by Nicole Casey
“Mr. Collier, are you there, sir?” the detective asked in my ear. I forced myself back to the present and took a deep breath.
“Yes. What happened?”
“There has been a car accident, sir. Your sister Jocelyn and brother-in-law Charlie were hit by a drunk driver. They died at the scene.”
My head began to spin even though I had been expecting the words.
“Where is Alex?” I gasped, leaning back against the high back leather chair.
Suddenly I remembered Sandra Rimes on the office line.
“Your niece was not with them. She is being held at the Department of Family Services. We understand that you are the next of kin and we will need you to come to North Carolina to identify the bodies and take custody of Alexandra.”
“Alexa,” I intoned flatly. “I will be out on the next flight.”
I ended the call, a strange feeling of numb overtaking my body as I sat staring at the blinking light on line four.
My little sister was dead. Charlie was dead. Alex was alone.
“Mr. Collier, Sandra Rimes is still waiting.”
I didn’t respond. How could I when I had no words to speak?
“Mr. Collier?”
Kathleen was beginning to sound irritated.
“I heard you!” I roared and I heard her gasp at my tone.
I snatched up the receiver again and punched the blinking line.
“I just heard,” I told the waiting social worker. “What do you need me to do?”
“When you get here, we will explain everything to you. When can you come?” Sandra Rimes asked gently.
“I am leaving Seattle tonight,” I said. “Is Alexa with you?”
I did not feel myself speaking but I heard the words through the receiver and I knew I was saying them as if someone else had taken over my body.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Collier. Unfortunately, she is not with me but she is safe at the police station. If you are unable to come for her tonight, she will be placed in a foster home overnight.”
“No!” I barked with much more intensity than I had intended. “I will be there tonight. Tell her I am coming.”
I slammed the phone onto the cradle and leaped from my chair, grabbing my keys and wallet from the top drawer of my desk before flying into the main part of the office.
Weaving through the cubicles, I could not shake the sensation that I was not really there, especially when people I saw people talking to me but their words made no sense to my ears.
It was as if I had fallen into another dimension, a parallel universe where my body existed but my mind was far away.
That’s because this is a nightmare. You’re going to wake up any minute and laugh shakily. Jocelyn will be alive and Alex will still have her parents.
Someone grabbed my arm and I turned to stare at my boss blankly.
“Are you deaf? I’ve been calling your name for two whole minutes!” Andy barked. I didn’t reply, continuing to stare through him as if he wasn’t there.
“Where the hell are you going? It’s tax time, Evan. You can’t leave until Harry gets all the paperwork he needs.”
I gaped at him as if he had sprouted a second head.
“Unless you’re going for coffee. In which case you can get me a venti cap with soy milk,” he continued. “Oh, and a scone.”
I stared at him for a long moment, a floodgate of bitterness sweeping through me as I thought of the countless hours I had spent working for the cocky CEO.
How many times did I stay in Seattle to finish a project when Jocelyn had asked me to come home for Thanksgiving? How many birthdays did I miss? How many times did I promise Alex I would go and got stuck with a mountain of work?
It was too late to make it up to Jocelyn and Charlie. There would be no more family dinners where we would remember mom and dad dancing in the kitchen at the house on Seafarer Road. There would be no more trips to the cottage at Nags Head where Jocelyn and I had spent our summers in childhood.
Suddenly, I began to laugh and Andy stepped back, a half-smile on his face as if he was missing the joke.
“What’s so funny?” Andy asked, folding his arms across his chest.
To my horror, I couldn’t stop laughing and peals of hysteria escaped me as I looked at his smug face.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as Andy grew uncomfortable, glancing around at our co-workers as if seeking assistance.
Everyone appeared as ill-at-ease as he looked but it only fueled my temporary psychosis.
“Okay, Evan,” Andy called after a full minute of my hiccuping laughter. “I don’t get the joke.”
As quickly as it had come on, the fit of giggles ceased and my mouth fell into a firm line, my jaw tensing as I ground my teeth together so tightly, I was sure they would crack.
I stuffed down the insurmountable desire to clock Andy in the jaw, knowing that my emotions were reigning my mental state in that moment.
But I did not stop myself from saying what was on my mind and had been for many years.
“The joke is you can take this job and stick it,” I muttered, spinning to leave him staring at me open-mouthed. “I’m going home.”
2
Vyolet
I knew my sisters felt differently but I enjoyed Sunday dinner at our parents’ house.
While the meals were a tradition, it was far and few between that all of us would find ourselves together at one table, Maya citing some spiritual retreat or Yvette being weighed down on some taxing case which seeped into her weekend.
I always made the time to drive out to Minnesott Beach, no matter the weather.
A small part of me worried about my parents.
I had reached a place where I knew they were not going to be around forever and I wanted to spend as much time with them while I had the chance.
Of course, I would never say such a thing aloud; I may have accepted my own mortality but I don’t think they were quite there yet.
