Sugarland West Side

SugarlandWestSide:
Chapter One: The Stranger

Sixteen year old Remony Quentin was looking out the window when she heard her mother yelling for her to come down for breakfast. Remy took a moment before responding. Then she padded to her bureau and took out a shirt to change into. She hated walking about in her jammies in front of her step dad. While changing she could hear her sister’s noisy passage past her bedroom door down to the kitchen.

Looking in the mirror she fluffed out her hair and pulled it into a scrunchie. She looked her face over with satisfaction before she slid her feet into her customary black Old Navy’s and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She usually caught a shower after breakfast before she skate boarded over to Sundy, life long her best friend.

Saturday breakfast in the Quentin house was a sham. One of the biggest shams Remy had ever witnessed she wished on several occasions that she didn’t have to go down and face her family.

The whole thing started out when her mother’s marriage to her step dad Rowin was at the point of a divorce. Her mother swore she wasn’t ever going to get a next divorce so she forced her family to do all sorts of togetherness stuff. A lot of it Remy wished she didn’t have to do but usually she grinned and bore it. She loved her mother a lot and would do most of anything for her.

Finally reaching the kitchen Remy said good morning to her mother and Rowin then picked up the plate with the bacon and brought it to the table. Her step father Rowin followed behind her and she could hear the click of his shoes.

On her way to the table was when she first noticed the stranger and the family’s stranger that even usual still silence. Shrugging it off to herself she didn’t even bother with it. This family was in all sorts of dramas. No doubt this would be the latest. She pulled out a chair and swiftly attacked a piece of bread before she was sitting.

Across from her, her sister Gabriel, who was listening to some Cold Play on her Sony CD Player, stole a glance at the new person at the table. She’d barely noticed her at all. Between the haze she was in and the real world she could barely make out the outline of plates on the table. She hated breakfast the family thing where everyone got along and pretended to like each other. After which it was back to normal, back to the shouting the screaming and the slamming of doors. The new stranger probably would only lead to bigger fights.

Gabriel shrugged up her shoulders and turned the music up a notch.

Remy looked at Gabriel with annoyance. The whole thing might be a sham but the least Gabriel could do was play along. Everybody was trying to do the right thing. Her behaviour only put things on edge for everyone else. Her step- dad Rowin completed his prayers and started to eat the breakfast. Remy looked down quickly. God how much she disgusted him. He was always smirking talking about God and here he was shacked up with her mother Massiney.

The stranger through all her curly hair made an effort to reach the bowl with the butter milk buns. Remy considered ignoring the effort but she still looked from the corner of her eye. As quickly as she did she looked back down. She was looking at her! Suddenly Remy became very interested in her bacon. She stole a glance again and saw Kate staring at her. She glared back but only because that way she could look at the stranger from her peripheral vision. The stranger made another reach for the buns, this time Remy bit the bullet and helped.

Rowin cleared his throat. Everyone at the table looked up.

“I think everyone has noticed someone new at our dinner table.” His face looked grim.

Remy noticed her mother twist up her lips a family trait for problems.

“I’d like everyone to meet my sister’s daughter. Me and Massiney have decided that we will be adopting her.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”


After the whole episode with the adoption Remy went down to the beach for some solitude. Remy’s ears perked when she heard a shuffle behind her. Looking up she saw the reason for the noise. The stranger was up behind her. “Hi.” That was bout all she could manage to say.

“Hi, I guess since I’ve been introduced it’s been kind of shocking. Uh, in case you’re wondering your sister told me where you’d be. Almost didn’t get her to open her door.”

Remy nodded. When the stranger stopped talking she figured that she must have realized that Remy really wasn’t in the mood for chat. Remy felt half bad. She really didn’t have a right to treat someone she didn’t even know this bad.

She shrugged, “Sorry, but this,” she made a gesture at everything around her, “is a bit much even in the best of times. Everyone around is at the breaking point. I don’t see how you could live here. I’m sorry but you shouldn’t get your hopes up. You’re probably going to be leaving soon.”

The girl looked a bit stunned.

Remy took a second to look her over. She could see how they could be cousins. They had the same face shape and nose even the height was around the same. Remy was five seven. Her cousin looked just about that. Their hair though was different but she figured that came about cause of the textures. Everyone in the Quentin family had a type of hair. At least most of the relative Remy had ever met but Remy figured the stranger’s hair probably came from the father or something.

She let out a breath in a big long whoosh, trying to be nice was hard. Everything she said kept coming out wrong.

“Look I’m sorry. That came out totally wrong.”

The girl screwed up her lips to a side. “It sure did.”

In the silence Remy picked a hole in the ground, looking up she said, “Soooooo, like you’re my cousin huh. Funny I’ve never heard of you before.”

She gave a little titter, “Me I’ve never heard of you neither. So I guess we’re even.” She shoved her hands into her back pockets, after a few seconds she said. “Are all you people this self absorbed in their lie, oops sorry life, that they don’t even see anything else.”

Remy was stung and flinched visibly. Her expression changed. “No. Why would you say something like that at all?” She looked the girl square in her face.

“Because,” her cousin said backing up, “I’m the newest guest in your house and you’ve been talk to me for what? Five minutes and you haven’t even bothered to ask me my name.” With that she turned around and strode to the house.

Remy caught her breath. “You’re right,” she shouted, “what is your name?” Remy wasn’t sure she would hear her from this distance.

She must have heard because she answered, “Dominique.” She tossed the words over her shoulders. She’d already made it to the back porch. “Dominique Bailey.” And never breaking a stride she opened the door and went in the house.

“I’m Remony but you can call me Remy.” She had to yell really loudly now and she wasn’t even sure if Dominique had heard her. “Damn!”