The Tremendous Turmoil of Indigo

Chapter 4

As they journeyed away from the suburbs and their lives' ordinary yet hectic routines, Indigo watched the identical trees whip past the tinted window as Tate wielded the car down the three-lane street en route to the interstate. She zoned out as the low hum of the hybrid and the lyrical R&B morphed into white noise, her eyes straight ahead on the taillights of a minivan gleaming under the dawn sky.

Indigo knew her family was going to have some issues; they weren't cookie-cutter—the epitome of an all-American family. She knew the lady in the grocery store who assumed she was Greer's nanny was not a fluke. She was aware of the stares they got shopping at the mall or enjoying a family night of pizza and bowling. She can handle it. Tate didn't give a damn. Thyme assumed they were all taken by her presence because she was pretty with a magnetic personality—Indigo knew her ego was full-blown and out of control, which stemmed from Grandpa Larsen's need to spoil them. However, Greer took it differently. She was hyper-aware of the whispers and the encroaching eyes and they made her self-conscious.

She knew her daughters' personalities by the time they were five months old. Greer was a quiet baby and Thyme cried every time you tried to put her down and sometimes pick her up. Greer would hide under Tate's desk and read for hours as he wrote while Thyme was at work with her using her cuteness and her new word of the day to charm people into making purchases over their price point.

She thought they had Greer's self-esteem on track. They told her people would look, people would stare but not to live for them. Just be you, she was a diamond amongst stones. She was blossoming and ignoring the views of others until today. Today she listened. Today someone made her child feel strange and made her doubt her place in her family. And for that, Indigo was both livid and heartbroken.

She shimmied out of her cardigan. It was unseasonably cold for March and even though there had only been three weeks of real winter weather she was already tired of the cold. She loved summer and fall, even though she  loved snow she didn't enjoy having to layer on clothes for more than a month was a tedious task this Southern Girl wasn't used to.

"I thought you were asleep," Tate glanced over at her and then back to the road. "You want the heater turned down?"

"No. I'm fine, now." She pulled the outerwear from behind her back and tossed it over her shoulder. Her aim was off; it hit the floor instead of the backseat. She didn't care. "We have to meet with the girls' principal."

Tate eased off the gas putting some space between them and the pickup in front of them. He pulled his eyes off the road and placed them on her for longer than five seconds, "What happened?" He twisted his face with concern. "They said they were fine when I picked them up."

"They lied. It was a sister secret." She sat up, twisting to face him.

"Sister secret." He hit the turning signal, looked out the rearview mirror and side mirror before switching lanes, "They're conspiring against me. They tell me everything."

She read the dismay tinged with sadness on his features, "They are getting older. They want to do things on their own."

"Hmm." He sounded. "I don't like it. They're eight. Not eighteen." He glanced at her and saw the storm churning on her face, "What happened?"

"Some little kid called Greer 'mismatched', attacking her place in this family. Her family." She clenched her fist. "I'm over that private school. I know you like the programs and we put them there because it was the most stable choice during our period of instability."

He sighed, speeding up and switching lanes. It was a moment in time neither of them wanted to remember; finding a place to stay after their home was flooded by what was predicted to be a small tropical storm. They had to spend a couple of weeks staying with her parents until they could find a temporary residence. It had been two years since they'd been staying at their new home, and things were settled and permanent.

She sat back languidly in her seat watching the motorcycle crisscross from lanes, "I know we don't want them to go through more change but I think they should go to another school. Public school." She fiddled with her wedding band, "Timber Creek is like the UN. They won't stick out like sore thumbs."

"They'll be unicorns in a sea on unicorns." He stated with a smirk.

"But will they be unicorns then?"

"Shit." Tate half shrugged. "I don't know but..." He exhaled deeply, rubbing his face with one hand while the other was on the steering wheel, "Do we want to take them out of a situation because it's callous?"

The whooshing of cars and strong wind was the only thing heard over the low music. Tate could feel the burn of her miffed eyes on his flesh, "What?"

"What are you saying?" She glared at him. "I'm trying to shelter them, that switching schools will hinder them."

He shook his head, "I'm just saying kids bully everywhere. Kids can be assholes that way." He eased up on the gas as a State Trooper inched from lane to lane. "I don't want them...Greer to get used to running away from strife. I want her to be strong. Have skin like Teflon. Let adversity roll off and don't faze her."

"I want that to." Indigo shifted her torso back towards him, "But we both know that they'll thrive more in a better-regulated environment."

Tate faintly nodded, completely agreeing, "Less diversity. The place served its purpose." He lifted his head off the smooth leather headrest, "Plus, I've been to private school. I hated it."

She rubbed her temple roughly, "I just want the best for them. Thyme will thrive anywhere she goes. Baby girl has grit. It's Greer I'm worried about. I'm worried about her, Tate." She teared up, her eyes blurring. "What if?"

"We didn't make a mistake." He clutched her hand. "She's where she's supposed to be."

"I know." She set her hand over his letting his warmth and strength sip into her skin pushing back the darkest worries and doubts that plagued her.

She settled her eyes out the window as the car zipped by Fast food signs and the gnawing of her empty stomach growing stronger than the pang in her heart. "Did you figure in food in your date night plans?"

"Yes." He peeled her hand off his thigh and interlocked their fingers. "I got this just...enjoy."

Her eyes leered at the Taco Cabana billboard looming by the freeway, "I'm hungry."

"I'll feed you." He affirmed, placing a kiss on the back of her hand. "I promise."

Should they withdraw the girls from the private school or let them stay?

What mistake do you think Indigo thinks they made? What doubts and worries do you think she has?