They were still young, after all, virile, active and working in their respective fields.
My mother was a supply teacher for the school board and my father was consultant for a pharmaceutical company based out of Durham.
My mother did not carry a single grey hair on her auburn head and the only time I caught the slightest hint of a wrinkle on her kind face was when she grinned her impish smile and the corners of her emerald eyes lit up.
I was the spitting image of my father but he had a much more distinguished air.
His fine blonde hair was salted with white and his blue eyes blazed cerulean and against fair skin.
I had also inherited my height from him as he towered above the rest of us at an imposing six feet six inches.
Thankfully, I was not quite as looming but I had finally capped my height at five eleven in my sophomore year of high school.
I pulled my white Mazda 6 up to the ranch-style home and stifled a sigh as I noted my sisters’ vehicles were not there.
It looked like I was going to be the only daughter present again.
As I exited the car, I glanced about the immaculately kept front lawn and peered down the road hopefully.
I had texted Maya earlier and she vowed to show but my just-younger sister often forgot things, especially if something more appealing was to come along and distract her.
Something like a man in a pair of tight denim pants and a tank top, I thought.
Sometimes I felt like I was seven years older than Maya, not seven minutes.
I often wondered how she did it both physically and psychologically.
The tales my sister would regale me with often made me blush for days afterward.
I could never understand how three women who had shared the same space in the same womb had so little in common.
Yvette was no different with her strict career focus, without time for anything else but the downfall of other people’s marriages.
How are we even related, let alone triplets? I wondered.
&nb
sp; I imagine they pondered the same about me.
“Vyolet!”
I turned to greet my mother, my smile fading as I examined the expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my pulse quickening. “Is it dad?”
Mom shook her head as she rushed in to hug me.
“No no, your father is fine,” she said quickly. “It’s Uncle Evan.”
I stared at her for a long minute, trying to reconcile who she meant.
“Uncle Evan?” I echoed. We had no such relative that I could remember.
“Dad’s friend from Northwestern?” my mom reminded me, and I instantly recalled the tall man in my mind.
“Oh!” I gasped. “Evan Collier?”
Mom nodded, linking her arm to mine.
“Yes,” she sighed. “His sister passed away yesterday in a terrible car accident with her husband.”
“Oh,” I breathed. “That’s terrible! Don’t they have a little girl?”
“She was not in the car, thank God,” mom replied, her eyes clouding over with tears. “But the poor child is an orphan now.”
Evan had been around for much of our childhood. He was our dad’s best friend from college he had always been pleasant to us.
The memories were fleeting though, as he had packed up and moved to Washington state for some extremely well-paying job as a computer analyst or programmer – something technical.
I hadn’t seen him in probably twelve years.
As we entered the house, I saw dad sitting on the sofa in the living room, his ear pressed to the cordless phone.
He was deep in quiet conversation and glanced up to offer me a half smile but there was no joy in his expression as he continued his conversation.
“Has he come back for the funeral?” I whispered to mom, following her to the kitchen.
The walls were littered with school photos of us from Kindergarten to college, our most awkward stages on display for all the world to see.
“Yes,” mom replied. “But he has also had guardianship of his young niece now.”
I slipped onto a stool at the island, reaching over the chopping board for a stray carrot.
“Oh wow,” I murmured, sympathy for the man jolting through me. “Does he have any kids of his own?”
Mom shook her head, retrieving her kitchen knife and continuing to prepare the veggies.
“No,” she sighed. “He never did marry.”
“I wonder why not. He was good looking for an older guy,” I commented, crunching on the carrot.
Mom scowled slightly, her brow creasing in mock anger.
“For ‘an older guy’?” she echoed. “He’s the same age as your father!”
“And dad looks good too!” I protested, embarrassment tinging my cheeks pink.
Dad joined us in the kitchen, his face grave.
“Hi sweetheart,” he said, giving me a peck on the cheek before turning to his attention fully to mom. “I told Evan to come over tonight, Amelia.”
“Of course he should!” mom cried. “Has he picked up Alex already?”
Dad nodded.
“Yes,” he replied. “She’s coming also.”
I bit on my lower lip, unsure of what to say.
“Sorry, daddy,” I finally managed. “That is terrible news.”
“Charlie and Jocelyn were such good people,” dad said sadly, hugging me close to him. “Jocelyn made it a point to drop off Christmas cookies every year. Why do the good always die young?”
Again, I had no answer for him, but I was again forced with the thought of how fleeting life could be.
“How is Alex holding up?” mom asked, brushing aside a stray wisp of auburn hair from her forehead.
“I don’t think she knows what is happening. I mean, how do you explain to a child that young that she’ll never see her parents again?” dad sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t even imagine what the poor child is going through.”
“Wow, who died?” Maya chirped, whirling into the kitchen, a devious grin upon her tanned face. “You all look like you’re at a wake in here.”
I shook my head wildly, waving my hands to stop her but the damage was already done.
