While We Waited

by Tammy Falkner

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  For Peggy and Katie

  Copyright © 2015 by Tammy Falkner

  Tag

  Finny

  Tag

  Finch

  Tag

  Finch

  Tag

  Finch

  Tag

  Finch

  Tag

  Finch

  Finny

  Tag

  Finny

  Tag

  Fin

  Tag

  Finny

  Tag

  Finny

  Tag

  Finny

  Tag

  Finny

  Epilogue

  More from Tammy Falkner

  While We Waited

  by Tammy Falkner

  Night Shift Publishing

  For Peggy and Katie

  Copyright © 2015 by Tammy Falkner

  While We Waited

  Print Edition

  Night Shift Publishing

  Cover design by Tammy Falkner

  ISBN-10:

  1634550188

  ISBN-13:

  978-1-63455-018-5

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Tag

  There are five of them. I did my homework. Five sisters.

  I watched them for weeks before I ever dreamed of approaching them. I know where they go and who they see. I know what their work schedules look like. I even know when they have their periods.

  Yeah, I might have looked through their trash a time or two, trying to find out as much as I can before I make my move. And it wasn’t easy, with all the security they have. It’s like walking up on the White House at times. But I did it.

  Now I finally know enough to tell them I’m here.

  My biological sisters are the easy ones. They call themselves Star and Wren, but when I knew them they were Jessica and Jenny. They now have the last name of Vasquez. But they will always be Taggerts, no matter how far they travel, how famous they get, or how much they change. No matter how much money they make, they will still be my sisters. My blood.

  The others are more of a mystery. There’s Peck, and she’s the drummer. She just married Sam Reed, the reality TV star and retired pro football player, and they are about to have a baby. She has a really bad speech impairment, and she struggles to talk in public. Just hearing her try to talk on TV makes me cringe for her. Well, more for me than for her. But still.

  Then there’s Lark. She’s the keyboard player. She’s also a self-professed germ freak and she wears long elbow-length gloves everywhere she goes. But I have a feeling the gloves are about more than just germs. And I have a bigger feeling that she doesn’t want anyone to know it. She’s not a germ freak. Something happened to her and she hides it behind fabric and color. I can relate. I hide my past too. I hide it really well. So well that I’m not even sure who I am most days.

  Then there’s Finch. Fin. Finny, they call her. She’s lead guitarist in their band. She’s also famous for her one-night stands. She’s as famous for them as she is for her music. And her music is pretty darn fabulous. She’s tiny, but curvy, and watching her butt shake as she walks down the street makes me want to stick my tongue in all her wet places every time I see her. But I have to shove my wants to the side.

  I have an image I’ve cultivated. A face I show to the rest of the world, and it’s the face I have to show my sisters so they’ll let me in.

  I iron my button-down shirt and shake it out in front of the motel mirror. I spent my last thirty dollars on this room, just so that I could get ready to go to them. I pull my jeans on and slide my feet into some sneakers. I bought all this stupid stuff at Goodwill for less than four dollars. Then I spent eight quarters washing it at the Laundromat. I button my shirt up high and put on the blue tie, which is already threatening to choke me.

  I pick up my duffle bag and glance around the room to be sure I didn’t forget anything. Nothing here is mine. I step into the bathroom and grab the free soap and shampoo samples. No idea when I’ll see a shower again, so I might need them. I can wash my hair in a rest stop bathroom, if push comes to shove. I stuff them into the front pocket of the duffle bag.

  Now it’s time to go and find my sisters. I know where they live. I’ve watched them come and go for weeks, so I know their schedules as well as they do. They’re not touring right now since Peck is about to have a baby.

  I wait for residents to go into their apartment building, and I slip through the door just before it closes. I pretend like I belong here, even though this swanky building with its fancy doorman isn’t anything like where I come from. I walk beside one of the building’s residents and pretend to talk to her so the doorman will think I’m with her. I don’t want him to stop me.

  The woman regards me with interest. She likes me. I can tell. But I’m on a mission. I ignore her when she keeps talking. I got what I wanted from her, which was entry into the building. She’s expendable, and she’s aware of it. She flounces off the elevator at her stop and I breathe a sigh of relief.

  I go up a few more levels, stop outside their door, and drop my bag to the floor. I force myself to halt and take a deep breath. The door opens and it’s like falling back in time.

  “Jess,” I breathe.

  She startles and stumbles into the doorframe. I reach out a hand to catch her, but she jerks herself back at the last minute.

  I smile at her. “Hi,” I say.

  She slams the door in my face. The cool rush of air smacks hard against me and I force myself not to throw open the door and chase her into the room.

  I knock. No one comes to the door. I know she’s in there. There’s not another exit, not that I’m aware of. I knock again and lean my forehead against the cool metal. “Please,” I whisper.

  The door flies open and I nearly stumble into the room. I catch myself on the doorjamb and look at Jess’s face.

  “Hi,” I say again, like an idiot.

  “Go away,” she says. Then she ducks under my arm and passes me in the hallway, slamming the door shut behind her.

