The Best Worst Thansgiving Ever

Author's Note:

Dear Readers,

As with my previous submission, this one is a slow build and a bit on the lengthy side. It may not be for everyone. For those who continue reading, I hope you enjoy. All feedback and comments are welcome.

-S. Maddoxxx

*****

Toni Davies sat at the stoplight waiting for green as she took into account the sparse traffic. She glanced at her dashboard clock. 10:13 am. Thanksgiving Day. She was already exhausted. It would make sense if the exhaustion was due to efforts geared towards basting a turkey just right or baking multiple pies. No, it was from breaking up a fist fight between two 14-year old girls. She had gotten the call around 4:10 that morning. She was the clinical director of Hope's Heart, a non-profit agency serving at-risk youth and with the position came attending to just about every major crises with the kids that resided at the girl's group home. There were plenty of other staff members on the list that were to be called before Toni, but it was hard to get someone to answer their phone at 4 in the morning on a holiday. Except for Toni. She always answered. Always.

Toni knew she should set better boundaries. A special place in her heart for the girls combined with her lifelong inability to say no caused her to be overworked. As a Masters level, licensed clinical social worker with 10 years experienced, Toni knew she could walk into any hospital setting or contract herself out to several other big corporations for a lot less hours and a lot more money than what she was making at Hope's Heart, but she really wanted to make a difference in the lives of the families they served. That was the kind of heart Toni had. She had it her entire life. She couldn't help it. If there was ever anybody in need she wanted to help them. The problem was she often neglected herself in the process.

Toni pulled down her visor, glanced in the mirror, and winced. She looked terrible. She had not had time to get ready properly. No make-up, dark circles around her big, almond shaped light brown eyes, and her hair looked like that of somebody who just broke up a fight between two adolescent girls. Her flawless chestnut brown skin, usually her best feature, looked ashen. After getting the call and believing it was a true emergency, she rushed to get dressed, which included a wrinkled blouse and the same skirt she had worn yesterday. She threw her hair into what barely passed as a pony tail and dodged out of the house. After breaking up the fight between Crystal and Sarah, Toni spent another hour calming Crystal down about what was behind her picking the fight in the first place, her mother had canceled on her visit to see her for Thanksgiving.

Toni was supposed to be relieved at 6 which would give her time to get the corn and potatoes ready, her contribution to the Thanksgiving meal at Cynthia's, pick out something decent to wear, and most importantly, get some sleep. But a staff member called in sick. Another staff member did come in at 8, but the kids wanted Toni to stay for the Thanksgiving breakfast they had prepared. She couldn't say no to that. Next, the parents started to arrive which triggered Crystal's tantrum all over again. Toni stayed until Crystal calmed down and begin to enjoy herself with the other kids' families.

When Toni was finally able to leave. She called Cynthia to say she would be late, but Cynthia told her to come right away. Toni gave a slight protest about not having anything cooked and what she was wearing, but ended up bypassing home and going straight to Cynthia's. When her 8-months pregnant best friend, who already has three other young children, tells her to get to her house, Toni figured she better get there. Toni guessed she probably needed extra help with the kids and her family in the mist of all of the cooking since Cynthia's husband he had an emergency bypass that came on the schedule yesterday evening.

Toni yawned as the familiar exhaustion became more apparent. The last few months had been like this for her. Barely getting even 4 hours of sleep at night. Three workers at Hope's Heart had quit in the past weeks and it put added duties on top of everything else she had to do. She glanced at the gas gauge and reminded herself to fill up soon. She turned up the knob on the heater. The temperature was in the low 30's and she had not put on a proper coat in her rush outside the house that morning. The light, thin thing she had on would not even pass as a coat in this weather. She looked up at the sky. The forecast had said there was a strong chance of sleet later, which would make the roads dangerously icy. She might have to sleep over at Cynthia's tonight.

