worst behavior

sam

"Oh, Evalina, how are you?"

When the tall, thin African-American woman stepped into the doors of my Aunt Clara's house, the vibe changed completely. No longer was she cookie-smelling no-nonsense southern auntie. She was a southern-hospitality socialite. Still no-nonsense, though. She was Miss Clara.

Miss Evalina Carburry was regally beautiful, and the teenaged girl who stepped into the house behind her was just the same, if not more. She was notably shorter, and her skin a few shades lighter, but her eyes were the same velvety soft brown. Velvety? Who knows why I thought that. The way they settled on me felt like that, though.

I shook hands with her grandmother. "Hi, I'm Sam. Pearson."

"Pleasure," she drawled, a smile making its way across her face. "This is my granddaughter, Emily."

I turned my eyes to the infamous Emily. "Nice to meet you," I said. It didn't quite come out as smooth as I wanted it to, because the girl's eyes were making me nervous. Obviously, she was a fan of eye contact. She stared right at me.

"Mmmhmm," she mumbled rudely, slipping her hand out of our handshake and walking past me to pretend to look at the pictures of our family on the walls. That's when I remembered her; the aloof stare, perfect posture, and undulating curls.

"Hey! You were that girl in the car the other night!" I exclaimed. Her grandmother and my aunt looked over at us, interest piqued.

Emily pivoted on her heels and looked at me strangely. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." She gave a kind of nervous laugh.

"You were in the car, with your friends and I-"

"I'm sorry, you've got the wrong person," she said, cutting me off. Her grandmother looked like she wanted to strangle her for being so rude. But I couldn't shake the idea that a flicker of recognition had been in her eyes, hidden as quickly as it had come. She had to remember. She'd winked at me.

Emily's whole disposition changed toward me, suddenly. She smiled charmingly. "Anyway, Sam, it's nice to've met you. Maybe you'd like giving me a tour?"

I looked at Aunt Clara, who grinned and shooed me off. "Y'all run along. It'll be a bit before dinner."

I shrugged and shoved my hands in my pockets. "Alright, then." I led the girl with the dazzling smile out of the kitchen.