“That’s very humbling coming from you, Dr. Bosse.”
“David, please.” He glanced down at his scrubs and back to us as he said it, making me believe his official title didn’t follow him home into his personal life. “Your realtor, Becky mentioned you boys all like cars. I’ve just started restoring my first one. I could always use the help, if you’re interested. I’ll pay you in pizza and cola if you ever want to come over and work on my old Chevelle with me.”
“Cola?” Billy whispered behind me. I felt my mom resituate so she could elbow him.
“I’m sure my wife will be over soon. Her name’s Muriel, and if she brings the blond brigade with her, don’t worry, they’re all house trained.” His laughter was met with my mom’s.
My brothers and I stared at him, trying to digest the friendliness that I wanted to hate, but instinctively didn’t.
“I wish I could stick around and help, but I’ve got to scrub in soon. If you guys need help, go get the girls. They won’t mind. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. This whole neighborhood is friendly to a fault.” His steps toward us to return the camera were purposeful, yet hesitant, like he could sense the apprehension emanating from my brothers and me.
“Oh, we’re fine. The movers already brought the big stuff. These boxes won’t be any problem,” my mom assured him.
He nodded a couple of times as he retreated back down the driveway. “Well, it’s really good to meet you guys. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
My mom bid him good-bye as we stood on the porch and watched him until he gave us a final parting wave and drove off.
“I hope you like your co-worker, Mom. It looks like you won’t be escaping him anytime soon,” Billy commented, taking the keys from her.
“There are six blondes next door? Forget college, I’m moving back in,” Hank said, lifting a box from the U-Haul before heading inside. The rest of us followed empty handed, all anxious to see the inside. It seemed ironic that our new house was twice the size of the one all five of us used to inhabit, especially when we were down a family member and Hank was supposed to be returning to college again in the fall.
Billy let out a low whistle. “Shit, I’m never leaving home.”
“Don’t say shit,” my mom ordered, in an authoritative tone even though she had to tilt her head up to look at him.
Although Hank was only supposed to be living with us a short time, he was the first to stake claim to a room upstairs. I didn’t bother objecting. It wasn’t worth it. None of us settled our disagreements with words.
I stopped by a window in the upstairs hall, hearing squeals and screaming, and discovered it looked out onto the backyard of the Bosse family. My eyes scanned over each of them, examining their carefree smiles. They were all pretty, and my twelve-year-old body was overtly aware of their small bikinis in every shade of the rainbow as they raced around the pool, giggling.
I turned away, feeling a familiar sense of rage from their blissfulness, and silently sent another curse to my own father who took that from us when he left.
Later that afternoon while I was unpacking my clothes from boxes, folding each item into perfect squares just as I was taught from a young age, our doorbell rang. I stopped and stood in place, dreading it was the new neighbors.
“Hi, I’m Muriel. You must be Dr. Miller.”
“Oh, please, call me Sharon. It’s nice to meet you, Muriel.” I heard my mom’s voice meet the southern twang at the door.
Some more sounds filtered through the house, and then my mom yelled for each of us to come downstairs. I dropped the shirt I was in the middle of folding and ran a hand through my short hair. I didn’t want to meet the damn Brady Bunch.
I trudged down the stairs and got punched hard in the bicep by Billy as he raced past me, making me dislike the blond parade even more.
We gathered around the bare living room that had only our couches and a few boxes. I was used to feeling like my brothers and I occupied too much space. It had always seemed that our friends in Arizona were only children, or on rare instances had one sibling. Somehow the three of us felt like a group of twelve, yet I felt grossly outnumbered as I looked around at the mass of blondes standing around the room, all wearing a matching smile.
“These are my boys: Hank, Billy, and Max. Boys, these are our neighbors. Dr. Bosse’s wife, Muriel, and their children.”
“He doesn’t like to be called Dr. Bosse outside of the hospital,” a girl piped up, looking intently at my mom as she provided this piece of information.
I looked over at Muriel and briefly studied her. She was thin and her hair and clothes looked too clean, like she was a mannequin rather than an actual person. Her eyes flicked to mine, feeling my stare, and she smiled warmly at me before I turned my attention away.
“It’s nice to meet y’all. These are my kids: Mindi, Savannah, Kendall, Jenny, Kyle, and Ace,” she said, going down the order in which they stood.
I noticed the girl that had corrected my mom about David’s name was Kendall, and then saw the youngest, Ace, reach up and grasp the boy’s hand. He had messy blond hair as well, but something about him didn’t fit. He didn’t look much like the others that were all quite similar. I replayed their names again in my head, already forgetting the first two. All of their names were feminine, and yet Ace seemed like something that a baseball player or a special agent would be named. It was oddly fitting for her somehow.
“You’re all very beautiful.” I could hear the smile in my mom’s voice without turning to see it.
My eyes skittered across the first two girls smiling broadly at the assessment and then moved to Ace, who was obviously uncomfortable as she shifted her weight to stand a little closer to the guy. I wondered if it was because of my mother’s compliment, or if it was my brothers and I that made her feel so uneasy.
“And handsome too,” my mom amended.
“Thanks, I’m sort of an honorary member of the family. I’m just here a lot,” Kyle replied. I watched Ace squeeze his hand more firmly as her brow furrowed.
“He’s family,” Muriel interjected almost immediately. A grin slid across his face, exposing relief. It made me wonder what his connection was to the family, and why he seemed so comfortable with them all, especially Ace.
“Is there anything we can help y’all with?” Muriel asked, looking around at the array of boxes cluttering the walls in the hallway behind us.
“No, no,” my mom instantly replied, much to my relief. As much as I wanted to hate each and every one of those blondes for being so happy, I felt inclined to stare and study them and note in detail each of their differences. “We’re just getting things settled and trying to find a home for everything. I’ve forgotten what a chore moving can be.”
“I believe it. If you guys change your minds, please let me know. We’re all more than happy to help.”
None of the girls looked equipped to help as they stood in clothes that looked too fancy for summer, and shoes that ranged from heels, to flip flops with heels, to Ace who wore a pair of black Converse sneakers with the laces hanging around the soles, untied and looking dirty, like she stepped on them more often than tied them. I looked back at her face. She was the tannest of all the girls, and her hair was a shade darker. Each of the girls had blue eyes that were the same shade as their swimming pool, but Ace’s were an exact replica of David’s dark brown eyes.
Her brown eyes flashed to me as I stared at her, but I didn’t look away. If there was one thing I’d learned from my brothers, it was to not show embarrassment or unease, because they were signs of weakness. Her face turned away as she took a step closer to Kyle, hiding a bit more of herself behind his arm.
My eyes fell to the middle girl, Jenny. I could tell she was older than me, but her warm smile and carefree attitude made me instantly attracted to her. I’d noticed her in the pool, wearing a bright purple bikini.