Toni moved through the green light. Her depression was weighing on her like a wet blanket. It had been a year since she had broken up with Greg. What she had discovered, or maybe what she knew all along, was it wasn't him she missed, but what the relationship was supposed to become. He had been her only serious relationship in her entire 31 years. It lasted for 5. It was supposed to be the one. To fix whatever she felt was broken inside of her, whatever made her have that inability to truly feel loved or connected to a romantic partner. She was supposed to fall in love with him, but never did. He knew it too and was probably just going through the motions like she did. When Toni found out he was seeing his ex-girlfriend behind her back, she was not even surprised. Her only real hurt came from the fear that her relationship with Greg was her one shot at happiness and she failed at it. Losing her Aunt Mattie 2 years ago, who raised her from age 4 on after her mother died, did not help matters. Her depression started then and became compounded over the last year between the break up, work, and not taking care of herself physically. She had already lost 30 pounds this year without even trying.

Toni hoped she could get to Cynthia's before any of the other guests arrived. Guests. Just thinking of the word made the knot in her stomach grow tighter and she knew it was the thought of one guest in particular that made her feel that way. When Cynthia first talked about having Thanksgiving at her house Toni didn't give it a second thought because she usually spent the holidays at Cynthia's. They were like a second family to her. Cynthia Johnson had been her best friend ever since they had been roommates freshmen year.

Toni was looking forward to the Thanksgiving meal. She was making a guest list for Cynthia when she stopped cold over one name in particular before Cynthia could get out of her mouth good. Allison Conway. Damn, Toni hated that woman with a passion. Allison was such a strong personality. She stood 5'8, had rich creamy skin the color of dark honey, and big hazel eyes. Truth be told, she was stunningly gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful and always dressed to the 9's. She had such a presence. She walked into each and every room like she owned it, whether it was a board room, five-star restaurant, or a ladies room. She was the epitome of female poise, brilliance, confidence, sexiness...and Toni couldn't stand her.

She first met Allison at a birthday party for Ron. She was some high powered lawyer at the firm that Cynthia worked at. At first, Toni was just in awe of how beautiful she was and excited to meet her. Then something strange started to happened during their times together. What really got to Toni about Allison was how critical she was of Toni. No matter what, in some way, she was criticizing what she wore, how she looked, where she lived, her job. It almost came to blows on that last issue. It was at a promotion celebration for Cynthia. Toni was late getting there and made an apologetic vent about not having anybody to cover her at work and how tired she felt. Allison took the opportunity to mention what a waste it was to work at a job where one is overqualified and underpaid. Plus, if people where supposed to come in and cover her, then it was up to her to stand firm about them coming in. Toni could have reached across the table and smacked her. Smacked her good. Her desire to see Cynthia have a nice time and not be put out of the restaurant and branded as some psychotic fool was the only thing that saved Allison that day.

Then there was the time that Allison showed up out of the blue when Toni was sick just to admonish her about not seeing the doctor for her flu symptoms. Toni had passed out earlier that day at work and was rushed to the emergency room. She was released the same day, and called Cynthia when she got home who insisted on bringing her some soup. When Toni opened the ringing door, it was not Cynthia, but Allison who stood on the steps. It was so weird. Toni couldn't figure out for the life of her why this busy attorney, who she only had a few encounters with, would take time just to come all the way to her home and point out how wrong again Toni was for something. Being overly medicated and half-asleep was the only thing that allowed Allison to escape Toni's burgeoning wrath yet again. But the day was coming. Toni could feel it.

Then there was everything else they argued about-politics, capital punishment, welfare, capitalism, gap between rich and poor. Toni on one side and Allison on another. Many of a dinner engagement, or club outing found all the other ladies eating or on the dance floor while Toni and Allison engaged in passionate debates and ignoring everything around them. As much as it upset her when arguing with Allison, Toni had to admit she never felt more alive. Everything and everyone around her was so mundane, so predictable. Even though she loved Cynthia like a sister, their conversations were often dry, predictable scripts regarding Cynthia's kids, Ron's work, or what was on sale at the grocery store. Allison brought something out of her that she could not put her finger on just yet. She challenged her. Allison knew her stuff. The woman was well read. Journal articles, books, the news, she did her research. Toni often found that they had read many of the same things, just had different perceptions of them. Allison knew so many more things other than the law. And while Toni disagreed with about 90% of what she said, Allison always made a good case for it and Toni had to respect that. Cynthia mentioned on more than one occasion how brilliant Allison was, being one of the youngest Jr. partners in their firm. Toni hated to admit it, but Allison kept her on her toes. She awakened something inside of her.

