Episode-10: Broken Wing Finger

Alice and Sisko stood in Alice’s kitchen draped in aprons. Sisko’s was spotless and Alice, apron and all, was covered in flour. Alice stirred thick cookie dough with a wooden spoon while Sisko rinsed dishes and shook her head at Dr. Phill

“That guy is such a crock of you-know-what, Alice,” she tisked while she wiped down the counter where Alice was still mixing.

“So change it. I hate this garbage anyway,” Alice dug a spoonful of chocolate chip laden dough out of the bowl and held it up to Sisko, “Want this?”

“Eeeww! No! I’ll get salmonella.” Sisko closed her mouth squished her face up in a grimace of disgust. Alice shrugged her shoulders and ate the dough.

“Your loss. Do you have the baking sheet ready?” Sisko nodded and pulled moved the baking sheet to the counter where Alice was mixing. Alice pulled a big spoonful of dough out of the bowl and was about to drop it onto the cookie sheet when the doorbell rang. Sisko rolled the dough off the spoon.

“Are we expecting anyone?” she asked.

“Nope,” Alice wiped her hands on her apron and walked out to the door with Sisko on her heels, fluffing her hair. Alice opened the door to an Armani suit and corporate smile.

“Oh, God,” Sisko moaned. She grabbed the door from Alice and started to shut it, but Nick stuck his hand out and stopped her. Alice caught a glimpse of his gold pinky ring and grabbed its native finger shoving it backwards from the hand and stretching it in its socket.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but if my sister tries to shut the door on you, I suggest you be a gentleman and let her,” she said, enjoying the surprised look of pain on Stockbroker324’s leathery, tan face.

“I just wanted to ask you out again,” he stammered, “I thought you seemed nice.”

“I’m not.” Alice wrenched the pinky back, delighting in the sick snap it made as it dislocated. Reflexively, Nick stepped back from the door and onto the porch. His mouth opened and started to form words.

“You…” Sisko slammed the door. Alice locked it. They looked at each other, listening. It was quiet for a second. And then the pounding started and the shouting. Alice and Sisko shrugged and walked back into the kitchen. Sisko flipped the TV to the cooking channel and turned up the volume. Alice finished globbing cookies onto the baking sheet. When the cookie sheet was full she put it in the oven and set the timer, uncorked a bottle of wine, and poured glasses for Sisko and herself. The pounding and shouting went on longer than they expected, but sitting on the sofa with wine and the TV turned up, they hardly noticed Nick was there. Soon the homey aroma of cookies filled the air and they really were as happy as two screwy sisters could be.

Episode-7: Sisko's Fate

Alice stood arm in arm with Sisko in the emergency room. She watched with amusement as the people in the waiting room watched them. Her mother was white as a sheet with a bloody pillow case tied around her right calf and screaming that her own daughter had tried to kill her. Her father calmly ignored her and spoke to the woman at the admitting desk, leaning on the tall counter with one elbow while thumbing through his wallet for the proper insurance info. Then there was Sisko, with ‘Patricia’ carved sloppily up her leg while the blood ran down it and scowling at everyone as she clung to Alice. No doubt they wondered which daughter had tried to kill the alarmed woman and what such a person might do next if not restrained.

She could only hear snippets of what her father was saying to the admitting nurse: “not pressing charges”, “sort of an accident”, “can you keep my wife in psych for observation”.

Sisko and Patricia were helped into wheelchairs and ushered quickly to separate, but adjoining exam tables. A sheet hung between them for privacy. For the sake of ferreting out the truth in this mess, the same ER doctor would attend both women. Alice listened to the doctor talk to her mother.

“Ms. Kipp, I’m Dr. Geden, can you tell me what happened?” he was curt, perfect for dealing with a hysterical person of any sort. Alice appreciated the clinical efficiency and firm tone and absently rubbed Sisko’s arm to comfort her as they both sat on the exam table. Her mother’s account involved Sisko chasing her, wild-eyed, around the house wielding a ‘gleaming instrument of death’. Even Sisko chuckled at that one.

