The Bloodline

The compliment does make him smile, make him flush - just a bit. But she doesn't need to flatter him so; it makes him a little uncomfortable. He isn't sure why.

"You would probably get a little bored," he says grimly. "If you just had dozens of Davy Nicholses parading around. I do not even know what I would do with so much of myself."

Exiting Yvonne's apartment, Davy muses, "Shall we walk, or are you going to make me take one of those hired cars?"

“My driver has the night off,” Yvonne said as she began to walk in the brisk night air alongside Davy. Being driven everywhere, she almost never had an opportunity to take in the city as it was. Still, the smell of ancient coffee, urine, and dog shit wasn’t something that was she particularly cared about on a night like this.

“And, yeah, I think that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself either if there were ten of me,” she said quietly. “I already live with my mother. If there were another eleven of her, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”

shivcomplex-deactivated20240626

"right," shiv responded idly, though her hand was frozen in the air, still holding her fork. it made her feel a little bit nauseous. was he just trying to show off to her daughter? to make yvonne see how shitty of a mother she was? she wasn't as bad as caroline. shiv chewed on her cheek, it was too late to revoke her offer now, she'd only seem even worse. "right. all over the place."

"we've taken you up there already," she murmured defensively. shiv's responses remained vague as her thoughts whirred, visibly half-dissociated till she finally clocked her own hand, putting her fork back down on her plate. kendall was a thorn in her side when she thought about him too hard. now that she didn't have to be actively concerned with his addictions, she sort of yearned for it. her dear, stupid brother. their relationship was too complex for shiv to ever explain to yvonne, she kept things vague and icy. the relationship she had with him was fine, but not endearing to her.

ilona seemed trustworthy at least. she couldn't imagine her letting kendall fall back into old habits; despite shiv's worries, it was hard to genuinely say she ought not to go. "have you spoken to your father about it?" she asked; tom and shiv operated separately now more than ever, and often ended up undermining the others wish. unfortunately for shiv, tom got to play good cop most of the time and absent father the rest.

"well, you're not a baby anymore. who am i to stop you?" shiv sucked in a breath, holding eyes with her daughter, "but i think five days is plenty."

Yvonne had learned how to negotiate with Shiv a long time ago. Usually, it meant giving her mother the run down waiting for her thoughts on whatever the issue was and then bargaining with her until Yvonne got what she wanted. Of course, that worked for drawing classes, extracurriculars, and for some parties, but the family was a different ballgame. There was no negotiation about vacations or spending time with them, particularly Uncle Kendall, and Yvonne mostly accepted it.

“Five days is fine,” she said. She didn’t know how he and Aunt Ilona would react when she called them later tonight. She was sure that they would be fine with it, but she couldn’t be sure. Uncle Kendall liked to build castles in the sky and, when they fell, he sometimes acted like a dog that had been kicked too hard – whimpering and lying in bed for hours.

“And, yes, I talked with Dad about it,” she continued. “He said that five days was good.”

She had called Dad earlier that day and they had spoken for a couple of minutes. He was partridge hunting at some manor house in England as part of his business trip. When Yvonne mentioned the trip, he told her that she could go and said nothing further. And that was how it always was with him. No negotiations necessary.

“So,” Yvonne said. “Did you hear that Anya almost got kicked out of Spence for smoking cigarettes in one of the bathrooms?”

#shivcomplex #v; main

betteroff

MILLY ALCOCK April 2023 | pho. Bryan Liston

#& self

Davy isn't sure what to make of Yvonne's sudden stillness, sudden quiet.

And the Yvonne is gone; Davy is left to wonder what it is that he did so, so wrong.

He comes from a family of honest, healthy, and vulnerable communicators. His parents rarely fought; when they did, they were open about their children about their issues. They wanted the Nichols siblings to listen and learn through their parents' adverse experiences. They raised four hardworking, earnest individuals who don't shy away from confrontation when necessary.

Upon Yvonne's return: "No. No, you should not snap - but I understand, I do. I do not resent you your emotions."

He stands up, adjusts his slacks and his button-up.

"You look amazing, sweetheart. Let's have a good night all the same."

“Thanks for understanding,” Yvonne said and smiled at Davy’s compliment. He always knew how to make her feel better no matter how she was feeling. “You look dapper yourself.”

Yvonne signaled for Davy to follow her out of her room and down the stairs. Halloween night was still young and the last rays of the sun could be seen glinting off some of the skyscrapers. There was a chill in the air, but she didn’t mind. The fresh air was good for her and being cooped up her all day wasn’t fun either.

“I’m very lucky to have you as my friend, Davy,” she said to him as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “I wish all of the guys I know were like you.”

Davy is sure to pull, is the thing, dressed as Oscar Wilde. He'll tell people who he is with a charming grin, and they'll fucking melt. They won't even need to get it - they'll just fucking melt.

