The Keen Legacy 1.13: Party Party Party

The night before her birthday, Lily sat down with her sister and told her, in no uncertain terms, that she did not want a party, did not want to pretend that their family loved each other, and Rose nodded and agreed.

Lily glared at her sister the next day over the cake, and Rose shrugged and mouthed that she was sorry, but Lily didn’t believe her. She closed her eyes and made a wish.

“How does it feel to be an adult?” Daisy asked. Lily rolled her eyes. In truth, it didn’t feel any different. Not that she thought it would.

“What did you wish for?” Lily’s mother asked.

“She’s not supposed to tell,” her father said.

“Well I think she should tell us.”

“No, don’t tell,” Rose said.

“Tell, but lie,” Daisy said.

“Everything she says is a lie,” Vivian shrugged, taking away the dirty plates. It was all unclean.

“Vivian!”

“It’s okay Daddy,” Lily told her father. “I’ll tell. I wished to leave this island forever.”

“Well, not forever…” her father began.

“No, let her leave forever. Finally her corrupting influence won’t lead our other children astray.”

“What has gotten into you?” her father asked, and then they were yelling and Rose was crying and Daisy was laughing and Draco looked panicked and Lily shook her head and walked out the front door. She stared at the moonlight and nodded her head. It was time.

The front door opened behind her. She assumed it was Rose, trying to clear the air, but when she turned she saw that it was her mother, the moonlight glinting off of her teeth.

“You did what you wanted, didn’t you?” her mother asked. “Tear this family apart? All this time, you were trying to ruin us. Look at us now. Look at how you’ve destroyed us.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “It was all you,” she said. “You’re the one to blame.”

“You want to leave this island?” her mom asked, her voice almost cheery. “Fine. Go. You won’t see me put up a fight. The mainland is evil, and you belong there, you wicked girl!”

Lily looked at her mother. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll go. And I hope I never see you again.”

She marched off into the darkness. Her mother smiled, victorious. She had finally won.

“Where’s Lily?” this was Lily’s father.

“She left.”

“You didn’t try to stop her?”

“Stop her? I told her to go!”

“You did what?” He stared at his wife as if seeing her for the first time, his vision clouded in rage.

“I told her to go! She is the one who has ruined us!”

“We’re not ruined!”

“Because I stopped her!”

Lily, of course, heard none of this as she strolled towards the docks. The salt air tickled her nose, made her think of summer, and in spite of herself, she smiled.

“Lily!” this was Daisy, her youngest sister. “Lily, wait! Take me with you.”

“What?”

“That was badass! Nobody ever stands up to her. You’ve got to take me with you. It’ll be a fun adventure, just the two of us!”

Lily stared at her sister, saw the hunger in her eyes. She pulled her in for a hug. “Daisy, I love you, but I can’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Daisy, you’re the only one who gets it. You need to convince them to leave this place. I’ve tried, and they won’t listen. But maybe they’ll listen to you.”

“I can’t!” Daisy said. “They won’t! Take me with you!”

“You can’t come,” Lily said. “Daisy, you’ll make it out of here. But you can’t come with me.”

“You’re the biggest bitch on the planet!” Daisy called after her. “I hate you!”

Lily watched her run off, past her brother who slunk in the shadows.

“She doesn’t mean it,” Snapdragon said. “She’s just upset. She doesn’t want you to leave, none of us do.”

“Draco, I have to.”

“Whatever I did, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for Mom to explode like that, I didn’t mean for you to run away.”

“What are you talking about?” Lily asked.

“I feel like it’s because of me this is happening. Like I did something. It’s tearing me apart.”

Lily grabbed her brother. “It’s not you,” she said. “Don’t believe that you’re to blame for anything. It’s her, she’s sick. You’re the only other one who believes me.”

“Don’t go, I need you!”

“You don’t,” Lily said. “You need to stop blaming yourself for everything.”

Snapdragon looked at her and nodded. “Not forever,” he whispered. “Promise you’ll visit before that.”

“I love you, brother,” Lily said, and watched as he walked away. She waited. If the twins were down here, that meant that it was only a matter of time before…

“She’s crying, you know,” Rose said, her voice ice. “You made our mother cry.”

“You heard what she said to me,” Rose said.

“You know she doesn’t mean it! She can’t help herself.”

“She should try to get help!”

“There’s nothing wrong with her! It’s us! We just have to do better!”

“I’m tired of that,” Lily said. “I’m tired of playing to her whims. No more. No more.”

“You realize that if you leave, I’m the one who has to protect everybody.”

“You’re not!” Lily said. “Rose, you do too much! It’s not your job!”

“It should be yours!”

“It should be hers!”

The sisters stared at each other. “Give me a hug,” Lily finally said.

“Don’t forget to write,” Rose said, sniffing.

“I won’t.”

Lily couldn’t watch her sister walk away, and so she focused instead on the mainland. Soon, she thought. Soon.

“When I first held you in my arms, I never would have imagined that this is how we would spend your 19^th birthday,” somebody said. Lily turned.

“Daddy?” She expected him to stay with her mom.

“I know you want to leave,” he said. “I’m not here to convince you to stay.”

“You’re not?”

“What do you think brought me to this island, all those years ago?” he asked. “I had no money. I slept on logs. I came because I wanted an adventure.”

“Did you have one?”

“More than I could have imagined. You and your siblings, all of you. Your mother…” His eyes grew glassy. “She’s never talked to you that way before, has she?”

“Dad, she’s sick.”

“I can’t believe I heard those things come out of her mouth. I love you, Lily. You’re my first born.”

“I know. But she doesn’t. I don’t know that she ever has. And I’m tired of it. I want off of this island.”

Her father nodded. “You deserve your adventure. I wish I had done more…”

“Me too,” Lily said.

He sighed. “Good luck, Lily.” He paused to think of some pearl of wisdom, some fatherly advice that he could share with her. “Beware of wigs,” he concluded, and couldn’t help but feel as if he’d blown it.

Lily teared up then. She nodded and hugged him. And then she turned away, to the mainland.

Her adventure awaited. Her life lay in front of her like a million bubbles floating up into the sky.