“Ms. Kipp, if you can tell me what happened, without the theatrics, it would be very helpful. In the meantime, I gather you have a cut on your right calf. Mind if I have a look?”

“A cut? I have a stab wound, Doctor.” Alice heard rustling and her mother whining and groaning.

“That is pretty deep. Well, we’re going to have to stitch you up. Mandy, go ahead and stitch her up will you?”

“Oh, no, I won’t be stitched up by some nurse.” They heard rustling.

“Ms. Kipp, you cannot shove my staff.”

“I will not be touched by a nurse. I was almost killed. I require a doctor’s touch.”

“You we’re not almost killed. And the nurse will stitch you up.” Alice could only imagine the faces of her mother and father right now. Her father would likely be sporting his detached, I’m really just the chauffer, face. Her mother had this sneer with eye-brows raised, upper lip puckered, and jaw clenched that Alice was sure she was displaying. But there was no more commotion from the other side of the curtain and the doctor appeared smiling in front of Alice and Sisko.

“So, I’m Dr. Geden, who wants to tell me what’s going on here?”

“My mother kicked me out of the house.”

“So you stabbed her?”

“No, Sir, I stabbed her because she’s unpleasant.”

“I understand that. Can I look at your leg?”

“It’s not deep enough for stitches.”

“No, it isn’t. Sisko, are you getting help for this?”

“I’m moving in with my sister.” Alice, smiled and raised her hand in a little wave. She was surprised by the sudden flutter in her stomach. He had really nice eyes.

“You’re her…”

“Sister, Alice. I mean I’m her sister, Alice. I’m not Sister Alice, sorry.”

“May as well be a nun,” Sisko muttered.

“Please excuse my sister, she’s not of sound mind.”

“That I can see,” said Dr. Geden swabbing Sisko’s leg with alcohol, “Sisko, cutting is a very serious problem. I’d like to admit you into psych for twenty-four hours for observation. Is that ok with you?”

“No.”

“Sisko, I want to help you. I want to make your pain go away.”

“Look, you seem really nice, but if you really want to help me, date my sister and get my mother off my back.” Sisko smiled. Alice rolled her eyes.

“Sisko, please do as the doctor asks. I’ll be with you, I can get someone to take my classes for the next couple of days. While you’re in here resting, Dad and I will move your stuff into my house and we’ll change the locks so Mom can’t get in. No worries, kido Sisko.” Alice smoothed her sister’s hair and touched her cheek. Tears welled up in Sisko’s eyes.

“I hate change.”

“Please, Sis.”

“Tell you what? Go to psych tonight, and I’ll visit you up there as often as I can.” Dr. Geden blushed a little as his gaze flitted to Alice. So much for clinical efficiency, she thought.

“Fine.” Sisko nodded, “I’ll go.” Dr. Gedes nodded and smiled and crossed to the other side of the curtain. Sisko turned to Alice, who took her in her arms and held her tightly while she cried.

Episode-1: A Widow in Its Jaws

“God, what are you looking at now?” a tanned, bleach blond girl in oversized sunglasses slammed her car door and made her way up the walkway where her sister was crouched.

“It’s a daring jumping spider, Phidippus audax I think. But it killed a black widow.”

“Wow,” the blond girl said as she dug through her purse.

“Oh come on, that’s cool. Widows aren’t aggressive, but they don’t have that many natural enemies either. That’s a big kill for the jumper,” Alice snapped photos while she spoke.

“Good for him.”

“See how the widow’s abdomen is all shriveled? Phidippus don’t spin webs. He’s sucking her dry as we speak, he’ll just carry her around until she’s empty.”

“Gross. I thought you weren’t a spider studier.”

“Arachnologist, no, but all aspects of the natural world…”

“Hold wonder, I know.”

“Sheesh, Sisko, I can feel your eye-roll with my back turned.”

