“Let him.” Roxy shrugged, settling her phone on the counter. Her text to Jeff faded from the screen, along with her hate at disrupting his Christmas. Kevin, however, had been the first to text Jeff, who in turn had texted Do we need to contact our lawyers about this?
Roxy had promptly sent him back. It's fine.
“Your dad needed to meet someone that doesn’t bend to his will.” Glennette said through a smug smile.
“He’ll come back with a lawsuit.” Blake warned, upset about having to go back with Kevin when he came back in a few hours. Dad would have him back from the emergency room by then, Kevin’s nose bandaged to look like new.
I shouldn’t be smiling about it so much. Roxy scolded herself, phone ringing in Jeff's reply. That shouldn't qualify as an answer. That guy's deplorable.
Roxy agreed, wished him a Merry Christmas, and returned to grabbing ingredients out of the pantry. She had banned her, Mom, and the Davis’ out onto the porch while she and the kids whipped up a lunch from yesterday’s feast. They all needed something to do with their hands.
“What was Mr. Fournier talking about, Roxy?” Glennette asked, her voice ringing louder with the question. Roxy looked up from the slices of turkey she’d been assembling on rye bread buns. Normally, Sander would be trying to snag a slice of tomato or Swiss, but he was with friends. Even he couldn’t protect her now.
Roxy eyed the two teens that had thrust themselves into the mess of maturity before they were ready for it. Yet, wasn’t Nana always saying that kids didn’t get enough credit for the things they could comprehend?
You followed Me into this beautiful mess. God reminded her. For reasons you won’t admit to yourself. I’d like you to do that now, Daughter.
You’re sooo pushy. Roxy put in a whine as Glennette tried again, placing tomato on the sandwiches. “We looked up Taking Point. It was on from 1998-2001; about four firefighter friends in Florida.”
Roxy laughed at the food in front of her. “Doesn’t that just roll off the tongue. It was filmed in Tampa, some on San Marco Island… they kept that the same, anyway.”
Blake and Glennette’s eyes were big now, big as saucers. Blake’s mouth hung open in a black hole. “You were an actress, Roxy?”
Glennette hit his shoulder. “Why’s that so hard to believe?”
“It’s not,” Blake blushed, rubbing his shoulder. “Just… Dad’s always said that crews are the people who wish they could act.”
Roxy rolled her eyes, stacking the first sandwich on Mom’s cornucopia platter. “We’re more like the people who help you act.”
Blake’s cheeks reddened deeper. “Right, so… Taking Point?”
And here she thought she could distract them from it. Roxy twisted the bread bag closed. “I graduated in broadcast engineering from Sarasota, but during that…” was she really admitting to this? Roxy breathed out, long-forgotten prayers passing her lips. “I auditioned for a few commercials, some extra shots. I was earning money for my tuition and gaining experience in my desired field. I wasn't interested in anything else. Some extra bucks and some free fun.”
“And!?” Glennette was half over the countertop, hands clamped on the edge.
“And…” Roxy dragged the word out. “My audition tape fell into the hands of the right producer. He pulled me in for a few chemistry readings with the male leads-“
“Who!” Glennette demanded, thumbs poised and ready to attack the keys of her phone. Roxy gave a sideways grin and shook her head.
“C’mon!” both teens protested. Roxy just waited until they piped down, returning to the sandwiches. “Bottom line, I got the role. And I was stoked! I was barely nineteen, but ready to sign whatever they put in front of me. And I was planning to surprise my parents with the news after I signed it.”
Jeff lit up her phone again. What's your secret to being so casual about everything?
God. Roxy typed back, simply and surely. Funny, how she was just now seeing that.
“What happened?” Glennette begged for more, almost breathless. "Did you sign? But they fired you... WHY did they fire you?"
“The male leads asked me to sleep with them.” Roxy said; it took far less effort to admit then she had thought.
Blake swiped his gaze for any other adults in the kitchen. There weren't, but it didn't dissipate the awkwardness that came with this information. Glennette's face twisted in disgust.
