Lost and Found (34 page)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I wake up around seven the next morning and Cash is still
in a deep sleep. I lean over and give him a kiss on his
forehead, go to the bathroom, and then into the kitchen.
Claudia is sitting at the kitchen table with her leg propped
up on the table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning. You're up rather early." I guess I am, but
I've gotten adjusted to the kids waking me up so early through the week that I've gotten on their schedule.

I reach into the fridge to pull out some eggs and bacon to
get breakfast started. Claudia had begged me to fix
breakfast last night, because she said she missed me
cooking for her and I only had a few days of doing just that,
before I went to work for Cash.

"I know. Did you make that appointment I asked you to
make?"

"Yes I did. It's for 9 o'clock. Are you sure you want to do
this? I know how you feel about it."

"Felt, Claud. I just feel like I need to do it to officially move
on. I've been thinking about it all week and I feel it's finally
time." I hear Cash walk into the kitchen and he's yawning. I
go to fix him and I a cup of coffee.

"Finally time for what, Liv?" I'm wondering how he's going
to react to this, because I know how a lot of men like for
their women to have long hair.

"I am going to go get my hair cut this morning, it's one of
the main reasons I had to go to Claudia's this weekend."

He comes up to me, turns me around, and runs his
fingers through my hair. I turn around to see his reaction
and I can't tell what he's thinking.

"I love your hair, Liv, but it is your hair. How much are you
going to cut?" I'm amazed, because any time I told Derek I
was going to cut my hair, he always threw a fit so I would
barely trim it. I'm not sure if Cash is going to like my
answer or not.

"At least 10 inches, maybe 12." I see him wince.

"A foot? Why so much? I mean, like I said, it is your hair, but why so much. "I look at him and Claudia, and she looks just as shocked as
he does, but I feel that if I'm going to do this, something
good needs to come of it.

"I'm going to donate it to the Locks of Love foundation and
they have to have a minimum of 10 inches, so by the time
they trim it up, it'll probably be a foot. It's already down to
my butt, so it'll probably just go to the middle of my back.
I'll still have long hair, you two!" I turn around to flip the
bacon and whip up the eggs and pull some bread out for the
toast, when Cash comes up behind me and gives me a hug.

"Wow, Liv! I repeat what I said about you being one of the
most selfless people I know. You're always thinking of
ways to help others, not ever worrying about yourself."

"This didn't exactly start off as me wanting to help
somebody. I happened to have seen a commercial on TV
and since I've not cut my hair since before the accident,
knowing that Derek and the kids had touched the last few
inches of my hair, I just couldn't bear to part with it. I've
been treating my hair like a talisman to them, so I've finally made the decision to cut it. The Locks of Love donation is
the positive in the situation. I will probably bawl like a
baby, which is why Claudia is taking me and you can drive
my car to your house and get Eden's presents, and we will
meet you to the party."

"I would like to go with you, if you don't mind. Ya know, in
case you need a shoulder to cry on? A pep talk? I told you I'm here for you no matter what." I look at Claudia to see what her reaction is.

"Hey, I don't care if he goes or not. Just text me directions to the party and you can go home with him and get the
presents, but I have a bet on this with myself and I'm
going."

"What do you mean you have a bet on this with yourself?"
Is she crazy?

"When you were saying what you were going to do with
your hair, I realized how noble of an act it was, so I was
sitting here thinking that if you don't cry, then I'll donate 10
inches of my hair and if you do, then I won't." What in the
world? How dare she use my emotions like that!

"Babe! You have to make sure that she doesn't win this
bet! Whatever you do, don't cry until on the way home or
until we get in the car. Please! I'm begging you, don't let
her win!" He’s just as crazy as she is at the moment! I
honestly expect it from her, but him too? I look at her and
she's smirking at him.

"What's wrong, Cash? Does my bet remind you of our old
college days? Care to make a wager with me?" She's winking at him and I'm wondering what happened in
college.

"Hell no, Claud! I never won a bet with you. I still remember the last bet you conned me into and I thought it
was an easy bet." He looks over at me to tell me what the
bet was and she’s grinning from ear to ear. "She kept
talking about this test that she said she knew she didn't pass,
but everyone knew that Claudia got pissed if she made anything under a 98. Well, she bet me to guess what she
made on the test, because we were going to find out the next
day in class and I told her absolutely not!"

"Oh, Cash! You're such a liar! You know you couldn't ever
turn down a bet from me, because your whole goal was to
finally win one!" She's laughing her butt off, which had me
giggling and him looking at her with a furious look on his face that has me laughing more.

"Because, like I said this one was too easy to pass up!
Anyway. Let's ignore the evil woman in the corner for a
moment."

Oh my God! They really do act like brother and sister! I
can't breathe, I'm laughing so hard. He continues while glaring at her.

"So, back to my story. I asked what the bet was and she
said if I'm right, then at noon after the class was over she
would take off all of her clothes at the front entrance of the
school and run around the WHOLE school bare assed
naked! If I lost, then I would do it. Never in a million
years did I think I would lose the bet!"

