I greet them at the door. Veronica and Elon are dying to meet my creepy sister.
‘Hi, Seimone,’ Elon says.
Seimone waves and walks over with Rosa. Maya stands behind Leilani.
Rosa is in her favourite dress, white with a blue satin ribbon at the waist and blue gloves to match. Her hair’s in two ponytails, one above each ear, and her corkscrew curls bounce when she moves. Her shoes are black, patent leather. She could be a little girl from a century ago. Everyone’s been ooohing and ahhing at her cuteness, which makes Rosa shine.
She never seems as human as when she basks in admiration.
‘Quite a dress,’ Leilani says.
Rosa pauses a second before she smiles.
Elon gasps. ‘You do look like Shirley Temple! Aren’t you gorgeous?’
No pause with her smile for Elon. Rosa does her little curtsey. ‘So are you,’ she says. ‘I like your hair.’
It’s cut into alternating purple and black squares.
‘I like your shirt, too. It’s shiny.’ Elon’s shirt looks like it’s made out of silver. Rosa reaches out to touch it.
‘This is Elon,’ I say. ‘And Veronica.’
Rosa curtseys again and they air kiss.
‘Are you a girl or a boy?’
I wish I’d asked that.
Elon laughs. ‘Neither. Both. Something like that.’
Rosa looks at Elon quizzically for a moment. ‘You don’t know?’
‘Oh, I know. It’s the world that struggles.’
‘Can I have your shirt?’
Elon laughs again. ‘It’s a bit big for you, moppet. I’ll have to find you one just like it.’
‘Yes, please!’ Rosa turns to Veronica. ‘You’re beautiful.’
‘We curly-haired beauties should stick together,’ Veronica says. ‘You look like Shirley Temple!’
‘We’ll have to teach her to tap, won’t we, Ronnie?’
‘She taps,’ I say, but they don’t hear me or remember I told them that already. Leilani grins.
Rosa dimples and does some steps for Elon. Elon copies her, then Veronica joins in.
‘How festive,’ Leilani says. I can almost hear the eye roll.
Leilani and I move towards the stairs as the couches are pushed back to create a dance floor. Conversations die as almost everyone’s attention is turned to watching and cheering and taking photos and vids as Elon and Rosa and Veronica dance hand in hand.
Rosa looks like an adorable blonde doll.
‘C’mon,’ Leilani whispers. We sit at the top of the stairs. Seimone stands next to Gene, part of the crowd, watching Rosa showing off. Maya has retreated behind the island to help David with the food.
‘You look good,’ Leilani says. She pats the sleeve of my Spool shirt. ‘I’m glad I bought the green one for you too.’
‘Thanks,’ I say, but thinking about how Sally and David owe the McBrunights everything makes me feel weird about it. If I piss off Leilani, would it change things for the parentals? How precarious is this setup?
Sally and David didn’t notice what I was wearing, which isn’t surprising. Rosa said, ‘Nice shirt.’ She notices everything.
‘I am unfond of your sister.’
Unfond? I wonder if that’s an Americanism or a Leilani-ism. Probably the latter.
‘Did you know the twins aren’t talking to each other? For a few days now.’ She’s watching Rosa. ‘They’ve never not talked to each other.’
‘Rosa…’ I don’t know how to finish the sentence.
‘Most people don’t see it, do they?’
I shake my head.
‘She flatters mercilessly, then there’s her adorable-little-girl schtick.’
‘Well, she is only ten.’ Why do I want to defend her?
‘With tap dancing, no less. I wonder if Shirley Temple was the same way. Terrorising everyone around her when the camera wasn’t rolling. We’d’ve heard by now, wouldn’t we? We know how awful Joan Crawford and Bing Crosby were. Jesus. How do you stand it?’
‘Sometimes I can’t. But she’s my sister.’
‘What’s she going to use when she’s too old for this Shirley Temple schtick?’
‘She’ll find something.’
‘She doesn’t have to try that hard, does she? Most people crave praise. They can’t even tell when it’s insincere. Elon and Ronnie lapped that treacle right up.’
