking back, was it any wonder?
After that walk along the beach, Mitch, the sound technician, had fitted me with a wireless microphone. And then, he and Roy had taken me through the house, room-by-room, as I reacted to its horrible condition and shared stories of what the house had been like in years past, back when my grandparents had owned it.
As far as Brody, I'd seen him only in passing as he haunted the various rooms with a pencil in-hand, probably making notes on what needed to be fixed. Or who knows? Maybe he'd been writing a list of ways to torment me because, yes, he did seem the type.
Still, I had to admit, our walk along the beach hadn't been nearly as terrible as I'd expected. And, assuming it was true that he hadn't known about my family's connection to the place, maybe he wasn't quite as vindictive as I'd thought.
On the phone, Cami was saying, "Why don't you ask your cousin if Brody knew? He'd be able to tell you, right?"
At this, I couldn't help but scoff. "Yeah. Assuming I ever hear from him again." As Cami listened, I went on to tell her about last night's odd phone call with Jason and how he was apparently back to avoiding me.
Today, I'd called him several times, only to receive no response whatsoever. I couldn’t even confront him in person because I had no idea where he lived. And why? It was because like a total idiot, I'd actually believed him when he'd told me that he was still living at our grandparent's place.
When I explained all of this to Cami, she said, "Did you try him at work?"
"Oh yeah." I gave a bitter laugh. "Get this. I call his office at the local college, and do you know what they tell me?"
"What?"
"They tell me that he's on leave, something about a family emergency."
"Really? What kind of emergency?"
"Oh, that's the best part," I said. "Apparently, his 'cousin' is having health problems."
"Which cousin?"
My voice hardened. "Guess."
"You don't mean you?"
"Well, I am his only cousin."
"That dip-wad!"
"Yeah," I muttered. "Tell me about it."
"But he can't avoid you forever."
I gave another scoff. "That won't stop him from trying though. I mean, he must know that I'll be expecting my money back."
"What money?"
"All the money I gave him for the house. You know, the payments, the repairs, everything." I made a sound of disgust. "God, I was such an idiot."
"You were not," she said. "Come on, if you can't trust family, who can you trust?"
This was so easy for Cami to say. Unlike me, she had the kind of family you could really count on – parents who loved her and a whole bunch of siblings, too.
But me? I had nobody. Sure, I had parents, but they were off doing their own thing. And even my mom, who should care about the house, hadn't cared one bit about keeping it in the family, even when I'd begged her for just a tiny bit of help.
Now, thinking about it, I almost wanted to cry. But I'd cried plenty already, especially three years ago, when my grandpa had passed away so suddenly.
At the memory of him – and my grandma, too – my eyes grew misty like they always did.
Desperate to focus on something else, I said to Cami, "Hey, do you want to hear something funny?"
"It can't be too funny," she said.
"Why not?"
"Because you sound like you're gonna cry."
"I am not going to cry," I said, wiping a stray tear from my eye. "I'm gonna throttle Brody."
"For what now?"
"Well, remember when I told you how the film crew was walking me through the house, making me talk about the damage and stuff?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, get this. We get to the upstairs hallway, and I see this hole that wasn't there before."
"What kind of hole?" she asked.
"Oh, that's the funniest part," I said. "It's like, well… a peep-hole."
"A peep-hole?" She hesitated. "Into what?"
"The bathroom." When she made no reply, I felt compelled to explain. "You know, the one where Brody barged in on me."
"Ohhhhhh, that bathroom. So, do you think he's a perv?"
"No. I think he's a jerk."
"You do realize, you can be a perv and a jerk at the same time, right? In fact, I'm pretty sure they go hand-in-hand."
"Not with Brody," I said.
And then, there was the thing I didn't say. Even if Brody were a perv, he would never get pervy with me.
In fact, other than our attic encounter – which had ended only with my humiliation – Brody had shown so little interest in me that I might've gotten some sort of complex if I happened to be interested in him, which I totally wasn't.
"So if he's not a perv," Cami said, "why the peephole?"
"I'll tell you why," I said. "He was thinking of shooting me."
She hesitated. "You mean with a gun?"
"Well, I'm not talking about his 'love gun', if that's your other guess." I sighed. "Anyway, the next time I see him, I'm gonna let him have it."
I meant it, too.
And just fifteen minutes later, I had my chance.
Chapter 31
Arden
Brody gave me a look. "Hell yeah, I made a peephole. What, you think I'm nuts?"
We were standing in the kitchen of the crew house, and I'd just confronted him about that hole in the wall.
If Brody were anyone else, he would've been mortified at my discovery, or at least a little embarrassed. But Brody was neither of these things, and his lack of shame was a real kick in the pants.
With growing indignation, I considered his question. He was nuts, alright. And he was making me nuts, too.
I glared up at him. "How am I
