“Because…” Nathan tried to slyly nod south, but Franny was not picking up. “Because down there…it doesn’t matter. People are naff.” Nathan found, though, that the men who called him firecrotch were the ones who couldn’t wait to fuck him. “Some wanker will probably call you it in university, so be prepared.”
He smoothed his hand over her hair. The red roots shimmered under her dyed brown hair, reminding him of the first reaches of sunrise. “My cousins loved to make me angry because they wanted to see a redhead lose it. They would hide my mobile, steal food off my plate. When I was little, they told me that redheads were God’s mistakes.”
“Maybe I should chop off all my hair,” Franny said. “Uncle Liam says I should ignore them, but that’s difficult when I see them every day.”
“If I can give you some brotherly advice. I mean, brother-like advice.” Nathan pulled up his feet and sat cross-legged on her bed. “It’s not about ignoring them. You have to believe you’re better than them. And you are. They’re jealous of your natural red hair. Red is in! Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Jessica Chastain, Prince Harry. They want to keep you down, but don’t let them. They can spend their miserable pathetic lives talking about you. You have better things to do. So much better things to do.”
“Like what?”
“You need to figure that out. I got into acting in local theater. I focused on that. I made new friends.” Nathan also focused on drinking and hating the world. He had to learn this lesson on his own. He didn’t have an older sibling to impart this useful advice, but at least it wasn’t going to waste.
“Thanks, Nathan.” Franny hugged him. Her fruity perfume filled his nose. He hesitated, but then hugged her back. His body vibrated with warmth. He breathed in this moment.
There was something very natural about the hug, even though they quickly realized that they barely knew each other.
“Sorry,” she said.
Nathan waved it off. He hopped off the bed. “Weneedto do something about this hair.”
“I think it’ll grow out in a few weeks.”
“A few weeks?” Nathan couldn’t let his secret sister go through another day with two-toned hair and a bad dye job. “Nope. Come with me. We’re going to do something about that.”
* * *
That night at dinner,all eyes were on Franny. She practically swept into the living room, her vibrant, revitalized red hair swishing about her shoulders in a chic, shoulder-length bob, her baby blue cotton dress fanning about her legs. Nathan could’ve watched this all night. His heart grew a million sizes. He had once worked at a soup kitchen as part of community service, but he found this much more fulfilling.
“Franny.” Liam’s stood up from the couch, slowly, as if he were regaining muscles in his legs.
“You look awesome,” Walt said, unable to inject brotherly sarcasm into his comment.
“Good as gold,” Liam said, still gobsmacked, which Nathan enjoyed.
“Thanks!” she said modestly.
“She could be a model in Paris or Milan.” Nathan joined them in the living room.
“Did you dye your hair again?” Liam asked.
“God, no,” Nathan said. “I told her the only things she should buy from a drug store in a box are condoms, cigarettes, and pregnancy tests.” Liam shot him a look, which gave Nathan a small thrill. “This afternoon, we went into Wellington and got her hair transformed by a professional.”
“And then Nathan took me shopping for a new outfit!” Franny twirled in her dress once more. This time, Liam was not gobsmacked. Far from it.
“Is that a Burberry dress?” Liam asked. “It has that plaid pattern.”
“Good eye. How do you know Burberry?” Nathan asked. Was Liam not as heterosexual as he presumed?
“My ex was very fashionable.”
Oh, right. The blonde who broke his heart.
“Franny?” Mark came out of the kitchen and put the main course on the table. He looked like he was about to drop it when he saw his daughter. The look of sheer joy on his face as he watched Franny bounce around nearly made Nathan choke up.
“What do you think, Dad?”
“You look…” Mark put his hand on his chest for a second, and Nathan realized that with her flowing hair, she looked like her mother. Their mother. “You look so beautiful.”
“I feel beautiful.” Franny smiled at Nathan, who was still on the verge of choking up.