“Two other girls had been considered for the part before me,” Roxy told him. “And the same ‘initiation’ had fallen on them. If I said no, or they didn't like me, they’d convince the producers to find someone else for the role.”
Glennette was holding her head, like it might erupt. “Roxy… what’d you do?”
She’s so sure of my answer. Roxy noticed, a little hurt by it. The phone interrupted her yet again; and it was Jeff, again. What am I supposed to do with that?
Your decision, not mine. Roxy told him; he was actually a good buffer for this conversation she had always feared having. But I'd be happy to discuss it any time.
"ROXY!" Glennette and Blake demanded.
“I told them no." Roxy said, ignoring the phone now for good. "And I tried to tell the producers about it, but they had already been told that I was the one sleeping around, making everyone uncomfortable on set.”
The kids’ eyes were plates now. Roxy was sort of enjoying her captive audience. It was the first time she’d revealed this story to anyone, outside of the family. “My parents got me a lawyer. One that found the truth, got the actors fired, and the show scrapped. For that year anyway.”
“And you?” Blake pointed at her. Roxy looked back down at her sandwich.
“I received a small settlement and went back to learning about cameras.” Roxy looked down at her sandwich, suddenly thinking that it needed chips to go with it. Chips and dip; did they have any?
“Why?” Glennette spoke first as Roxy reached the pantry. “Roxy, why’d you say no?”
Honestly, that's where her mind goes? Roxy eyed the shelves of her mother’s food. “It wasn’t right.”
“It’s not illegal.” Blake said. “You were an adult.”
Roxy turned to eyeball him. Both of them. “Being an adult isn’t the go ahead for sex, Blake. It means bills, setting your own alarm, making good on promises you make to other people, and showing responsibility over the money you earn.” She yanked the chip bag out of the pantry. “Sometimes by working for wretched strangers who can’t see past the cells of the next spreadsheet.”
Blake’s neck had shrunk into his shoulders. Glennette watched the counter instead of her phone and both their faces were set deep in guilt. Roxy reeled her rant in as she brought the chips back to the plate. “But being an adult isn’t the only reason I said no. As a Christian, God’s taught me to have a certain respect for my body. What He calls a temple.”
She might as well have said ‘cockatoo’. Blake took her explanation more thoughtfully, but with as much disbelief as Glennette. Roxy focused on the chips, a mango salsa flavor, so she could forego the dip.
“Ok, but,” Blake now took his thinking aloud. “What’s God got to do with you making your own choices?”
Is it wrong that I still ask the same question?Roxy wondered, dusting her fingers off from the chips. “When He’s the one who created you, everything.”
“What, like you owe Him?”
“No.” Roxy rolled the bag back up, making the eye contact she was so afraid of. “More like I’ve been listening to what He hopes for me. And it turns out that it's good, it's healthy. Maybe not always easy, but still what's... right.”
Blake shared a look with Glennette, who said. “You believe that?”
“Yes.” Roxy looked up at her, unblinking. She made a point not to blink, not when she admitted her faith. Christianity was hardly dead in Los Angeles; merely sparse. Like loose change in a couch.
“Is that why… you care so much?” Glennette finally asked the big one. Roxy gave a nod, folding up the chip bag. “It’s why I wanna be sure things aren’t misrepresented. For either of you.”
“By telling the truth?” Blake groaned, like the weight of reality had just returned to his mind.
“It’s what’s right.” Roxy repeated.
Glennette searched her eyes, hands back around the lifeline that was her phone. “Let’s hope so.”
I know so. Roxy determined under her breath; with a glance at the kitchen ceiling. I know so... right?
If you still have to ask Me, then you're not going to get the answer. Was God's only remark. Roxy could just see Him chuckling as He did.
Glennette searched her eyes, hands back around the lifeline that was her phone. “Let’s hope so.”
I know so. Roxy determined under her breath; with a glance at the kitchen ceiling. I know so... right?
If you still have to ask Me, then you're not going to get the answer. Was God's only remark. Roxy could just see Him chuckling as He did.
[CUT TO NEXT SCENE]
Love the last line.
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