"Those Spence girls?" He cocks his head. "Are you sure you're thinking so vaguely? - or is there one girl in particular you want to make jealous?"

As Yvonne snapped the clasp into place and Davy mentioned Anya, her face darkened. “She’s eating dinner at Le Coucou with her parents tonight,” she said placing her hands firmly on the counter, so that they wouldn’t shake. She could see her, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Maria Louisa sitting at a nice VIP table towards the back, eating their food, laughing. She couldn’t remember the last time both of her parents had taken her out somewhere without one of them making a scene.

To calm herself down, Yvonne walked to Shiv’s bedroom downstairs to retrieve the comb. She turned the lights on and walked towards her parents’ room sized closed. Inside, she made her way to a safe underneath her mother’s things and entered the code, which was Grandpa Logan’s birthday. She found the Faberge combs and placed them on either side of her head.

After locking the safe and the bedroom door, Yvonne made her way back upstairs smiling. “I’m sorry,” she said to Davy. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

cptrs

#& mom #& dad

"Oh!" Davy claps a few times, his hands coming together to make a sound that's somewhat dull and deep but also pleased. "Lovely. You really came out of left field with that one," he laughs, clearly delighted.

"You don't have to commit to a Barbie. I just found it appropriate - you're beautiful, blonde, successful. The list only goes on."

“Thank you.” Yvonne was pleased by her reception. “I like it, too.”

People always wore the same things to the parties they went to – goblins, ghouls, witches, ghosts, and sexy members of whatever profession. Holly Golightly and Oscar Wilde would be different and that was the whole point.

“I think my mom’s Faberge hair comb would look good with this,” she said as she paused in front of a mirror and admired herself. “And my pearl choker." She pulled out a drawer, pulled out the choker, and fastened it to her neck. "God," she turned to Davy. "Are those Spence girls going to be jealous or what?"

Gabriela is close enough that she can hear Yvonne's lowered voice. It amazed Gabi how much Yvonne knows about her mother Jenny's personal life. Gabriela's own mother is a mysterious figure, not quite as distant as her father, Cain - yet incapable of giving Gabriela much nurturing or affection. She was always an ill woman, and her mental health issues were exacerbated by Kieran's death.

Moreover, there have never been strong feelings of any sort between Cain and Jenny. Gabriela is the result of compulsory heterosexual behavior on Cain's part - a drunken, drugged up sex party in Kieran's commune. Cain regards Jenny now like a distant friend or former coworker.

There's so much more passion and intensity in Yvonne's family. And Yvonne's mother cheated - how juicy. Gabriela would much rather focus on Yvonne's complicated family than her own.

"Do you think it's the healthiest thing for you to compare yourself to your cousin?" she asks, not unkindly or harshly. "I just feel like, you know, my family is so fucked up, and my dad is so-" She cuts herself off abruptly. "-anyways, if I compared myself to other people, I would go crazy."

“It is unhealthy, but all of us do it.” Yvonne wasn’t sure Gabriela would understand how deep the competition among the Roys was. She had heard stories from Uncle Kendall. One of them was about Grandpa putting a bike between him and Uncle Roman as children and having them fight for it, while he watched with his friends from the safety of a back lawn.

“In my family, everything is a game and the winner takes all,” Yvonne said. “If you talked to Anya, she’ll probably tell you that she thinks I’m lucky because I don’t live in a museum and have parents that don’t care.” Anya had mentioned that once a zillion years ago. What did it matter if it wasn’t true anymore. “And if you ask Mom, she’ll tell you that she hates that Uncle Roman because he’s out there in California living the high life, while she’s here and stuck with me.”

fightingdragonswithwho

We gave it a go. Yeah, we gave it a go.

SHIV ROY and TOM WAMBSGANS in SUCCESSION

#& mom #& dad

He nods decisively. Family members - off the menu. He'd never be at risk for being recognized as Aunt Spirit or Burns, so it's all a bit strange to imagine.

"Why not go for something simple? Or some kind of Barbie? Barbie can be anything, and she is very popular." So he hears from Phoebe and Lucy.

“A Barbie…” Yvonne walked into her giant closet and started looking at dresses. She pulled down one and then another. Soon, there was a nice pile on the makeup counter in middle. Finally, she pulled on a long black dress and put on some dark sunglasses that were lying around.

“Does Holly Golightly work?” she said as she walked outside and spun for Davy to have a look. “Or do you still want Barbie?”

janinegregory

Is there a problem? No, no, it's fine.

#& mom #& dad

"Ground you?" The concept is mostly foreign to Davy. His parents weren't really the type to punish, you see.

"I do not think you should go as your cousin," he says gently. "As you've said, you don't need the drama. Maybe avoid dressing as family, this year."

"You're right," Yvonne said with a sigh. "Family members are off the costume menu."

She glanced around the room and looked for something decent, but couldn't find anything.

"Do you have any bright ideas who I can go as, Davy?"