May
“May!” My head whipped up as Oran jogged hastily down the street with worry creasing between his brows. “Hey, before you get mad, I know you don’t appreciate it when I throw my name out there, but I thought this was a special circumstance.”
“What did you do?” Exhaustion slurred my voice, and Oran came to a stop in front of me just as a work truck pulled up tight behind the moving truck. “Do I even want to know?”
“Ah, well . . . ” Reaching to rub the back of his neck, Oran developed a sheepish expression, and as much as I wanted to feel flattered and relieved, I was justtired. “Anyway, I took off work for the day. Where’s the owner of the place?”
“He’s been giving me nasty looks from halfway up the stairs all weekend. They just finished draining all the sewage out, but I had to keep my important dry stuff up on the landing . . . ” Gesturing behind me, I held my forehead in my palm as an ache threatened to pop my eyes from their sockets. “Sarah’s hiding somewhere to avoid the responsibility of carrying stuff down the stairs. I’m so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“Luke, I’m surprised you came yourself.” Glancing up as Oran shook hands with a guy I didn’t recognize, I rubbed down my face and arched my back sharply. They seemed pretty friendly, and I stood up as Oran gestured to me. “May, this is Luke, a contractor working for my brother. He’s the best in Washington.”
“Thanks for coming out to give me an estimate on how much they’re going to sue me for damages.” Luke got a funny look on his face as I stuck out my hand, and I frowned under furrowed brows as we shook hands. Suspicion gripped my chest and my lips thinned before I cast a shrewd glance at Oran.
“Uh-h, I’m gonna . . . go inside and find . . . other people.” Luke rushed into the three-family building and away from the tension. I turned to Oran fully with a sourness coating my tongue.
“I didn’t do anything stupid, I swear.” He held up his hands in surrender, and I exhaled sharply through my nose as he started to roll up his sleeves. “I’ll carry your stuff to the truck.”
“You don’t have to, Oran. Sarah did this, so she needs to carry it all. I’m just out-stubborning her at this point.” Oran frowned, and I frowned . . . we both just frowned at each other for a long, tense moment. He finished rolling up his sleeves, his tattoos on full display, and my eyelid twitched in agitation when he cocked a brow.
“Let me help you, May. You can be salty about it later, okay?” Brushing past me, Oran rubbed my crown gingerly and I huffed as I rested my chin on my knees. “Don’t worry about anything.”
“Oran . . . ” Groaning in foreboding, I couldn’t even think of something more to say, any questions to ask, and he stepped past me without replying. My hands shook as I raked them through my hair to clasp the back of my head, and I ground my forehead against my knees. Guilt clogged my throat, but exactly how guilty was I supposed to be? This wasn’t my burden. This wasn’t my responsibility.
My sister wasn’t my burden, and cleaning her messes wasn’t my responsibility.
Sarah was just . . . my sister. She couldn’t be anything else or our relationship would shrivel.If it hasn’t deteriorated beyond repair already.
I needed to take care of myself, and Sarah’s thoughtlessness was going to ruin my life. I had nowhere to live. I had school debt, and now, I’ll have suit debt I’ll probably never shake. If this cleanup takes any longer, I’ll be out of a job by Friday.
How could one impulsive decision completely destroy the last four years of my life? And it wasn’t evenmydecision!
“Watch your head.” Glancing up as Oran carefully skirted around me, a big box in his hands, I ducked my head when he took the short step to the walkway. His arms strained, lean, hard sinew working under inked skin, and he effortlessly carried the box to the truck and hoisted it into the bed.
“Do you think I’m making a mistake?” Posing the question, I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth and icy prickles rippled up my sternum. “My mom threatened to put Sarah in a group home if I bought her back.”
“It’s only a threat until she does it, and let’s be honest, here— she probably knew you wouldn’t fight her. You’re still Sarah’s legal guardian, so you can do one of two things.” Wandering over to me and crouching down, Oran smiled a little viciously, and my breath caught at the bright glint in his eye. “Number one, you can suck it up and keep shouldering this. Number two, you’re your sister’s court appointed guardian and that authority supersedes your mother’s as her birth parent. Sue her for child support.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, Oran.” My bland tone earned me a frown, and I shook my head slightly as a weight threatened to crush my shoulders. “I’d get laughed out of the courtroom if I tried to sue my own mom for my sixteen-year-old sister’s child support.”
“You know, May, you’d be surprised how fucked up your situation truly is, and how quickly a particular strict judge I happen to be in good standing with will react in your defense. Not only that, but you have Sarah’s condition as a card to play, and the fact you have a younger brother still living at home with no problems.” Reaching to caress my cheek, Oran’s eyes hardened and narrowed, and my mouth dried in expectation. “A threat isalwaysempty. If someone has to make the threat, chances are they’re not going to follow through with it. It’s your own feelings that give a threat substance.”
“I take it you don’t make many threats.” My lips quirked up, and Oran rocked back on his heels to hum softly. “Would you really do that for me? Bribe a judge?”
“I wouldn’t need to do anything but get you in front of him, but I would if I had to. Regardless, May, your life is suffering because of this. You’re not bad, you’re not selfish, and you’re not betraying anyone. You’re just . . . you. You can’t be more than that.” Cupping my cheek gingerly, Oran’s palm was warm and calloused, and I closed my eyes to soak it up. Turning into his hand, I took a deep breath thick with his smell, and he smiled tenderly when I cracked open my eyes.
“You better be careful. Otherwise, I might think you’re into me.” He grumbled lowly at my rasp and I reached to wipe my eyes of their achy sting. “Thanks, Oran.”
“You’re welcome.” His eyes flickered away from me, above my head, and I twisted as Luke came bounding down the stairs before hiking up his jeans roughly. Straightening, Oran cleared his throat, and I followed suit before Luke leaned heavily on the door frame. Suddenly, the whole world didn’t reek of shit and dead animal.
“So, I talked to the owner. He’s going to bring by the information we need by the end of the week. I’ll let you know what I know when I know it, boss.” I didn’t even want to know what that meant right now. Luke walked to his truck to hop in and pull off the curb. For a moment, we stood in silence, and I sniffed a sharp inhale as I rubbed my face roughly. The truck I’d rented from Home Depot sat, half full of stuff in the bed I’d managed to save, but . . . I lost almost everything. Anything that wasn’t high enough off the ground was destroyed.
“I’m going to finish the last boxes and then I’ll drive you to your parents’ house, May. You should find Sarah. Maybe not yell at her this time, yeah?” Scowling darkly, I made no promises as I stalked into the house, but the guilt clogging my throat made it impossible to form a whisper, let alone yell. Sarah just didn’t think about this kind of shit, and it wasn’t her fault. Dead animals were biodegradable— there was no reason she would’ve thought through flushing the bird.
Taking the stairs sluggishly, I headed up to the top floor where I suspected her to be hiding. It wasn’t like my sister could go in her room and slam the door. The whole place reeked, but I didn’t have the brain power right now to process it. Sitting on the top step, in front of the landing to the third-floor apartment, Sarah hugged her knees when she saw me.
“Sarah . . . ” I sat down next to her, leaning back to roll my neck as I sighed heavily, and she sniffled as tears streamed down her face. “We’re gonna figure this out, okay? You just . . . you gotta learn from this, alright? You can’t just do something without really thinking it through, okay?”
She nodded and that forbidden thought popped into my head as I wrapped an arm around her.