“Are you gonna put one of those pictures on your profile for that dating site we talked about.”

“I told you I’m not doing that.” Alice stood and offered her little sister a sardonic smile before she opened the screen door and let her in. Alice watched Sisko check the door jambs and ceilings and smiled as she rhythmically brushed each arm twice then ran her hand from the top of her head to the ends of her smooth hair. Alice refused to rid her house of spiders. They walked to the kitchen, Alice got glasses and a pitcher of iced tea.

“How’s Mom?” Alice asked. Sisko rolled her eyes again.

“Dad and I have a pact, if this new therapist doesn’t work were dumping her body in the ocean.”

“She’s still refusing to talk to me?”

“Until a mother approved profile has been posted on a mother approved dating site.”

“Which is the purpose of this unscheduled visit I suppose.” Alice offered Sisko a slice of lemon for her iced tea. Sisko’s fingers clicked along her phone’s keyboard, ignoring the lemon. Grinning, Alice squeezed it, squirting juice all over Sisko’s phone and T-shirt. Sisko nearly dropped her phone as she jumped back from the kitchen island where they stood. She stared at Alice with her mouth open in shock.

“Alice! My shirt is dirty now.”

“It’s lemon juice, Kiddo, it’s not going to hurt anything.”

“It’s dirty.”

“You can’t even see it. It may as well be water.”

“I can smell it. Oh my God, I can smell it. I can’t walk around the rest of the day like this.” Sisko set her phone down and wiped it off with a soft cloth she pulled from her purse, then she grabbed her keys and stomped out of the kitchen with a wicked glance at Alice. Alice laughed and squeezed the remaining juice from the lemon slice into her glass. She hopped up on a stool at the counter and snatched a notepad and pen lying near her.

“June 13, 2009:
Spotted a Phidippus audax with a partially desiccated Latrodectus hesperus in its chelicerae just outside the front door. Took lots of pictures. I think it (P. audax) must live in the flax plants in the garden. I can see now why they are called ‘daring’ jumping spiders. It was a jarring image; my usual subjects of study are so gentle and graceful that these reminders of how violent the bug world is always make me giddy.”

The front door slammed and Alice heard Sisko tromping up the stairs to the master bedroom. She closed the note pad and followed.

“That’s a cute shirt,” Alice said as a peace offering. Sisko, clad in a new T-shirt, was bent over her bathroom sink, scrubbing the lemon juice out of her old shirt.

“Not as cute as the one you got dirty.”

“How’s your therapy going?”

“Funny. I don’t need therapy. I need a sister who isn’t a thoughtless jerk.” Sisko released drain and wrenched the faucet, sending a stream of hot water over the now clean shirt.

“I could have just thrown that in the laundry you know.”

“Oh, so it could sit for a week with acid on it? No way.”

“So what was your scheduled activity today, before Mom made you come here?”

“Baa gets a new delivery today. I planned on going over there to see if they got anything I don’t already have. I need more bamboo yarn, I can’t even work on anything if I don’t have some in my stash. It’s all I can think about. Need more bamboo, need more bamboo, need more bamboo. And if I don’t get there by eleven, then my blog will get posted late, then I’ll have to cook diner for P and M on time so that means I won’t get my ironing or knitting done or my website updated until late.” she pressed the shirt against the side of the sink to get the excess water out. And then looked around the room. Alice just watched her, she’d seen this routine at least a hundred times, probably more. Sisko grabbed a clean hand towel from the cabinet and stood on the edge of the bathtub while she wiped the shower curtain rod clean. Then she took the T-shirt and hung it over the rod.

“Why don’t you just go to Baa now. We’ll just tell Mom we made a profile.”

“Nope. She wants logins, passwords, everything. She wants proof.” Sisko dried her hands. Alice furrowed her brow as Sisko walked past her to Alice’s office.

“I really have to do this?”

“Sit.” Sisko demanded.