But there was a barrier. She felt in Allison's eyes like she was not rich enough, fashionable enough...good enough. And it seemed this criticism was only directed at Toni. Allison, was in fact, sweet as sugar to everyone else. While always somewhat bossy, she was still helpful, kind, and respectful. From different encounters she had with Allison at dinner parties with Cynthia, spa days, going to the movies, she had seen Allison give the same respect she reserved for top executives, to wait staff and housekeepers. Allison was always warm, polite, welcoming...except when it came to Toni. For the life of her, Toni could not figure out why Allison disliked her so much. Toni knew she wasn't the corporate America type and looked all the time like she had just finished shopping at the Bargain Bin while putting out a fire, but she was a nice person. At least everyone else thought so. Allison was such a snob when it came to her. And that smug smile. Toni detested that smile and it was only reserved for Toni. It was a smile that said, "I know how to get to you and I am going to keep doing it because I can."

A knot in Toni's stomach grew tighter as she made the familiar right onto Sycamore Street. She even felt her breath quicken and could not believe she had this much anxiety about being in Allison's presence. A sense of relief washed over her as Cynthia's newly purchased two story house came into view. The only other car in the driveway was Cynthia's station wagon that was currently without heat. No sign of Allison's fire-red Lexus, beige Land Rover, or whatever other luxury cars she drove. Toni was elated. Allison was always prompt. Always. No matter how hard Toni tried, she could never arrive anywhere to anything before Allison. Like she set it up on purpose just to get Toni nervous by watching her come in and judge what she wore, how she walked, whatever she could sneer at. So Toni knew that if Allison was not here by now, she was not going to make it. Probably had some client to meet and squeeze another dollar from, Toni thought. She was surprised Allison even celebrated Thanksgiving and it wasn't just another workday for her.

Toni pulled into the driveway and got out. She knew Cynthia would not give her grief about showing up empty handed and there was probably plenty of other food. She was surprised she was the first one there. She hoped she could get time to change into something of Cynthia's and become somewhat decent looking before the other guests arrived. Toni rang the bell and began digging in her purse for her key when the door opened and she was greeted by a large pair of soft brown eyes. "Auntie Toni!," screamed Cynthia 's 6-year-old daughter, Dasia, who took the next second to hop into Toni's arms. Toni picked her up and closed the door. "Hey, baby," she said as she gave her a kiss and walked further into the house. Something was off. RJ, Cynthia's 4-year- old son, ran into the foyer. "Ms. Toni!" Dasia reluctantly got down as Toni bent to give RJ his hug and stood up. Something was definitely not right. She took a deep sniff and realized what it was. She didn't smell any food. "Mommy is getting ready and then we can go," Dasia said looking up at her. "Go where?" Toni inquired as she grabbed both the kids' hands and made her way into the kitchen. It was completely clean except for a bag of open Cheetos on the counter. "Where is all the food?" Toni asked.

Suddenly, Cynthia rushed in carrying 1-year-old Marcus, diapers, and wearing nothing but a slip. Cynthia gave Toni a kiss on the cheek then handed her the baby. "Hey, girl. How was work? Will you change little Marcus? I still have to put my dress on." She looked Toni up and down. "Oooh, you look tired."

Toni followed her out of the kitchen with the baby and other kids. "Cynthia, what is going on and where are you all going?" Cynthia picked her dress off from the back of the couch and started to put it on while Toni began changing the baby. "Well, on Tuesday we found out Ron's sister couldn't make it and, of course, Ron has to work today. And this morning, they grounded all flights out of Chicago because of the weather so my mom and brother can't make it." Cynthia put her dress on and tried grabbing her shoes from RJ and Dasia who thought this was the perfect moment for keep away. "So with not everybody coming I got to thinking was it still worth it cooking such a large meal." Toni finished with the baby's diaper as Cynthia finally wrangled her shoes from the giggling kids.

