“Avalanche.”
“Oh hell no, I’m?—"
“No, by the time you get here I’ll be gone,” she lied. “I just need time Reese. Alone.”
“So, the wedding’s off?”
Lauren frowned. “Nobody called you?”
“Not even to call me back, which is why I was freaking out! Not even Mr. Keith responded to my calls and that really just sent me over the edge.”
Understandable. Lauren’s father was the more understanding parent, the one who used to take her on walks around the neighborhood after standing as the buffer between her and Ma Mable. He was the one that mothered her and Lahn when they were sick. Who chauffeured her and her friends to dances or to away track meets and volleyball matches. But he didn’t call. He was the one person she would have spoken to if he had called.
“Lauren, you have to tell me something. Just say it sis, I won’t judge.”
Just say it Lauren, you didn’t do anything wrong, she told herself. But amount of shame she felt promised her she had.
“Derrick and Lahn had sex and they’re two months pregnant. My parents knew about it for over a month, and no one felt it was necessary to tell me until last Saturday.”
The line was silent for an uncomfortably long time. Then Lauren heard swift taps on the other end.
“Reese?”
Her friend didn’t answer immediately.
“I canceled the booking,” Reese said. Lauren laughed as she wiped tears from her face. She should have known Reese’s lyingass had booked a flight before she’d given her the one-minute warning.
“What do you need me to do?”
The question sent Lauren into sobbing tears.
She’d felt so alone; devalued and disregarded, like she was not an intrinsic part of her family, when what she cared about and fought for most were her family and the people she loved.
She heard her friend of nearly forty years crying on the other end of the phone while telling her that it was going to be okay, that they’d fight through this together like they’d fought every challenge all their life, together. And that had been true, they’d also fought together knowing that in the background, if they ever needed help, Lauren’s parents would blow holes through the world to protect them.
Except when it came to Lahn.
Fatigue blanketed her sadness and Lauren reached for the Kleenex on the table and gathered herself.
“Where’s Dream?” she asked as Reese blew her nose.
“Where she’s most useful,” Reese eventually said, then disconnected the call.
“Oh, hell no,” Lauren muttered and called Reese again. The call went straight to voicemail. Another texted dinged as Lauren read the message.
Reese: Scorched earth.
Fresh tears welled in Lauren’s eyes but didn’t spill over. Just a reaction to knowing how much her friend loved her. She and Reese hated each other when they met in elementary school, each of them always wanted to be the one in charge. By middle school they were blood sisters, cut palms and everything. Their sisterhood had been stronger than the one she had with Lahn, the sister who…
At the tone, Lauren said, “Reesey, I’m not ready for scorched earth yet, but thanks for always having my back, sis. Don’t tellanyone where I am. I’m just…I need more time to get right. Love you, Reesey Cup.”
She stared at the phone after hanging up, then went to voicemail. It was all the calls from her mother that probably filled her voicemail to capacity, but there were calls from Derrick and Lahn as well.
Where they a couple now. Had they not told anyone that the wedding was off because they were going to move ahead with the ceremony, just substituting Lahn for her?
The welling of rage was instantaneous.
“Goddamn it!” she shouted, deleting messages and throwing her phone into the pillows.