“Jocelyn and Charlie Sumac,” dad retorted, a slight anger in his tone.
Instantly, Maya looked contrite.
“Oh shit, sorry, daddy. I didn’t think someone actually died or else I wouldn’t have said that. Obviously.”
She grinned disarmingly but I could see that daddy didn’t appreciate her half apology.
Maya slipped onto the stool beside me and whispered in my ear.
“Who the hell are Joyce and Chuckie Smack?” she asked.
“I’ll fill you in later,” I murmured back, my attention on my parents.
“Girls, help finish setting the table,” mom instructed. “Yvette isn’t coming tonight.”
I could hear the disappointment in her tone but it was really no surprise to any of us.
It was always a surprise when Yvette did manage to show for Sunday dinner.
“Come on,” I urged Maya and we wandered into the dining room to lay out the silverware.
“What was that about?” Maya chirped when she thought we were out of hearing range.
“Remember Uncle Evan? Evan Collier?”
Maya’s green eyes brightened instantly.
“Do I ever!” she chortled. “He was the most handsome man I had ever seen until I was seventeen.”
I eyed her with mild disgust.
“Maya, he’s dad’s age!” I reminded her. “How can you say that?”
She laughed in that teasing way of hers and shook her messy auburn waves playfully.
“Older men are better at everything, Vy. Trust me.”
I ignored her innuendo, trying not to blush scarlet. If she caught me with red cheeks, she wouldn’t let it go for the rest of the night.
“Anyway,” I continued quickly. “His sister and her husband were killed in a car accident yesterday. He’s coming over.”
Maya grunted softly.
“I don’t mean to sound insensitive but if I had known that this place was going to be all doom and gloom today, I would have opted out. The energy is already bad. Throwing more grief into the mix won’t do anything for our auras.”
I glared at her.
“Maya, you sound like a jerk,” I scolded her. “God forbid someone close to you dies and your friends treat you the same way in your moments of grief.”
She looked at me, genuine surprise in her eyes.
“Many friends of mine have passed,” she replied sincerely. “Death is a part of life, a rite of passage. You cannot grieve the loss of people. You must celebrate their lives.”
I knew pursuing a debate would be useless but I was saved from doing so because the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” I called automatically.
I don’t know why I volunteered. Surely my dad wanted to see his long-time friend and would have some wisdom to bestow upon him as he opened the door.
It was just that Maya was merely making me uncomfortable with her new age thinking and I wanted to be away from her Zen and meditation talk while I had the opportunity.
I barreled through the dining room, around the opposite side of the foyer to open the front door.
The first thing I noticed was his eyes.
They were the color of granite and rimmed in red but I was certain I had never seen such an alluring shade of grey in my life.
Shadowed by almost impossibly long, black lashes, I found myself fixated on those irises as if he had cast a spell on me with his stare.
Evan was much taller than I remembered him being, nearly the same height as my dad, something I found interesting as I was forced to look up at him. It was something I didn’t often do with other people.
I also did not recall his rugged attractiveness.
A five o’clock scruff pricked his face and his mouth seemed drawn into a melancholic pout which, given the circumstance, was sexy a
nd not petulant.
My breath caught in my chest for a long minute as our gazes locked, neither of us speaking.
“Can we come inside?” a small voice piped up and my eyes fell downward where a small brunette stood staring up at me with intense brown irises.
“Yes!” I gasped, humiliated that I had left them standing there for so long. “Please, come in.”
I stepped aside to allow them into the foyer, smiling softly at the girl.
“You must be Alex,” I said, lowering myself to her level. She nodded and eyed me suspiciously.
“Yes,” she replied quickly. “I don’t know you and I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”
“I am Vyolet,” I told her. “Your uncle and my dad are very good friends so we’re almost family. See? Now we aren’t strangers anymore.”
I offered her an outstretched palm and she took it tentatively.
“I think that I may have some dolls and books in my old room for you to play with, Alex,” I continued. “I will take you there in a minute if you want.”
She nodded eagerly and glanced at her uncle for confirmation.
My gaze moved upward toward Evan and he seemed unable to stop looking at me.
“You are Vyolet?” he breathed, and I almost had to strain to hear him.
I slowly rose to my full height and nodded.
“It has been a long time, Uncle Evan,” I replied quietly, choking on the word “uncle.” I could not associate the barrel-chested man standing before me as any relation to me, no matter what I had just said to Alex. The rising temperature of my body did not feel remotely like platonic affection.
I cleared my throat and looked away, certain that my thoughts were plain as the nose on my face.
“I am sorry for your loss,” I mumbled, glancing at him through a wall of fine blonde hair covering my cheek.
“Evan! Alex!” dad boomed, rounding the corner with mom at his side.
Guiltily, I stepped back and watched as my parents embraced their friend.
All right, I told myself, inhaling sharply. That is enough of that.
I spun to escape the front room before embarrassing myself further but before I could take a step, Maya stood in the doorway of the salon, blocking my path.