The Sisters

by Rosalind Noonan

“Sienna. Come back here, now!” Leo called, emerging from the house.

  She wheeled around and stretched her arms out. “Stop. Just leave me alone.”

  Luna chewed the pencil, watching. She had never seen them fight before. Usually Sienna finished her chores and then disappeared into the big first-floor bedroom occupied by Leo and Natalie.

  “I told you, I’m not in the mood.” Sienna crossed the back patio, then spun around to face him. “Come close to me and I’m going to throw up on your shoes.”

  Throw up? That seemed kind of funny to Luna, but Sienna didn’t seem to be joking. And neither Sienna nor Leo had noticed her sitting at the table at the back of the yard. She lowered her eyes to the workbook but listened carefully.

  “I told you,” Leo said, “we’ll take care of it without Natalie. I don’t want her to know.”

  “Damn right she doesn’t need to know. It’s my body, and she’s got no right to inflict her witchy ways on me.”

  “She’s not that way. It’s her generosity that gives you food to eat and a roof over your head. You should be grateful to Natalie.”

  “Whah-whah-whah-whah!” Sienna snapped her hand at him as if it were a quacking duck. “Natalie this and Natalie that. That’s all I ever hear around here. If you think she’s so great, why don’t you get her to suck you off?”

  “Don’t say that.” Leo was on his feet, his voice an angry growl that reminded Luna of riled bears on a nature show. “Don’t ever say that.”

  “Oh my God! I hit a nerve, didn’t I? You actually mess around with your sister? That’s so disgusting I—”

  Before she could get the words out, Leo smacked her in the face. He hit her so hard that she was knocked to the ground, where she huddled in a ball, legs to her chest.

  Luna scrambled up from the table and ran to where Sienna lay on the winter grass, hands cupping her jaw. At first she seemed like a rag doll, so limp and still that Luna wondered if she were dead. But then Luna got close enough to see Sienna’s chest moving and hear her whimpering like a wounded kitten. Without a word, Luna stared from Sienna up at Leo. This was the monster that had killed Annabelle. Somehow, he didn’t look any different from the everyday Leo.

  There was sorrow on his face, but from the way his fists were clenched at his sides Luna wondered if he would strike again.

  “What are you doing out here?” He squinted down at her. “Spying on us?”

  As if it were Luna’s fault. Standing her ground, she held up the pencil in her hand and pointed to the worn gray picnic table where her book was sprawled.

  Leo took it all in with a sneer, as if the sunshine, the yard, and the blue sky disappointed him. When he turned away and went inside, Luna realized she had been holding her breath.

  Sienna began crying then, sobbing into her hands.

  Luna squatted down and tried to console her, touching her hair and patting her back, the way Mama did when Luna was upset. “Poor girl. What were you two fighting about?”

  “I hate her.”

  “You mean him.”

  “No, that bitch Natalie. He doesn’t see that she’s using us.”

  “But he’s the one who hit you.”

  Sienna pushed away from the ground and sat there on the porch, one hand still cupping her face as she glared at Luna. “You don’t know anything.”

  This was the Sienna Luna knew: mean and cold. Still, Luna felt sorry for her. “Do you want some water?”

  “Get me some milk.”

  “But I can’t.” Beyond a few cheap staples such as apples, oatmeal, and ramen noodles, they weren’t allowed to touch food in the fridge or pantry between meals.

  “You’re so useless.” Sienna stood up and headed inside. “I’ll get my own damned milk.”

  “But that’s against the rules.”

  Sienna did not bother answering.

  CHAPTER 27

  “We can’t stay long,” Ruby said as they pushed through the doors of the mall, entering the odd echo chamber of lame music, voices, and stale air in the vestibule. “If my dad gets home before me, he’ll know something’s up.”

  “You can tell him we stopped to eat. The rules are out the window today,” Maxi said. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Those cult people hang out in the food court. If she’s here, I’ll introduce myself. If not, we’ll head back to West Green.”

  “Wow. You’re sounding brave again. I like that.”

