He patted the couch for me to sit next to him, and I did.
“First off, if you ever want to use me like that in the future, I’m okay with that.” He smiled wolfishly at me. “Second, it’s okay. I kind of figured that’s what it was when you started attacking me in the kitchen. I’m just glad I restrained myself, and man, it was hard.”
“That was kind of the goal,” I smirked.
“Funny, but you know what I mean.”
“I do, and I’m sorry,” I apologized again.
“You don’t ever have to say that to me in that instance.” He sighed and dragged me to him in a side hug.
I wound my arms around his waist, thankful that I had an understanding and patient boyfriend who didn’t mind when his girlfriend sexually assaulted him in her kitchen and then kicked him out.
Tina came downstairs and, seeing that we made up, smiled a sarcastic smile and clapped. “Oh, goody. The happy couple made up.”
“Next time you need help with those grocery bags, ask your boyfriend—oh, wait,” Trevor replied just as sarcastically.
Tina shot him a bird and went into the kitchen to see what her mom was doing.
“Why do you antagonize her?”
“It’s fun,” he shrugged.
It was getting late, and Aria still wasn’t home yet. I was about to text her or Riley again when the door opened and they walked in.
“Hey. Oh, hey, Trev.” Aria came over and hugged Trevor.
Trevor gave her a hug and bumped a fist with Riley.
“Did you guys have fun?” I looked pointedly at Riley, trying to ascertain where they had been.
“I know you’re going to tell her.” Aria rolled her eyes, looking at Riley.
Riley smiled sheepishly at her, then turned back to me.
“We just went over to Spinner’s to meet some of the drama people who wanted to see her and see how she was doing. Nothing sinister happened, I swear.” He held up the Scout’s Honor hand sign.
“What does my sister have on you that makes you follow every single order she gives?” Aria asked, annoyed.
“I could tell you, but then she’d order me to kill you.”
Aria rolled her eyes, but I thought it was pretty funny.
“Thanks, Riley. You’re a good friend. When I’m taking over the world and killing off the little people, I’ll remember not to kill you.”
“You mean I’m not going to be the head minion?” he joked.
“Head minion, please—more like the minion.”
Trevor shook his head. “I never got you guys’ humor.”
I patted his hand. “I know, baby, and not many people do.”
“Whatever, Ri-Ri. Thanks for getting me out tonight. I needed this.”
“Hey, no problem. If I knew it was going to cause a problem though, I would have talked to Dac first.”
“Ugh, she’s not my mom. She is my sister, and I’m eighteen.”
Not this again. Before she could turn this into a fight, Riley spouted that he was leaving and asked if it was okay if he came to the service.
“Of course, Ri-Ri. Just the offer to come means more than you will know. We thought just family would be attending.”
“I want to be there to support you guys.”
We told him that it was set for Saturday, although we didn’t know what time and would text him with it later, then he left. Then I asked Aria if Mick had come back while I had been asleep.
“Oh, he came back all right. You missed a doozy.” She laughed, remembering something funny. “He came back asking about the safe in Mom and Dad’s room and if we knew the combinations, and when I said that they had two separate ones, he went on about ‘Well, maybe they had their wills in there’ and we needed to check them out right now and go, go, go, and then Auntie said what was the rush and kept calling him ‘slick’ and what was eating his pants so bad that it couldn’t wait until after the funeral? Then they went back and forth, and Uncle Mick’s face got red and Opal started calling him names, and Mrs. D had to calm everyone down, then Mick stormed out, saying he would see everyone tomorrow. It was really funny,” she finished.
I slept through that? Why didn’t Tina tell me that when we were upstairs talking? What was he up to? Why was he so concerned about our parents’ will? He couldn’t take things if it was decreed in a will, could he? So many questions, and I didn’t have an answer to anything.
“What is your uncle up to?” I pondered out loud.
“Beats me, but Aunt Opal said to keep on our toes and never let him get his hands on their wills if they had them. She wants us to look for them after the funeral when he’s not here.”
“Yeah, she said the same to me about Mick, not about the wills.”
Aria shrugged and said she was full-on fried junk and going to bed. She hugged me good-night, then confessed, “I’m sorry about earlier. I don’t mean to be a brat, I swear, I’m just in a strange place and I don’t know how to act except be a brat.”
I guess the time with her friends helped. It was the first time since the accident that I felt like my sister was my sister.
“I know this is hard for you, but we can get through this together if we are honest and stick together.”
“I’m trying, Dac. I really am. I don’t want to hurt anymore.”
“I know.”
She wiped a tear from her big brown eyes and said good-night again.
There had been so much crying, so much. I was tired of seeing tears in her eyes, tired of tears being in my eyes, and I knew that they would never fully dissipate over the years to come but they would start to after the funeral. We needed the funeral to start the healing process.
“Hey, where are you right now?” Trevor touched my cheek with the back of his fingers.
I leaned into his touch. “Hum, just want this all to be over, for the healing to begin.”
“It will be. Just give it time.”
