Page 42 of Exquisite Things

The crash of the front door wakes us up. Then Lily yelling. “Children, downstairs now. Come meet your sister.”

I nuzzle my head into Oliver’s chest. Take a whiff of his pure scent in the morning. “What time is it?”

Maud barges in. Opens our blinds. She wears gingham pajamas sewn for her by Lily. Unfazed by the sight of us in bed. Bare

chests pressed against the other. My now-long and straightened hair on his pillow. Our bare feet popping out from under the

covers. Our bedroom. One queen bed. Two queens. “Sister? She’s brought another one of us in already. She’ll soon be the queer

Mother Teresa.”

Oliver and I both laugh as we kick off the sheets. Reveal our naked bodies. It’s nothing Maud hasn’t seen before. The three

of us share a bathroom after all. She still takes the opportunity to tease us. That’s what siblings are for. “Why must teenage

boys smell so foul?”

I tickle Maud playfully. “Why must teenage lesbians sleep in gingham?”

She laughs. “Hey, I chose this fabric.”

“Oh. I know.” I turn to Oliver. He grabs his ripped pair of jeans off the floor. “Oliver, back me up here.”

Oliver looks at her as he pulls his jeans up.

God, I love watching him get dressed. And undressed.

The shapes his body makes as he bends and pulls.

The sun perfectly illuminates his angelic face in the morning.

Before any anxieties or memories have crept into his eyes.

Peaceful. “It is a hideous fabric, Maud. But you pull it off because you’re so beautiful.

Besides, who cares what you wear to bed when you sleep alone? ”

“Ouch. That began as quite the compliment. Ended as quite the insult.” Maud wrestles Oliver back onto the bed and pins him

down.

“Beware who you tackle. Oliver was a wrestler, once upon a time.” I find my pants strewn on the floor too.

“Sweet gentle Oliver, a wrestler ?” Maud eyes him with surprise. “What other secrets are you hiding?”

That question—asked at the wrong time—could fluster either of us. Send us into a panic. But not here and now. This is our

right time. Oliver smiles. “Only that despite teasing my sister, I think she’s absolutely wonderful.”

Maud musses up his hair. “You little shit. You know I do better with being teased than being complimented.”

“Then let us help you practice accepting praise.” Oliver pulls her close. “Someday you’ll meet a woman as beautiful and smart

as you, and she won’t be able to hide her adoration.”

Maud cackles. “Please! I’m odd-looking and educationally subnormal.”

Now I throw myself in bed too. Maud in the middle. Three siblings staring up at the cracks in the ceiling that keeps them

safe and dry. “You’re striking, and you’re brilliant. You spend your days in that bookshop reading every book in there.”

Maud shrugs. “Well, I try at least. Because after all, genius lasts longer than beauty. That accounts for the fact that we all take such pains to overeducate ourselves. ”

Oliver and I both look at each other. Eyes wide. He asks the question for us. “I thought you’d never read Wilde.”

Maud’s eyes gleam. “I made an exception and read the words of a white man. How could I not read that book after your story

about how it brought the two of you together? I read every pithy little word imagining the two of you reading it out loud

to each other in some American library.”

“CHILDREN. RISE AND SHINE. NOW!”

We all bolt up. Oliver and I each grab a shirt that was thrown on the floor last night. Evidence of our lust after another

night at the Blitz. Dancing to Rusty’s eclectic choices. Oliver behind the percussion machine for part of the night. Me holding

him from behind. Oliver adding synth sounds to the songs. Watching from the DJ booth as the crowd swayed blissfully.

“YOUR SISTER IS WAITING TO MEET YOU.”

“You reckon she’s a lesbian?” A sigh of hope in Maud’s voice.

“Maybe she’ll end up shacking up in your bedroom.” I’m in Oliver’s shirt from last night. He’s in mine. We swap clothes like

this. We share everything. Most importantly: a life. “Wouldn’t that be something? Me and Oliver in one room, you and the new

girl in your room.”

“Margaret Thatcher’s nightmare!” Oliver zips up his pants. Heads down first. We both follow.

We arrive downstairs to find Lily next to Archie. A muddy tabby cat in her hands. “There they are. Children, meet your new

sister. She don’t have a name yet, but she’s as sweet as can be.”

I turn to Maud with a raised eyebrow. “A little pussy. Just your type.”

“Fuck off.” She swats me playfully.

Oliver’s eyes gaze at the cat adoringly. “I love her.”

“I thought pets were too expensive.” I approach Lily and pet the sweet animal. It purrs at my touch.

Lily turns to Archie. “Things are about to change around here.” Lily hands me the cat. She digs her claws into me. It hurts

a little. Also makes me feel loved. Like she doesn’t want to let go. I know what it feels like not to want to let go of someone.