  “Wait,” I call. “Can we talk?”

  She turns back to face me and points her finger at my nose. “Talk? Talk?” She shrieks the last word. “After all this time, you suddenly want to talk?”

  I nod. “Yes. Please.”

  “No.” She turns and stalks down the corridor.

  “Come on, Jess–”

  She turns back and advances on me so fast that I retreat, my back striking the door. “My name is Star. And you would know that if you had returned any of the letters I sent to you over the years, you jackass.”

  “What letters?” I never got any letters.

  “I wrote you every day for a year, you piece of shit excuse for a brother.”

  Well, at least she acknowledges that I’m family. That’s a start.

  “I never got any letters,” I say. I hold up my hands like I’m surrendering to the cops.

  She freezes. But then she lets out a hiss of breath and starts to shake her head. “Fuck you,” she says. She turns and walks away. I chase after her, but she leaves me standing there in the hallway. The elevator doors close behind her, and I think about racing down the stairs so I can intercept her, but I have a feeling that won’t help me.


  Well. I messed that up.

  I walk back to her doorway and sink down onto the floor and cross my legs. I’ll wait. I can’t give up on this. I have too much at stake. If I wait here, she’ll have to talk to me eventually, right?

  It’s two hours later when the elevator dings and I hear footsteps in the corridor. I sit up. It’s not her, though. My heart clutches in my chest, because it’s Jenny. “Jen?”

  I lumber to my feet, my ass sore from sitting on the floor.

  Jenny freezes and stares at me. “Tag?” Then she breaks her gaze and looks at my duffle bag, her eyes skittering from place to place.

  “It’s me, Jenny,” I say softly.

  She sticks her key in the lock and swings the door open, then nods for me to follow her. My heart rejoices. I’m in the fucking door. So far so good.

  She lays her things on the kitchen counter. “What are you doing here?” she asks. She looks like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  “I wanted to see how you’re both doing,” I say quietly. “Are you okay?”

  She snorts. “You’re asking that now? After all this time?” Her eyes narrow. “Why do you care?”

  “You’re my sister, Jenny,” I remind her. I need for her to remember that. I need them.

  “My name is Wren. Wren Vasquez. My father’s name is Emilio and my mother’s name is Marta. I’m twenty-four years old and my sisters are Star, Finny, Lark, and Peck. I don’t have a brother. Not anymore.” She turns and takes a cold drink from the fridge. She doesn’t offer me one, but I’m okay with that.

  “Wren,” I say. Her new name sounds foreign on my tongue. “It has been so long,” I tell her.

  Looking into her face is like staring my mother in the eye. They look so much alike that it’s disturbing. “You look like Mom,” I blurt out.

  Her eyes fill with tears and she blinks them back. “Tag,” she breathes. “Damn it. Why now?”

  “I’m in trouble.” I didn’t mean to say it, but I did. “Lots of trouble. Back home.” I scrub my hands down my face.

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “The really bad kind.” I look everywhere but at her. “I was hoping I might be able to stay with you for a few days maybe.” A few days…or just long enough to get you to trust me and give me money so that I can take care of something back home.

  I hold my breath and wait for a response. But none comes. “Or maybe just long enough to save up a few dollars?” I need to put the fact that I need money directly in her face.

  “Star won’t like it,” she says.

  I wince. “I already saw her.”

  Her eyes narrow at me. “What happened?”

  “She pretty much told me to fuck off.”

  She laughs. “That sounds like Star.”

  “So, can I stay?” I hold my breath. I need this. I really need it.

  “Put your stuff in Peck’s old room,” she says, pointing to a door down the hallway. Her phone dings and she smiles down at it. “I have to go to the hospital,” she says as I come back down the hallway after dropping off my bag.

  “Hospital? Are you okay?”

  She waves a breezy hand in the air. “I’m fine. But Peck’s having a baby. We need to get there.” She motions for me to follow her.

  “Do you just want me to wait here for you?”

  “Dude, I know you’re my brother, but I’m not leaving you alone in our apartment.”

  “I understand.” I nod and follow her to the door.

  At the last minute, she turns back to face me. “If you hurt Star, or anyone else in my family, I will make you regret it. Do you understand?”

  My heart stutters, but I nod.

  They’re going to hate me when this is all over.

  She’s kind of quiet in the cab on the way to the hospital. She texts a lot and makes a few calls, cursing when she doesn’t get an answer. She makes some small talk with me but she doesn’t really say much. Finally, she pays the driver and we get out. I run a hand through my hair.

  She laughs. “You look fine,” she says.

  “Will your adoptive parents be here?”

  She nods. “Yep. You’ll like them, though. They’re awesome.”

  We stop at the reception desk and they send us to maternity, where Jenny—I mean Wren—asks for Peck’s room. They show us to a waiting room, and we walk in, but it’s empty except for Jess—I mean Star—and a man in a wheelchair.

  Star jumps to her feet when she sees me. “What’s he doing here?”

  Wren glares at her. “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been trying to find you everywhere.” She holds up her phone and points at Star’s.