  “I’m faking it.” Now that she was this close to meeting Glory, a niggling sensation tugged at Ruby’s conscience. Guilt over lying to her parents mixed with fear of being caught. “But I’ve gotten this far. I can’t turn back now.”

  “You go, girl. But first I have to pee.” Maxi nodded toward the restrooms by the entrance.

  “All right. Meet me over by the fountain.” The fountain in the center atrium had always been the focal point of the East Center Mall. Ruby hadn’t thought much about it until a few years ago when she saw a photo of the Native American statue on a Christmas ad and a memory of pennies in a fountain had flashed in her mind. Had that been the place? The lines and angles of the man atop the rock seemed reassuring and familiar, like an old shoe. She’d suspected this was the place her mom had let her make wishes and throw pennies into the pool.

  Now, as Ruby made her way to the fountain, she listened for the sound of rushing water but heard only the whine of drills punctuating the mall music version of a Nirvana song. Two men carried a flat board in front of her, blocking her view for a second as she tried to get her bearings. There he was, the Native American man atop the rocks. He wore cowboy chaps and a vest—not really the clothing of indigenous tribes like the Chinook or Clackamas people—but there was something cheerful about his demeanor, curious and wise and content. The Americanization of the West, as she’d learned in school. The statue and the rocks looked smaller than she remembered as they were being walled in by workers constructing a barricade. Ruby moved around the wooden fence and peered down the steps to the blue-painted pool. It was dry now, looking a little sad and moldy.

  “What’s happening with the fountain?” she asked one of the workers.

  “We’re covering it up. Too much of a liability. Putting in a garden area with a mobile stage. Should be done by Christmas. Gotta be ready for the mall’s Santaland.”

  “But don’t they have a stage over in the north wing, in front of J. C. Penney’s?” Ruby said, recalling one of the few times she’d been here with her family, when she’d sung in the middle school choir for a holiday concert.

  “That’s right,” the man responded, wiping his brow with his shirt sleeve. “They used to have a J. C. Penney’s, too, but things change.”

  It was one of the stupidest plans Ruby had ever heard. Who needed a fake indoor garden when Portland was full of green spaces? “What about the statue?”

  “He’s staying for now. The designer wanted him out, but now people got a petition started. Who knows?”

  Why it pissed her off so much she wasn’t sure. Maybe she’d been hoping for a poignant reunion with her birth mother in a beautiful setting, one of those Hallmark moments when two people hugged and the picture blurred to soft focus. Good luck with that. Fountain or not, she sensed it was going to be sad and less than satisfying, if she and Maxi even found Glory at all.

  Maxi joined her and they rode the escalator up to the second level, talking about the disappearing fountain. Maxi, who had never been to this mall, didn’t have an opinion about the fountain.

  “How could you not care? The Native American fountain is the signature of this mall,” Ruby said.

  “Don’t pick on me. My mom doesn’t leave her zip code. We don’t come to the east side, and she hates malls, anyway. You know she’s the Amazon queen.”

  “Sorry, I’m just . . .” Distracted, Ruby searched the area around the food court.

  “Just freaking out?”

  “Kind of. I don’t see her. Those women at the table there? In front of Sbarro. That’s them.” />
  “Really?” Maxi squinted, assessing. “They look kind of normal for a cult. Old and boring, actually.”

  “Like zombie women. But no one ever said a cult was exciting.”

  “So. She’s not here.” Maxi scraped a bunch of dark curls behind one ear. “That’s disappointing. So what do we do? I don’t know cult etiquette, but I have a feeling we shouldn’t ask her friends about her.”

  “Probably not.” Ruby turned away from the food court, not wanting to be caught staring. “I guess we should go. Try again another time.” When that would be she couldn’t say. Their lives were jam-packed with school and all the extra things like music lessons and debate team and Model UN that were supposed to help get you into a good college.

  “Okay, then,” Maxi said, “but maybe, since we’re already out, we should stop at Koi Fusion on the way back. I’m kind of starving.”