‘You’re studying acting. Aren’t all performers like that?’
‘Most are. Elon lives for praise and attention. Not me. I’ve always known my worth. Elon doesn’t.’
I guess you have to in order to start your own fashion industry blog when you’re twelve years old. I know my own worth too. I never craved praise as much as other kids.
Rosa doesn’t need it either. She just thinks she deserves it.
‘Is Veronica like you or like Elon?’
‘She’s somewhere in the middle. No, that’s not true. I think she craves praise every bit as much as Elon, but Elon is more open about it. Elon feels no shame, but Ronnie knows she shouldn’t want it as much as she does.’
The three of them are now bowing. I should feel happy for my little sister having so much fun. But Veronica and Elon strike me as people who’d be easy to manipulate.
‘Isn’t acting about being the centre of attention? Don’t you like being the centre of attention?’
‘I do, but I don’t crave it. I can act without an audience. Those two need the devotion an audience gives. If I said this to either of them they wouldn’t believe it. I’ve never said this out loud.’ She looks at me from the corner of her eyes. ‘You’re not what I expected.’
‘Thanks, I guess. Rosa doesn’t either,’ I say. ‘Need attention. Need people. She likes it, but it has zero effect on how she feels about herself.’
‘The thought of her grown up is terrifying.’
‘Yes.’
‘Rosa has Seimone wrapped around her finger. They leave Maya out of everything. Not that she wants to have anything to do with Rosa, but it still hurts.’ Maya’s carrying a tray of cut-up vegetables and dips. It’s almost bigger than she is.
‘Che,’ David calls. ‘Your friends Sid and Jaime are here.’
There Sojourner is by the door, wearing a red dress with a black belt and her hair in a halo. My heart probably does skip a beat.
Leilani nudges me. ‘Sid scrubs up well.’
I’m already standing, my eyes locked on Sojourner.
‘Is it love?’ Leilani asks as I head down the stairs. Sojourner smiles and there’s my heart again not beating the way it’s meant to.
‘Hey, Soj – Sid,’ I say. ‘I’m glad you came.’
I’m glad you kissed me last night.
I’m not sure whether to offer my hand or to kiss her cheek. So I stand there grinning at her for what feels like hours.
She holds out her fist and I touch it with mine. Skin to skin.
‘Where are your moms?’ I say, pronouncing it the way she does.
‘Mom’s having a bad day. So Mama is staying with her. They send their apologies.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It happens.’ She shrugs.
‘Hi,’ Jaime says. I’ve forgotten she’s standing there. She grins in a way that says she knows and thinks it’s hilarious. ‘Hey. Is that Elon?’
‘You know Elon?’
‘Sure. Elon’s club famous. Elon doesn’t know me, though. I’m going to go fix that. Catch you later, Sid. Oh, and I’m definitely staying at Dad’s tonight. I forgot to tell your moms.’
Sojourner nods. ‘I’ll tell them.’
I wonder why Sojourner’s moms need to know Jaime’s movements. My confusion must show, because Sojourner says, ‘Jaime lives with us most of the time. Her parents split. Her mom’s in Queens, out past the last F stop. Her dad’s in New Jersey. She moved in with us so she could keep going to our school. Nice shirt.’ She briefly touches the collar. ‘Soft. Makes your eyes almost look green.’
‘Tha
nks. Nice dress. You look amazing.’
‘Thank you.’ She smiles and my heart speeds up again.
This is ridiculous. ‘Do you want something to drink?’
‘Sure,’ she says as I lead her over to the kitchen island. ‘Got any bourbon?’
‘Um…’ I glance at my parents, wondering if it’s okay to give booze to someone underage.
She punches me. ‘I’m kidding! I don’t drink. Juice would be great.’
‘We have pineapple, orange, mango, pear and strawberry.’
‘Is that one flavour or five?’
‘Five,’ I say. ‘My dad thinks it’s an abomination when juices are blended. But that doesn’t stop us.’
‘Pineapple and mango then,’ Sojourner says. ‘In the spirit of rebellion.’