Lily digs through a crate of records. In search of something. She finds it. Dennis Brown. She carefully removes the vinyl

from its sleeve. Puts the record on the turntable. “Sing it with me, children.” We all know the song by now. It’s on heavy

rotation in the streets of Brixton.

“ Money in my pocket but I just can’t get no love. ”

“Louder!” Lily starts to dance. The island girl seems to come alive in her. She’s no longer a middle-aged mother. She’s full

of youth. Exuberance.

“ Money in my pocket but I just can’t get no love .”

Lily takes Maud’s hand. Spins her around. Archie sways his hips. Oliver throws his hands in the air. I’m the last to join

the dance. I savor the sight of them first. The freedom of the moment.

The song ends. Lily collapses onto the couch. “Children, guess who will be working as part of the costume department for the

National’s new show?”

I raise the unnamed cat into the air. “Our new sister?”

“You little shit.” Lily laughs. “We have Archiekins to thank.”

“I did nothing but make an introduction to a bloke I buggered—”

Lily lifts a scolding finger. “Archie! Children!”

Archie shrugs. “Apologies. To a lovely gentleman I made very pure love to. He happens to work in the theatah . Lily did the rest.” Archie turns to Lily. “It’s your talent that got you hired. Not me. If I had half your talent, I would

have finished fashion school with you and pitched myself for the job. Alas, my only talent is choosing the right friends.”

“You wanted me to be more than a friend when we first met, if memory serves.” Lily cackles. She’s loose. Giddy from the promise of a new future.

I turn to Maud. We both can’t believe what we just heard. A little secret from the past. Maud is the one who digs. “Come again.

Did you just say that you and Archie once dated ?”

Archie brushes the question aside with a wave of his wrist. “Maud dear, you should know by now I don’t date . But yes, I did have my eyes on Lily when we first met. And she was wise enough to reject me.”

Lily smiles knowingly. “You children think you know all there is to know about me? But I’ve lived more lives than this little

cat.” She stands back up. Too energized to stay seated. Takes the cat back into her arms. “I can’t wait to call Lady Cordelia

and tell her I won’t be sewing for her any longer.” Lily smiles. “Mind you, I’m not the costume designer. Just a seamstress.

But it’s a step, isn’t it? And I like steps. Change. It’s the key to staying young.”

“That’s exactly why I cycle through men so quickly.” Archie raises a sly eyebrow. Dares Lily to scold him again.

“Maybe we should call the cat Lady Cordelia?” Oliver’s suggestion.

“Over my dead body.” Lily shakes her head.

“Blitz.” My suggestion. I feel my face open up into a smile. The memory of Lily naming me comes back to me. My rebirth.

Lily shakes her head. “That name’s already taken. This cat’s an original.”

“The Iron Kitty.” Archie’s contribution.

“Poor thing has nothing in common with Thatcher.” Lily pulls the cat closer. “Well, maybe the claws.”

“Okay, I’ve got it. I think we should call her Changeling.” We all turn to Oliver. Sensing he has more to say. “Because, well...

as you said, you love change. And she represents change. In a sense. And in another sense, we’re a happy home of changelings,

aren’t we?”

Maud leans in. “What’s a changeling exactly?”

Oliver explains. “They’re children placed in human homes by demons. They’re strange. They don’t fit in. They scare the ordinary

humans with their otherness. But the thing about changelings is that they’re always alone in a human home. No one’s ever considered

what might happen in a home full of changelings. A world of nothing but otherness.” Oliver pauses. Looks at me with what I

think is gratitude. “A happy world.”

Lily pulls him close. “Changeling.” The cat purrs. “I think she likes the name. It suits her. Look at her eyes.” Lily turns

to me and Oliver. “Now there are three members of the family who are part feline.”

She places Changeling down. Lets her slowly explore her new home. The cat paws at the furniture. The framed photos of us haphazardly

placed around the living area. The record player. Lily joins Changeling by the turntable. She puts a new record on. The just-released

new album from Siouxsie and the Banshees.

I think of all the times I’ve seen Siouxsie at the Blitz. Now she’s changing the way the word sounds. Looks. Feels. The new

record is called Kaleidoscope . A word that sounds a lot like my life. So many ways for it to reflected. So many patterns that there’s no pattern at all. But all that matters is what it looks like now. Bright.

The first song comes on. “Happy House.” When Lily plays DJ, she always picks the right song. We start to dance again. We sing

along at the top of our lungs. We’re happy here in the happy house. Oliver rushes to our room and emerges with his synthesizer. He adds some live instrumentation. He hits the keys with his eyes

fixed on me. I dance with mine fixed on him.

Changeling seems to dance too. She wants to join the party.

Oliver smiles. “She likes music!” He picks her up. Places her in his lap as he creates sonic magic. Changeling’s eyes glow.

She’s happy here. In the happy house.