  As they headed toward the escalator Ruby noticed a woman with dark hair staring into the window of a teen clothing store. Dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, she was the same size as Glory, but her face seemed older, her skin pale, her lips chapped, and the hollows of her eyes shadowed. Like a flower wilting in the dark, starving for sun and water. Ruby reached out for her friend. “Wait,” she told Maxi, nodding toward the woman.

  Maxi swung around and gaped. “Is it?”

  “Think so.” Her heartbeat accelerating as she edged closer to the woman, Ruby cleared her throat. “Excuse me. I’m just—” The woman turned to her and Ruby felt a stab of recognition as their eyes met. Those eyes, purplish blue, like cornflowers, were imprinted on her heart. “Are you Glory Noland?”

  Glory’s spine straightened as she looked around suspiciously, then nodded.

  “I’m Ruby. I’m . . . I mean, I used to be—”

  “My Ruby.” She whispered the words as it sank in. “My daughter. Oh, my sweet girl, look at you.” Tears glistened in Glory’s eyes as she took Ruby’s hands, opened them wide, and then brought them to her chest. “You’ve grown into a beauty, but that’s no surprise. Your father was so handsome, and I see you’ve got his cheekbones. You must be a teenager now.”

  “Sixteen.” Ruby’s throat was tight with a ball of emotion, but she tried to swallow past it as she pulled back to gesture to her friend. “I just got my license, but my friend drove here today. This is Maxi.”

  “Hey there, Maxi. I’m Glory.” She spared Maxi a look but then quickly turned back to Ruby, as if to prevent her from slipping away. “I’m just so glad to see you, after all this time. My heart’s beating like crazy and I know I need to stop gushing, but I can’t help myself.”

  “It’s okay,” Ruby said. Normally she hated when people made a fuss over her, but she didn’t mind Glory’s gushing in such a meek way. “I’m just glad you remember me.”

  “How could I not? A mother never forgets her babies.”

  And most mothers don’t leave their babies at a firehouse, prodded a voice from a dark place in Ruby’s heart. Even as Ruby longed to feel a connection to this woman, she felt guilty about being here, about lying to her parents, about needing more than her parents could give.

  “I can’t believe that . . . that you would just recognize me out of the blue,” Glory said. “It’s a miracle.”

  “Almost,” Maxi said. “She’s been trying to find you.”

  “I have,” Ruby admitted.

  “Aw. That’s so sweet, but I’m a little pressed for time. Meeting some friends.” Glory looked toward the food court, caution in her eyes. “Is there some emergency? Is your sister okay? You and Aurora got to stay together, right? I left instructions for them to keep you together.”

  “We were adopted together, and there’s no emergency. I was just curious. I hope that’s okay.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Glory insisted. “I don’t have long to talk, but I’m so happy to see you. And your baby sister’s doing okay?”

  “Aurora’s fine. She’s not a baby anymore, except . . .” Except when she’s self-absorbed and snotty. The words nearly flew out, but Ruby restrained herself. Somehow, that seemed like a betrayal of Pete and Tamarind, who had been loving but firm parents; it wasn’t their fault if Aurora was a brat, but it would seem that way. “She’s good. She’s in junior high now.”

  “She’s a great soccer player,” Maxi said, “and Ruby is amazing at school. She’s on honor roll every semester.”

  “Of course you are. I knew you were a smart one, the way you could entertain yourself for hours. You memorized books and poems and you could have fun with just about any object. Paper clips or crackers. You used to line them up, and then move them along. Very organized.”

  “She still does that with her collection of rubber ducks,” Maxi said, evoking a scowl from Ruby, who wanted to hear Glory talk. “Just sayin’.”

  “I find them soothing,” Ruby admitted. “Like stress balls. There are worse vices.”

  “That’s for sure,” Glory said. “I think, back then, you manipulated small objects as a way of controlling things. Sort of a comfort ritual. You were so cute.”

  A chill rippled up Ruby’s spine at the weirdness of it all, this woman who knew a part of her so well but didn’t really know the person she’d become. There was a huge divide between past and present.

  “I am so sorry.” Glory was glancing over her shoulder. “But I have to go. I’d love to talk more, but I can’t. My friends . . . they’re a very protective group. Overly protective, but I shouldn’t complain.”