Sally is talking to two women I don’t recognise. She’s giving her speech about beauty. The women are nodding. ‘Beauty is a cudgel to make us buy things we don’t need,’ she tells them, ‘to make us feel that we are never as beautiful as we could be. Did you know that skin-whitening creams are a billion-dollar business worldwide?’
‘Funny to hear your mom talking about beauty like that when she could be on a magazine cover.’
‘Only for mature ladies,’ I say. It’s something Sally says. How beauty for women is deemed to be over at thirty – or forty if you have money. ‘She says stuff like that a lot.’
‘My moms too.’
‘Right,’ I say. ‘The evils of capitalism.’
‘Consumerist culture. Mom sure does love to preach that one.’
Sojourner sips her juice, looks around. There are a lot of beautiful people here wearing expensive clothes. I wonder what she sees.
‘I didn’t realise your folks were rich.’
‘They’re not.’ I’m suddenly very conscious that I’m wearing a thousand-dollar shirt.
Her lips twitch. ‘Really? This is the biggest apartment I’ve ever seen.’
I wonder how she’d react if I took her to the McBrunights’ place.
‘It’s rented.’ I almost tell her we’re not paying, but that fact makes me feel ashamed.
‘Well, okay, that proves you’re not rich.’ She laughs. ‘Of course you rent. Everyone in New York rents. But I bet your parents are paying more for this place per month than my moms pay for our place in a year.’
I have no idea what the rent is. I wonder if the parentals know. Do they feel like children having the McBrunights pay?
‘Our rent is four-eighty a month. That’s rent control, sure. There are five rooms – that includes kitchen and bathroom. Our whole apartment would fit in this one room.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I say, though I’m not sure what I’m apologising for. I’m itching to tell her that none of this is ours. That we’re skint. Rosa’s right. That is the best word.
‘Why? We’ve got a nice apartment. I mean, it doesn’t gleam like this place but that’s not your fault. All you need to do is get yourself a T-shirt that says Rich White Boy so you don’t surprise any of your regular friends.’
‘You didn’t realise I’m white?’
‘Funny.’
‘I’ll get going on that T-shirt. Sorry if I offended you.’
Sojourner laughs. ‘You’re going to have to try way harder than that. I mean, you’ve already told me believing in God is silly, and that didn’t offend me.’
‘I didn’t say that!’
She grins.
‘This place only has seven rooms,’ I say thinking of how many rooms the McBrunights have.
‘There’s a tap dance show in your living room! You can’t even shimmy in mine.’ She laughs again. ‘Don’t get me wrong we’ve got a nice place and we’re on the fifth floor. Basement and first floor apartments’ve been flooded twice in the last few years. What zone is this?’
I have no idea what Sojourner’s talking about. Why’s she talking so much? Is she thinking about that kiss last night?
‘When there’s a storm coming you need to know what zone you’re in. Zone 1’s the worst. Last storm you couldn’t get out of our building for days. We were happy to be over at Cousin Isa’s in Jersey City. You’re probably not zoned, which means no evacuation, and no flooding. Doesn’t protect you from the blackouts.’
‘Blackouts?’ I repeat. I thought we left blackouts behind in Bangkok.
Sojourner laughs. ‘You don’t know a thing about this city, do you?’
‘I don’t. It’s the movie city. Where smoke comes out of the streets.’
‘That’s not smoke, it’s steam.’
‘Really? It isn’t a special effect?’
More laughter. ‘It’s how the city is heated. Steam heat running through pipes. Let me show you.’
Sojourner grabs my hand and pulls me through the knots of people. Her hand is warm and dry and callused. I can feel the light pressure of it all the way to my groin.
The tap dancing stops. Everyone claps. I join in halfheartedly and Sojourner more enthusiastically.
We stop at a heater under one of the windows. She lets go of my hand, and I have to stop myself from grabbing it back. She leans in close to me. I can smell the mango and pineapple on her breath.
‘So this is a fancy new one,’ she says.
Her mouth is close to mine.
‘But it’s the same design as the one in our apartment. The steam comes from that pipe and fills up the heater so both heater and pipes are heating the apartment.’