Mrs. D came around the corner and said she made something other than casserole for dinner, and I was grateful because I was starving, but if I had to eat another casserole, I was going to cut someone. She had made her famous arroz con pollo, chicken and rice, and I devoured it, since I hadn’t had a home-cooked meal since Mom’s meal the night Mick was in town.
Thinking of that night was bittersweet. It was filled with such a good memory of the surprise of Aria’s play but now such a sad one because Mom wouldn’t be able to see her in it if she got the part.
I didn’t even know if Aria wanted to do the play anymore because of the notion it held. I would have to ask her.
I made small talk with Tina, and Trevor stayed and ate with me even though he had already eaten some casserole earlier. When I gave him a questioning look, he shrugged his shoulders and replied with “I’m a guy,” as if that explained why he was eating again, which I have to admit—it did.
When we were done, I offered to help clean the kitchen or wash the dishes or something, but Mrs. D simply shooed me out of the kitchen and Tina merrily shook her head at me.
“Give it up. Why do you think these hands are dishwater free? She spoils,” Tina said.
“I just thought you were lazy.”
“That too, but she lives for it. She won’t let you wash a plate or help unless it’s cooking.”
I felt bad, like I was talking advantage of her kindness. When I voiced this, she told me I was being ridiculous.
“It’s the least I can do. Besides, I will be leaving Saturday evening. Mr. Delgado is complaining that he has to eat takeout, although he understands and sends his regards.”
“I still feel bad. I feel like I’m treating you like a slave.”
“I’m sure every parent feels like a slave to their children, dear. And I do consider you my child, you and Aria. So please, it’s no trouble. No se preocupe.” She came over and gave me a tight hug.
“I don’t know how I could repay you for what you have done.”
“Don’t give up, and take care of yourself and your sister
. That’s how,” she said.
I nodded to her, and she pulled back, dabbing at her eyes.
“Could you guys be any more Lifetime right now?” Tina scoffed lightly.
“Help me freeze the leftovers for the girls, so they have something other than casserole.”
I shot her a bird behind her mother’s back. She kissed her middle finger and stuck it out at me as I went to walk Trevor to the door.
Trevor had decided not to stay simply because his back couldn’t take the couch anymore and it was mother-son date night tomorrow, which he volunteered to cancel and I told him no.
“If anything, you need to keep it and spend as much time with your mom as possible. Not to sound all ‘greeting card,’ but tomorrow is not promised.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not on any greeting card, and if it is, it’s a really shitty one,” he said.
Now, as I stood there knowing I wouldn’t see him tomorrow night, I wanted to be selfish and tell him never mind, but I knew that would be wrong.
“Where are you guys going?” I asked him.
“I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet.” He bent down to give me a kiss and paused right before he reached my lips. “Am I safe?” he asked with a smirk.
“I swear I won’t maul you this time,” I said, right before I pulled him into a sensual but brief kiss. “Better?” I asked, backing up.
“Um, I’m not sure. The effect is still the same, so I’m going to go with a no.”
“Then you better get going. Have fun tomorrow.”
He paused with a pained look on his face. “I hate leaving you when I know you need me. It really is not a big deal to change plans with my mom. She would understand.”
“No. Please, people have been making concessions all week and things are going back to normal soon enough, so we might as well start it now.”
“Promise to text me if you need me. Or if you need to maul me again, I promise I won’t stop you anymore. Please?”
“Kicking yourself now?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“No. Well, maybe just a little.” He held up his finger and thumb to indicate an inch.
“I promise if I need you or want to maul you, I will text you. I love you, and thank you for saying no.”
“You’re welcome, baby. I love you too.” He leaned over and gave me one last kiss and was out the door.
Aria was already fast asleep, and I, having just woken up, was wide-awake and alone with my thoughts.
I decided to start on my creative writing final assignment, thinking about how I had changed this semester. The semester wasn’t even over, and I had already changed in so many ways—it’s what death did to people.
I searched the room and found my book bag Trevor had bought over and took out my notebook and pen—old school, I know—and began to write.
Chapter 13
The next two days went by in a whirlwind, and then they didn’t. On Thursday, I didn’t see Trevor, but I saw plenty of Mick, who kept wanting me to change my mind about trying to look for the will. He had made up some ridiculous story about some family heirloom that Mom had that was passed down to her, and he wanted to see if it was either in the safe or in the will to be passed over to him, and since he was leaving right after the funeral Sunday night, he wanted to know.
I had told him I had too much going on and I wasn’t going to look. I hadn’t been able to go into my parents’ room since the accident, and I didn’t even think I would after the funeral. On Friday, Aria had started acting somewhat back to normal, being the sister I once knew, only having a few bouts of the bitchy teen angst here and there. I caught her staring at her phone again. When I came up behind her, she quickly closed her text message screen and screamed about privacy and ran upstairs.
Opal was still Opal and hadn’t had anymore bouts of memory lapse since the day of the funeral home, and she and Mr. Eugene seemed to be doing fine, although to be honest, I wasn’t really checking in too much these days with her and Mr. Eugene. I wasn’t checking in with anyone, really. The funeral home had called and said that the service was set for eleven o’clock Saturday morning, so the house was abuzz Friday evening, and a sort of morose calm had settled over everyone. Aria was eerily quiet and off by herself, not speaking to anyone, just staring at her phone. And me, well, I was stuck in my head feeling incredibly guilty.
