Chapter 9. Stairway to conflict.

Tiffany, in her now iconic red convertible, swung into the circular driveway in front of her house and parked. She pushed her Wayfarers up on her head and pulled off her gloves. There was another car parked further down the driveway with a “Go Warthogs!” bumper sticker. She smiled. This was going to be a two-for-one.  She rummaged in her purse for her red lipstick. She applied the lipstick, smacked her lips, and capped the tube with a loud click.

Once inside, she mounted the stairs and called out, “Vanessa? Are you home?” There was no answer, but as she continued up, she saw Vanessa’s door was ajar; there were voices.

“…but the bed is so big—I can’t sleep it in all by myself!” she heard her sister say.

Giggle, giggle. Disgusting. Tiffany untied her silken scarf and proceeded to the landing. She twisted it around in her hands and said, “Mommy?” She covered her mouth with the scarf when she heard the two interlocutors stop giggling.

A man’s voice: “Did you hear that? I thought you said nobody was home.”

“Yeah, what was that?” Vanessa’s door fully opened and she stood in the doorway, looking the other way down the hall.

Tiffany waited, still holding the scarf over her mouth. “Vanessa…” she mumbled through the scarf.

Vanessa’s head snapped to the side and saw Tiffany standing at the top of the stairs. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were out with your stupid boyfriend.”

“I was. Now I’m home.” She lowered the scarf and showed her smile, her red lipstick now smudged around her mouth. “Do you have a friend over? What’s his name? Can I say hi?”

Vanessa didn’t reply but continued to stare and curl her lip until it twisted nearly three hundred sixty degrees.

Tiffany twisted her body back and forth and played with the scarf. “Can I join you guys?”

“Go join yourself somewhere else.”

“Someday soon I’ll introduce you to my own boyfriend. I think the three of you would get along famously.”

“You are such a freak—I should kick you down the stairs one of these days!” Vanessa shot back in a low voice.

“Likewise, my dear sister.” She pushed past Vanessa and went into the bedroom. Brad, Vanessa’s football-playing boyfriend, was sitting in his boxers on Vanessa’s bed among her clothes and makeup. Judging by the suitcases they were filling, it was clear Vanessa was going somewhere. “My, my, my, aren’t you two busy little bees?”

She stopped at the foot of the bed. “Hi! Are you Chad? I’ve heard so much about you! Vanessa never stops raving about your—”

Vanessa grabbed her by her coat and swung her towards the door and pushed her out. Vanessa went out in the hall and shut the door behind her, holding the doorknob behind her back. “If you ever come back, or if you follow me, I swear that you will regret it so much—”

“What? What are you going to do…? Cast on a spell on me?” She stuck her face out and laughed with her red smeared mouth wide open. “Anyways, I’ve got to bounce now. My boyfriend just got a new place, and—well, you’re the expert in that stuff.”

Vanessa said nothing and opened the door without looking at it, backing herself into the bedroom. “You—”

Tiffany waved her scarf and went back down the stairs, looking over her shoulder at her sister. “I’ll tell Chad you said hi.”