I lost it again as did Claudia. She's trying to talk while
laughing and I can't understand anything she is saying, so
Cash answers for her.

"What the hyena over there is trying to say is that I was
supposed to have guessed within 10 points of what she
made on the test. I told her she probably made a 95, I
assumed I was safe, because like I said, she never made less
than an A." Claudia has composed herself enough to talk
now.

"But you forgot the bonus question that added 10 points! I
knew I won the bet before I even said it, because you ALWAYS forgot the bonus questions!" Cash is NOT laughing and Claudia can't stop!

"So, what did she make?" I think I probably already know
the answer to this knowing her the way I do. He couldn't
answer me, though.

"I made 110. What did you think I made? Hahahaha. He
almost got expelled over that stunt! Running around the
school in his birthday suit had a lot of girls that had crushes on him going to the dean and begging him to not kick him out, because he was the only reason they stayed at that school!
They also asked the dean if he could do it again, because
some of their friends missed seeing the Greek God Cash
Kingston in all of his glory! That bet made my month!"

"Yeah, it might have made your month, but I never EVER
made another bet again! With anybody! I had so
many girls staring at me, I felt naked the rest of the year and
I was so mad at Vanessa after that, because I asked her to
kick your ass over that bet and she laughed in my face and
told me I put myself in that situation, and she thought it was
funny!"

"Are you kidding? She was laughing louder than I
was." She's laughing her head off again and Cash comes
up to me and puts each hand on my shoulders.

"Listen, Liv. I'll never ask you to do anything for me, but
this one thing. Please, please, please don't cry so that this
crazy vain woman can get her hair chopped off to her
eyeballs! Her hair isn't as long as yours and as vain as she
is, she won't leave her house for months!"

I try not to laugh, but I can't help it. His begging is
hilarious! Claud's hair goes a couple of inches past the
middle of her back, so it wouldn't end up that short. I can
definitely see now that they never once had any feelings for
each other, other than a sibling relationship. I guess he took
Derek's place when she moved away for college. They're
very funny together, even though they tease each other relentlessly.

"Um, hello? Vain woman is sitting right over here and I
just heard what you said! And hyena? Oh please, you
dumbass!"

"Okay, children. Breakfast is done and as funny as you guys are acting, I really appreciate that you're both
supporting me in my endeavors and one of you is rooting
for me to lose it emotionally and the other one is rooting for
me to not, just so the other doesn't get their way. I think the
best punishment for the both of you would be for BOTH of
you to help each other clean the kitchen, while I take a
shower so that I can wash my hair. Okay?"

They both dropped their bottom lip and yelled at me at the
same time.

"What?" Came out of Cash's mouth. "Oh, I don't
think so!" Came out of Claudia's.

"Thank you. You're both so sweet."

I took a bite of my bacon, and breakfast was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. I kept looking at the both of
them and neither one of them would look up. I laughed all
through breakfast.

********************

Cash and I are on the way to Eden's birthday party at his
parents’ house. I'm deep in thought about what Claudia did at
the hair salon. I wasn't able to manage such an emotional
journey without shedding quite a few tears.

Cash reminded me of a grizzly bear defending his cub
when I shed my first tear. He came forward and grabbed
my hand and told Claudia that she better not say a word and
I looked in the mirror at her and she was standing in the
corner crying, so I told him to leave her alone. He looked
behind him at Claudia and I saw the shocked look on his
face.

"Wow! I'm in shock! Do you mean to tell me that Medusa
actually has feelings?" I'm guessing he's still mad at her
from earlier, because that was a rather cruel comment.

"Shut up, Cash. You obviously don't see the significance of
what she's doing. She's cutting the last tie that she has left to Derek and the kids, so quit being such a shit!"

I know that she is thinking back to my panic attack when
she tried to make me cut my hair, knowing what a big step
this was for me to do. I look at him to try to motion for
him to apologize to her. He walks over to her and hugs her.

"I'm sorry, Claud. Truly, I am. You've always been the
closest I've ever had to a little sister and when I get around
you it just comes naturally to give you a hard time. Hey, at
least I don't punch you when you annoy me like I do Caleb.
Forgive me?"
That was sweet of him, but now I'm wondering who Caleb
is.

"Yes. I forgive you, but I don't blame you for punching
Caleb. I know he's your little brother, but he's the complete
opposite of you. Talk about the biggest geek in the world.
Are you sure he's not adopted?" Both of them are laughing
again, so everything is back to normal. At least until the
next fight.

"You haven't seen him in a while. He's going to be at my
parents for Eden's party. Trust me; he doesn't look like the
gangly skinny little geek that used to follow you around
everywhere. You knew he had a crush on you, didn't you? I
can't wait to see the look on your face when you see him." So Caleb is his brother, sounds like the party might get
interesting. Who knows, maybe he and Claud will hit it off
after not seeing each other after all of these years.