Toni grabbed a nearby brush and began brushing Dasia's hair back into a pony tail. "Well I was telling all of this to Allison." At immediate mention of the name, Toni went cold and the knot in her stomach from earlier started to tighten. "Well," Cynthia continued, "She mentioned that her family was coming over so why don't we all go to her house. She said she didn't mind cooking and was looking forward to it." Toni sat in stone silence with the brush still in Dasia's hair. "Aunt Toni, you're pulling to tight," Dasia protested through clinched teeth. Toni snapped back to reality. With shaky hands she quickly finished with Dasia's hair at which Dasia made a quick escape. "Isn't that great?" Cynthia chided. We will be spending Thanksgiving at Allison's new house." Toni knew yelling out the obscenities that were itching to come out may not be the best response, so she settled for a huge fake smile that kept her from having to say anything. Whether Cynthia ever detected Toni's distain of Allison or not, on any occasion, she hid it well.

Cynthia beamed as she picked up the baby and ushered the other kids toward the coat rack. Feeling numb and in a daze, Toni walked over to help the kids get their coats on. "Her home is absolutely gorgeous," Cynthia went on. "We have been there a few times. It is simply amazing. She lives in Auburn Heights." Toni just kept her smile on as she put back on her own thin coat and ushered the kids out the front door. Inside her head she was cursing. Auburn Heights was one of the most affluent and wealthiest neighborhoods in the entire city. Of course she would live there Toni thought to herself. "Are you sure you don't want a warmer coat?" Cynthia asked. The temperature is supposed to drop severely later this evening. We will probably be at Allison's a while." Toni almost tripped off the front step from that last statement. "Aunt Toni, are you ok?" Dasia asked sweetly. "I'm fine, sweetie," Toni said and helped the kids get into her car and buckled up.

She got the car seat from the station wagon and fixed it up in the back for little Marcus. "Thanks for driving," Cynthia said as she strapped him in and headed to the front. "We still need to get the wagon looked at." Toni just stood outside the car. Everyone else was in, buckled up, and ready to go. She wondered what would happen, short of a psychiatric stay and frostbite, if she just decided to not to get in the car and stand there all night. "Toni quit standing there like that!" Cynthia called up at her. "It's cold and we are already late. Come on." Toni let out a silent groan and got inside of the car.

As Toni backed down the driveway, a plan started to form in her mind. The last thing she wanted to ever do was spend a second, let alone her Thanksgiving, at Allison Conway's house. Seeing her at Cynthia's house was one thing, but being on Allison's home turf was whole other ball game. This day had already been horrible. It had been both mentally and physically exhausting and she didn't have it in her to face the arrogance and ego of that woman today. She was NOT going to that woman's house to hear her criticize everything from her job, clothes, car and whatever else Allison could pick apart. Toni looked to her side and in the rear view mirror at her eager passengers, all smiles and ready for the trip. As she drove, Toni glanced over at Cynthia. Toni hated to do it, but she was desperate. Perhaps this would be a great time to remind Cynthia of the conversation they had a few weeks ago about Cynthia wanting to have their first Thanksgiving dinner in the new house. Cynthia had been so excited about it. It was not too late. They could turn the car around and go back home and whip something together.

Toni opened her mouth. "Cynthia, I was just think-"

You know I am so glad Allison is doing this for us," Cynthia interjected. "Being 8-months pregnant and with 3 other kids to look after, there was no way I was looking forward to standing on my feet all day cooking. I can cook a big Thanksgiving meal next year at the house. No big deal. I felt bad at first, but Ron and the kids are fine with it. If he gets off early enough, he will swing by Allison's and eat with us." Toni clamped her mouth shut. Damn she thought to herself. It seemed kind of cruel to bring it up now. Toni could feel her breathing getting more rapid as she got on the freeway on- ramp. It was about 45 minutes to Allison's house and she needed another plan fast.

Toni looked in the rearview mirror at the eager faces of the kids. Even little Marcus was beaming and he had no clue what was going on. Toni knew it was low, but she remembered past instances at their other friends' houses where the kids refused to eat other people's food. They could be very picky eaters at times. Perhaps Cynthia needed this pointed out to save her some embarrassment and they could just turn the car around and go back home before it was too late. "You know Cynthia-"