  “Why did you bring him here?” Star asks. “He doesn’t belong here.”

  Wren puts her hands on her hips. “Yes, he does.”

  People start filing down the hallway, and I recognize some of the girls from Fallen from Zero, the band my sisters belong to. I also recognize Star and Wren’s adoptive parents. I’ve seen them in publicity photos. Her dad glares at me but he doesn’t say anything. He knows who I am, though. That much is obvious.

  Star gets up and walks down the hallway. She’s pissed.

  “Well, that went well,” Wren says as she flops into a chair. She points to the guy in the wheelchair, then at me. “Oh, this is our brother, Tag. Tag, this is Josh. Josh works at the tattoo shop I was telling you about, with the Reeds.” She’d mentioned the Reeds briefly when she was prattling on about nothing in the cab.

  I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you,” I say. He has ink across his knuckles and pretty much everywhere else.

  “Aren’t you going to see the baby?” Josh asks.

  “Is it here?” Wren cries.

  Josh nods and smiles. Wren shrieks and gets to her feet, then runs down the hallway.

  I sit with Josh for a minute. The silence wraps around us like a warm wool blanket. It’s heavy and oppressive. “Where are you from, man?” he finally asks.

  “From the past,” I say. “And apparently I should have stayed there.” But I need this. I need my sisters in so many ways.

  “What brings you to New York?”

  I shrug. “I needed a change.” And a lot of money to pay off a girl so I can get a baby.

  “So you thought looking up long-lost sisters was the way to go?”

  I laugh, but it comes out sounding pretty insincere. “It was now or never, you know? I needed to be in the city. I just didn’t expect to walk into a mess.”

  “Some call it a baby. Some call it a mess.” He holds his hands up like he’s weighing two things, lowering one and raising the other.

  “Yeah, Wren filled me in on the way here. Babies are pretty special. A gift from God.” I find that people trust a God-fearing individual. So, I am one. Or at least I want him to think I am. My own faith is currently on shaky ground. But he doesn’t need to know that.

  “I’m going to go and find Star,” he suddenly says. He starts to roll down the hallway and I stay in my seat. My sisters have to walk by me in order to exit, so I wait.

  “See you later, man,” I say.

  I wait. And wait. And wait…and when no one returns I’m worried that they left without me.

  I get up and go down the hallway, peering into doorways until I see Josh in his wheelchair inside a room. I knock on the door and stick my head inside. “Can I join you?” I ask. I flinch inside, worried they’ll say no.

  Star sits up and says, “No, you may not.”

  “Oh, shut it, Star.” Wren motions me into the room and makes introductions. Sam Reed, who I recognize from TV, looks curious. And Peck doesn’t look like she appreciates my presence at all.

  After a few minutes of awkward silence, Peck yawns. Josh says, “I’m going to go home so you guys can get some rest.” Sam takes his baby from Josh, who had been holding him.

  “Where’s he going to stay?” Star asks, nodding toward me.

  Wren heaves a sigh. “He’s going to stay in Peck’s old room for a few
days.”

  “No, he is not!” Star jumps to her feet and punches her hands into her hips. “No!”

  Wren closes her eyes and massages her forehead. “The room is just sitting there empty. He doesn’t have anywhere to go.”

  “And this is our problem why?”

  “Because he shares our DNA!” Wren yells. The baby startles and Sam growls at them both. But inside, I rejoice because it has been a long time since anyone has taken up for me.

  “Knock it off,” Sam warns.

  “Why can’t he get a hotel room?” Star asks, her voice growing quiet.

  “Because he doesn’t have any money!” Wren whisper-hisses back.

  “Money,” Star bites out. “That’s what this is about.”

  Yep. She pegged me in two seconds.

  “He’s going home with us. That’s all there is to it.” Wren clenches her teeth.

  “Then I’m not.” Star stares her down.

  Wren sighs. She glares at our sister. “If that’s how you want it.”

  “Fine.” Star leans over and kisses Peck on the forehead, whispers in her ear, and then kisses Sam’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then Star walks out of the room.

  Sam nods his head subtly at Josh, and Josh follows her out, rolling in her wake.

  “That didn’t go very well,” I say. “I should go and get her.” I get to my feet.

  “You better not,” Peck warns.

  I jerk my thumb in the direction she went. “But she’s leaving.”

  “Let her go,” Sam says. “Josh will take care of her. He’s been taking care of her all night.”

  Wren grins. “Oh, do tell,” she says.

  Sam starts to tell us about Star dancing on a piano, so drunk she could barely walk. My conscience prickles a little, since I know I caused that.

  “Star never gets drunk like that,” Wren says quietly. She looks worried.

  “Josh will take care of her,” Sam says again. He doesn’t look worried at all. In fact, he winks at his wife and she grins at him, rolling her eyes.

  “I feel bad that she’s not going home. And it’s all because of me,” I say quietly.

  “She’ll come home when she’s ready,” Peck says.

  The question is, will she be ready in time for me take care of things back home? I need for them to love me and to trust me. Then I need for them to give me money, and I can’t get them to do any of that if they’re not around.