‘Huh,’ I say. I’m looking at the nape of her neck.
‘Cause this is a new one you can turn it off. See?’
She’s looking at me again. I do see. Her eyes have every colour of brown in them from almost yellow to almost black.
‘The only way to regulate ours is to open the window. Sometimes it gets so hot we have to do that even when there’s a blizzard outside.’
‘Sounds annoying,’ I say because I need to say something.
‘What exactly do your parents do? To afford a place like this and pay for you to go to a million gym classes? I mean, I teach there, I get a break on my classes, and I can barely cover costs. But you practically live there.’
I don’t know what to say.
‘So what do they do?’
‘They start businesses. The most successful one was SunPow. Silly name.’ I’m no longer sure this is true. Had it been successful when the parentals sold it? Or did that come after? If it was successful, why are they broke now? ‘It’s a cheap solar-generated power source. People use them camping. Every time you buy one you’re paying for another one to be sent to people who live in remote areas around the world and can’t afford their own. Another of their businesses was a condensation unit for collecting water in even the most arid areas. They’ve done heaps of stuff like that.’
‘They sound like good people.’
‘They are. They’re not rich. Most of the money goes into whatever the latest business is, and funding other organisations, ones for literacy, fighting malaria…’ I trail off. Is that why they’re broke now? ‘Renting an apartment like this and throwing this party is to raise money. See how David’s circulating? He’s working the room trying to win over as many people as he can.’
We watch David talking to an older couple. They’re both rapt.
‘Your dad can turn on the charm, can’t he?’
I nod. ‘He has to. There are people here who are the real deal. Super rich.’
‘Like that couple your dad’s charming?’
‘Yup. Why,’ I begin, ‘did you ki—’
‘Does Sid dance?’ Rosa asks, and I almost jump.
‘Of course.’
‘Will you dance with me?’ Rosa asks, slipping her hand into Sojourner’s.
Rosa turns to smile at me as she leads Sojourner away, and for a split second I think of what my life would be like if she didn’t exist. I’ve never wished for it so fiercely.
Whatever she’s planning, I’m not going to let it happen. I try yet again to think of a way to warn people about Ros
a without saying, I think my sister is a psychopath.
Sojourner moves as beautifully dancing as she does boxing. Elon and Veronica are dancing as well, goofily, but it’s easy to tell they’re good dancers too. Then Sally and Lisimaya join them.
I make my way towards the stairs, nodding and smiling as I thread past people I’ve never met. Someone puts their hand on my elbow.
‘Dance with me?’
I know it’s Sojourner before I turn. I smile, because I don’t want to risk words. We ease our way to the dance floor. I follow her movements like it’s a drill, a kata.
Sojourner’s all I can see and it fills me with such lightness that if this is how believing in God makes people feel I’d be in church with her every Sunday.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Leilani, Veronica, Elon, me and Jaime go to Coffee Noir, where Veronica and Elon work. All the staff know them. The bartender is plying Jaime, Elon and Veronica with free shots of something green. Leilani sticks to tap water like me.
Elon and Jaime argue about who is more of a real New Yorker.
‘I can only afford to live here because it’s a sublet from my uncle!’ Elon says. ‘It’s rent control!’
‘Our rent control was bulldozed! Now my mom lives in the part of Queens that’s barely on the fucking map!’
‘Keep it down.’ Leilani rolls her eyes. ‘You’re giving me a headache.’
Elon and Jaime lower their voices and lean closer. They’re close enough to kiss.
‘They’ll be going on like that all night,’ Leilani says in a stage whisper. ‘True love.’
‘You sure you don’t want a shot?’ Veronica asks us. ‘These are awesome.’
I shake my head. Leilani says no.
‘Leilani doesn’t drink in public,’ Veronica whispers loudly. ‘In case someone takes a picture and gets her in trouble.’
It’s weird remembering that Leilani is kind of famous.
‘You like that Sid girl a lot, don’t you?’ Veronica asks, leaning too close to me. Her breath smells cloyingly sweet.
‘Um.’
My Sister Rosa Page 20