“Trust me, it’s real. Hopefully he’s in on the second interview so I can low key snap a pic and send it to you.”
“Don’t get caught,” I cautioned.
“What do you think I am, new? I do this all the time.”
“You take pictures of people without their consent on the regular? You sure that’s not illegal?”
She giggled. “Relax, I’m a minor. Besides, those ‘people of Walmart’ pictures aren’t going to take themselves. If folks don’t want to be turned into a meme, they shouldn’t wear unicorn pajamas while shopping.”
She did have a point. Laughing, I listened as she gave me her version of the interview. We were on the phone for over an hour before she finally wound down.
“You good now, Cars?” she asked.
“Yeah. Thanks, kid. I needed this.”
“Good.” The pride in her voice made me happy. “I’ve been thinking about what I want to do after graduation.”
“Oh?” I’d asked her to think about her future in the past, but this was the first time she’d brought it up.
“Yeah, I’m thinking I might want to go to school to become a drug and alcohol counselor.”
“Wow. That sounds like a tough job.” My gaze darted back to the glasses on my dresser, as I remembered how my little sister shoved me toward cleaning up my life. “But I bet you’d be really great at it, Annie.”
“Thanks, Cars. Hey, I better get going. Mom’s been yelling at me to come eat for a while. I think my dinner’s cold.”
“Thanks for sacrificing your warm meal for me,” I replied.
We said our goodbyes and I got undressed and crawled into bed. I felt better, but my appetite was still MIA. With nothing else to do, I closed my eyes and replayed every conversation I’d had with Mila. Then I altered them, imagining myself saying all the things I wish I would have said until I finally drifted off to sleep.
I expected Thursday to be better—to feel less lonely than Wednesday had—but if anything, Mila’s absence weighed on me even more. Morse seemed as affected as I was, and we both kept our heads down and worked silently. The day seemed to last forever, which didn’t make sense. It didn’t matter when I got off work, because I had no plans and nothing to look forward to after work.
And that thought was depressing as hell.
About ten minutes before quitting time, Morse leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “You heard from her?” he asked.
Knowing exactly who he was talking about, I shook my head. “No. You?”
“No. I tried to call, but it went to voicemail. She probably has me on ignore.”
“Want me to try?” I asked. Checking on Mila for her cousin sounded like the perfect excuse to make contact, and I wanted to hear her goddamn voice and know she was okay.
He shrugged, trying to play it off like he didn’t care one way or the other. “Sure. Why not?”
I tugged my phone out and pulled up her contact information, hitting dial. The call went to voicemail. Disappointed, I hung up and shook my head. “No luck. Sorry, Morse.”
“She belongs here, doesn’t she?” he asked.
I nodded. “Hasn’t been the same since she left.”
“I thought it would be better for us all if she left, but I’m worried about her. I said some shit I shouldn’t have.”
I snorted. “You and me both, brother. I definitely could have handled the situation better.”
“I was concerned about you, too, but you’re handling it well. I’m proud of you, brother. I should have given you more credit.”
His praise probably shouldn’t have hit me as hard as it did, but precious few people had said those words to me. Choked up, I cleared my throat. “Thanks, man.”
“You know, it’s not her fault,” he said. “She has issues, but she’s been through some serious shit. Stuff I couldn’t protect her from.” Morse stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “I know you and your sister are close. Did anybody ever hurt her?”
