May
Stepping out of the bathroom, I glanced over at Sarah’s bed as she hunched over my laptop, completely absorbed in whatever she was looking at. Twisting my towel around my hair, I glanced around the double bed hotel room in distaste and sat on my own twin mattress.
“What are you looking at?” Posing the question as she moused around the touch pad, I leaned over to glance at the screen. Apartment listings, some not even in Seattle, splayed on the display, and my sister turned the laptop to me as she clicked on one. “Why are you looking at this stuff? I thought you were job searching.”
“You don’t really have time to search, so I decided to do it.” Blinking slowly, I only hummed in acknowledgment, but my heart squeezed with affection. Sarah grumbled, still shameful about what happened to the apartment, and I shuffled to sit on her bed next to her before she spoke up again. “Uh, so, I mean, I was going to talk to you about it when I narrowed it down. I figured you’d want to get an apartment rather than have a mortgage, so . . . ”
“That’s really nice. You’re right— I really haven’t had time, and this hotel room is starting to lose its appeal. Did you see anything you like?” Shaking her head, my sister slumped back against the headboard to bluster a sigh, and I patted her knee reassuringly. “I know I said some things, Sarah, but I love you. I think you have such great potential. To be honest, I’m starting to think I’m not going to get sued up the butt considering I haven’t been served yet. I think the owner is just getting everything in order to sue me, but it hasn’t happened yet. I’ll take that.”
“You know, no offense, but you’re really dense, May.” My brows rose, eyes widening in surprise as I frowned, and Sarah puffed a breath. “Isn’t it obvious that the reason you haven’t gotten served or whatever is because Oran paid everyone off? I mean, the dude’s obviously loaded, and it’s been weeks. The whole place has to get torn down, and youknowsomeone has to pay for that.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my jaw unhinging slightly, and Sarah frowned deeper as she crossed her arms over her chest. My mind emptied from the unexpectedness of her observation, and I leaned back as my towel wrap tugged my hair.
“He’s rich. He can probably throw money around and never run out. I bet rebuilding that place wouldn’t even require a second thought.” Sarah didn’t say it as abadthing, but, obviously, it made her incredibly guilty, and I clicked my teeth together absently. Shuffling to lean back, shoulder to shoulder, I held her hand tightly, and she just huffed loudly.
“Sarah, sometimes we need help. I didn’t know how to help you and look what happened. You were so bored, and I tried to do things my way and failed, so I didn’t try again. If you’re right, then throwing money around is just Oran’s way of helping. He’s got enough of the stuff, and you’re right— it’s not bad in itself, it just makes us feel like freeloaders. And even that isn’t bad. We’ll get back on our feet.”
“I wish I never heard Dad complaining about Mom’s wild spending.” A grimace painted my face, but I knew there was nothing I could say to Sarah to make her feel better. One conversation was apparently all it took for her life to turn upside down. No wonder she felt like it was her fault for hearing it. She could’ve walked away, but she didn’t. That was her rationale.
But this mess wasn’t her fault, and I still hadn’t decided to rat my parents out or just leave it be. Chances were, they’d be found out at some point, anyway. Just how long would that take? And would Sarah be able to recover from the fact that our parents just pushed her out for no real reason? Money wasn’t a good enough incentive, and it was pretty clear they were using it as a scapegoat.
Sarah struggled in school. There were lots of meetings and PTCs and tons of options, but regular school, she just couldn’t do it.
“I don’t know what I can say to make it better, Sarah, but I’ll always be there for you, even when I’m pissed at you. It’s gonna take a lot of adjustment, but we can do it. I know we can.” Leaning on my shoulder, Sarah tightened her grip on my hand, and I rested my cheek on her crown as I wiggled and wormed my laptop onto my lap. “Let’s keep looking.”
“Aren’t you going out with Oran?” Waving off her concern, I reached to grab my phone and swipe the screen open.
“It’s optional. This is important. I mean, we kinda need a place to live. I can always go out with him another time.” Shooting Oran a text as I spoke, I set my phone down again to unfurl our fingers, and I moseyed the mouse around the screen absently. “So, you haven’t seenanythingyou like?”
“I don’t know. I liked our old apartment, the layout of it. I thought it was important to stay downtown, too.” Smiling lightly, I scrolled down the listings as Sarah spoke, and she pointed at one on the screen before continuing. “This one says it’s right on the water. That’s cool.”
We browsed the listings, nothing too serious but taking notes of what we liked and disliked, for almost half an hour before my phone rang. Without looking at the caller I.D., I answered the call and held my phone to my ear, and Sarah took over the mouse pad.
“Hey, Oran. What’s up?” But the voice on the other line wasn’t Oran, and the hairs on the back of my neck bristled as my mom huffed loudly in my ear. “Mom, what the hell do you want? I told you not to call me anymore.”
“Yeah, I know, but how are we supposed to smooth things over if you won’t be reasonable, May?” I started to get up to go to the bathroom, but Sarah grabbed my arm, and I frowned when she shook her head. Irritation swelled in my chest, and I scoffed lightly as I put the call on speaker and held it to my chin.
“Okay, explain how I’m being unreasonable for being mad at you for laundering and embezzling and kicking Sarah out even though she wasn’t going to snitch, Mom.” No matter what way I tried to spin it in my head, there was absolutelynoway I was overreacting. My mom sighed heavily, and my eyelid twitched as the sound gyrated against my brain.
“May, we sent her to Seattle with you for the opportunities it gave her. I’ve already explained that. Several times. No one is doing anything illegal, and we wouldn’tkickher out even if we were. I thought it would help Sarah, and you two always had a great relationship.”Mom really believes what she’s saying.Honestly, I was speechless— there was no arguing with her at this point. My mom so firmly believed her lies, had told them to herself so many times, that there was nothing to argue, anymore. “But, anyway, I wanted to talk to you about that man you brought by the house.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ, are you gonna tell me to break up with him because he has tattoos?” Sarah let me go and I climbed off the bed to turn off the speaker and hold it to my ear. “Mom, I’m not going to break up with him over the tattoos. I actually like them, you know.”
Shutting myself in the bathroom, I sat heavily on the toilet and clenched my free hand hard to stop myself from scratching the itch engulfing my thighs and butt in fire.
“It’s not just about the tattoos, May. That guy is trouble. It’s written all over him. I bet he doesn’t even need those glasses. You can’t trust a guy who lies about little things like that.” