Turn Me Bad

”Ha! Afraid not. No, they want this one to look a bit street, so they’re filming out in Palmdale. I think they’ve hired some disused gas station for a day. You think you can get out there by noon tomorrow?”

“It’ll make a change to drive out somewhere,“ Benjamin replied. “I’ll be there.”

“Good man! It’s a two-day thing, but they’ll let you know where you’re staying.”

That time of reflection would have to wait. Benjamin refused to spend time figuring out life’s mysteries when he had an early morning drive. He would have to be patient until work allowed him some peace of mind. Unless clarity happened to descend as a result of some other force.

*****

There was a tense feeling in the atmosphere. If it wasn’t for the TV, there would have been no sound whatsoever but their breathing though Violet knew this was not going to last long.

She had only known her brother’s girlfriend Caitlin for a few months, but that was long enough for her to become completely predictable, as well as unbearable. From the smug expression on her face, which Violet tried and failed to ignore, it was obvious the girl was not paying attention to anything that was coming out of the TV. Her self-righteous demeanor was poised for a clash and one that she would relish. Violet wanted nothing of the sort but could feel the annoyance boiling up inside her and knew that she would not be able to hold back for much longer. And, when it finally burst forth, Caitlin would have won, regardless of whose arguments were the more perceptive.

The only concession her brother Jeremy had managed to gain from the willful creature he had brought home for Easter was that she would not argue in front of their mom. Otherwise, she was completely unruly, and, from what Violet had learned from friends and acquaintances who knew the girl, she was notorious for being needlessly competitive with females of a similar age. It had not taken Violet long to find out that this mean streak also extended to her boyfriend’s sister.

For some reason, it was always a tell-tale sign whenever Caitlin, who always sat with her legs crossed, was allowing her left foot to bob up and down as if she was sitting in a vibrating horse and carriage rather than the living room. The not-so-subtle motion served to goad Violet in her doomed attempts to ignore the atmosphere as she struggled in not giving away the fact that Caitlin had won already. The left foot alone was enough to make her want to throttle the dumb blonde with her own dreadlocks.

”This movie’s for squares,“ Caitlin said, breaking the silence but still tactically holding back from acknowledging the tension; for sure, she wanted Violet to break first. “Don’t you have something better for us, Jezza?”

”I’ve a whole load in the cabinet,” Jeremy replied. ”Why don’t you two bang your heads together and pick something?”

That was typical of her brother. Always making some futile effort to see them getting along better and failing to register that it really was a lost cause. Caitlin was insufferable for insufferable sake and too immature to expect anything better from. Plus, if there was one sure-fire way of seeing them fall out again, it was during the process of picking a film to watch.

”I’m fine,“ Violet replied, trying to sound unconcerned. ”You guys pick something, I probably won’t make it to the end anyway.”

”Why don’t you pick, Jezza?“ Caitlin suggested. ”I wouldn’t want to pick something… unpredictable.”

There was the first bitchy comment, said to her brother but meant for Violet’s ears. The main cause of discontent between them was always related to their choice of lifestyle. For some reason, Caitlin seemed to be of the opinion that everyone should try to be more like her; to look down on academic achievement and career-building and just to have fun. What else was life for?

Whether implied or given to her straight, this was the kind of stick Violet had been taking since her brother’s girlfriend moved in so spontaneously. The first observation was that she worked too hard, which progressed to snide comments about her qualifications. When Violet overheard herself referred to as ”the straight-A girl,” it was not meant as a compliment. In Caitlin’s eyes, she was the definition of straight-laced and simple, going to all the effort of playing the part of daddy’s little girl by graduating with honors from a notable college – even though daddy was no longer around. None of that made sense and neither did her marketing job in a fashion company that she arrived at smartly dressed and on time for every morning.

Violet was utterly predictable, but Caitlin took pride in being the complete opposite. She once bragged in front of her that, before Jeremy, she had a new boyfriend every other week – in response to learning that Violet had not been in a relationship since college. In addition, she was incredibly outgoing and displayed a confidence her new housemate could really never compete with.

The sensible approach would have been to ignore the comment about being ”predictable” and just take an early night. But sensible rarely walks unimpeded through such a toxic atmosphere, and Violet’s pride over being forced out of her own living room by someone who had not long moved in was at stake.

“One thing that is predictable is bitter side comments like that one,” she replied.

”What?“ Caitlin asked, turning as if having been unaware Violet was even in the room – all part of the act of maintaining her innocence in front of Jeremy. “What’s this? You really trying to start again?”

”You know very well what you meant by using that word.”

“Oh, jeez! It’s a word in the English language, Violet, I’m going to have to use it occasionally. Someone with all your studies and certificates should be aware of that.”

”Come on, you two,” Jeremy pleaded. ”Let’s not have the drama this evening.”

”The drama of having no drama.” That was what Jeremy called it when Violet and Caitlin fell out, in that the source of their conflict was the lack of drama in Violet’s life. Caitlin was irritated by Violet’s dullness and Violet too because Caitlin kept reminding her of it. As a result, they succeeded in making drama out of no crisis whatsoever.

“She started it, Jezza,“ Caitlin claimed.

”You know very well I didn’t,“ Violet replied, more forcefully.

”Well, can’t we just let it drop?“ asked Jeremy.

”That’s exactly her problem,“ Violet continued. ”She can’t agree to disagree and leave it alone. You and I are different, Caitlin, get over it.”

”I am over it,“ Caitlin replied, also raising her voice now and standing up as if jostling for territory in the room. ”Do I look like the miserable one out of the two of us? It’s your dreary face that’s bringing us all down, Violet, and all I’m trying to do is help you step out a little.”

”Hey, babe, let’s…”

“No, she started it and needs to hear. What is she going to do with her whole life, sit around a make faces at us? Why don’t you try finding yourself a man, huh, brainiac? You keep making out like you’re so clever, then why don’t you have one by now?”