Tina had kept asking me how I felt about Wally’s death because of our relationship when he was alive, and I didn’t know how I felt. I had been avoiding answering that question, but I was going to have to deal with it sooner or later, and I had no doubt I would be thinking of nothing but that while I was sitting through the service. If I wanted to be honest with myself, I felt guilty that I didn’t try hard enough with him. He was my father, the only one I would ever have, and now he was gone. And sure, he hadn’t given me the hugs and kisses he had given Aria, but he had loved me, he had clothed me and fed me and made sure I was healthy up until Mom came along, then he passed it on to her.
And Mom, who wasn’t my birth mom but had never once let that stop her from loving me from day one like I was...She took me and loved me and hugged me and kissed me for all the times Wally didn’t or couldn’t. I would always love her for that, and now she was gone and I would never get her back.
“ What are you thinking about?”
Trevor had come to sit beside me on the couch, where I was huddled in a blanket, lost in my rambling thoughts.
“Just about tomorrow.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes.” No.
He gave me a look as though he didn’t believe me.
“I’ll be fine, babe. I’m more worried about A. She hasn’t said much of anything tonight.” I looked over at her sitting on the two-seater, still staring at her phone, lost in thought.
“Neither of you have said much of anything, but that’s understandable. Tomorrow is a...an emotional day for you both.”
“Yeah,” I said with what felt like my millionth sigh.
The house was so full of people, but I heard none of them. I was so exhausted from all the thinking and also wound tight—I wanted it all to be over and done with.
“I’m going upstairs. Are you staying the night, or will I see you in the morning?” I asked him.
“I’ll see you in the morning, babe. Let you spend the night with your sister. It looks like you need it.” He hugged me sadly, kissed my forehead, then went over to do the same to Aria before making his way around the packed house to tell everyone else, minus Tina, bye.
Riley left shortly after Trevor did, saying he would see us tomorrow. He was going to meet Trevor at the house, as they were going to ride together with Mr. Eugene behind the family cars.
“Bye, Ri-Ri,” Aria said distractedly.
“I wish you guys didn’t have to do this tomorrow, especially her,” he whispered to me, gesturing to Aria.
“I know. Me too.” Then something dawned on me. “When all of this is over, we need to have a talk about the amount of time you are spending with my sister.” I gave him a weak but sly smile.
He looked at me with fake innocence, then smiled and left.
Honestly, if he had any interest in Aria, she couldn’t pick a better guy, although I didn’t actually know if she felt that way about him. Another issue for another day.
Mr. Eugene and Aunt Opal were next to leave, saying they would also be over early.
“The healing begins tomorrow, girls.” She hugged us both and left while Mr. Eugene patted us on the shoulders and followed her out.
That left Mick, who had been silently brewing over the whole will thing but remained silent about it, wisely, sensing that today would not be a good day to broach the subject.
“Well, I guess I will see you girls in the morning. I can come over earlier if you want to try the safes in the morning.”
I was wrong. The man had no shame. And I lost it. I’d had it with his jerky, pushy ways.
“Are you fucking serious? You
have a lot of nerve, you know that? My parents just died, you asshole, your sister just died, and all you can think about is a family heirloom, which I can see right through and I know there is no family heirloom—you just want money. Well, let me save you the trouble. There is no money, and even if there was, you’re not getting your greasy little hands on it,” I huffed.
Tina had come in from the kitchen to witness my verbal takedown of Mick, and Aria stared wide-eyed at the now red-faced Mick.
“Now you listen here, Dacey. You are no kin to me, and I don’t like you. Now that we are no longer tied together by marriage, I don’t have to pretend to like you. The only family I have is this girl right here and—”
“No, you don’t,” Aria seethed. “You don’t have any family in this room. Get out of our house, Mick. My sister is right. How dare you? How dare you say you have pretended to like her? I love her! Mom loved her! She was her daughter! And you, you’re just a dick and always will be. Please leave. Now. Before I say something Dacey will have to scold me for later.”
Mick looked as though he wanted to say something, but he just looked between the two of us, disgusted, and spat, “You’re just like your mother,” and walked out, slamming the door.
“Forget Lifetime—that was HBO all the way right there,” Tina clapped, breaking the tension in the room.
Aria turned to me. “I’m sorry, Dac. He’s an ass. I’m sorry he said those things to you.”
I held up my hand to stop her. “It’s not like I didn’t know he didn’t like me. The feeling was mutual, trust me.”
“Still, I can’t believe I’m related to such a dick.” She shook her head sadly.
“Every family has one.”
“We only have each other now.” She grabbed my hand and hugged me tight.
“And we’re back to Lifetime.” Tina came up and joined our hug.
“Shut up, Jussy.”
“What am I going to do with you girls? Between Opal: The Untold story and you two over here, the never-ending Lifetime Network, I never run out of entertainment,” she joked.
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