  “I understand,” Ruby said.

  “But I really want to talk more. Maybe we can meet again. One afternoon here?”

  “I have school, but maybe after that?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t want you to . . . to miss school. But I don’t get here until two thirty or three, and we’re usually leaving by four.”

  “What about weekends?” Ruby asked. “Would that be better?”

  “Every day is the same. Work in the morning, and . . . and I need to be home in the evenings. But most afternoons, my group comes here after work.”

  “You guys should exchange cell phone numbers,” Maxi suggested.

  “Good idea. Here’s my number.” Glory pulled a flip phone from the pocket of her jeans and smiled at the surprised girls. “I know, my phone’s a dinosaur, but it does the trick. Takes a little longer to text, but it works.”

  Ruby put the number in her phone while Maxi helped Glory add Ruby’s number. Thank God for Maxi. Ruby’s insides were now a ball of dough, mushy and flat from the crazy day, which started with Mom’s early-morning surgery and brought her to finally coming face to face with her birth mother.

  It was all over in ten minutes or so, leaving Ruby to mull over her new keepsakes. An awkward meeting. A sliver of the past. And a phone number that she would always keep hidden from her parents.

  CHAPTER 28

  On the short drive from the mall to the house, Glory tried to absorb it all—her first daughter, all grown-up now. Sixteen. And so beautiful, with Winston’s high, strong cheekbones and Glory’s blue eyes. It broke Glory’s heart to learn that Ruby had been searching for her. She didn’t deserve that kind of loyalty, especially after what she had done, leaving her two girls behind. She still winced when she thought of that day, that she had kept walking and not looked back. A million times over she tried to tell herself that she’d been run-down and grieving, her head not quite right, and a million times over she winced in guilt and shame.

  The sight of Ruby at the mall today had sparked joy and fear, hope and anxiety. The wonder of seeing her firstborn had been wrapped in a determined sense that destiny was paving a way for them. Ruby had been brought back into her path for a purpose. Her oldest daughter was destined to help her youngest. Glory was beyond feeling guilty or mercenary for asking for help, especially after she learned that Ruby was a girl who took her responsibilities seriously. This was meant to be.

  But she couldn’t rush things. Glory planned to give it time: a few meetings to let their relatio
nship solidify before Glory revealed that Ruby had another sister. And then Ruby would probably need more time to adjust after that before committing to helping them escape. Glory could tell that her Ruby was still steady and slow, not the impetuous type. If Glory pushed too hard, the thread of their tenuous connection might snap.

  All the time they’d been talking, Glory had been afraid that Leo would come along and figure things out. These days he didn’t make the trip to the mall very often, but if he got an inkling of this he might prohibit her from ever going to the mall again. That was the way he and Natalie ruled when someone was caught connecting with the outside world.

  “When there’s a tumor,” Natalie always said, “you need to cut it out.”

  Leo and Sienna hadn’t made it to the mall today. That was good news for Glory, who’d been able to speak with Ruby undetected, but she would have to be careful for future meetings. Maybe they would meet inside a women’s clothing store or the ladies’ room—a place where Leo wouldn’t feel comfortable. But even in those places, there was the threat of being discovered by the sisters.

  As they pulled into the garage, Glory had to snap back to reality when Natalie demanded help getting out of the van. “Glory, you can take one side and Kimani will take the other. I don’t know what I did to myself, but both my legs feel numb.”

  Climbing out of the van, Glory wondered if the paralysis was real or just an attention-getting device. That was the mystery of Natalie’s injury; some days Natalie got in and out of the van and moved in and out of the wheelchair on her own. Other times, she needed help with even small movements. Over the years Natalie had talked about the accident causing sciatica and a herniated disk, but Leo had also mentioned childhood polio. Glory suspected there was a medical reason for Natalie’s complaints, at least part of the time.

  “Maybe it’s cramps,” Kimani said as she reached into the car to lift Natalie out. Kimani didn’t seem to mind that she was Natalie’s unofficial caretaker. Her nurturing instincts and strength served her well in that role, a role Glory would have hated, despite the favors Natalie showered on her pet.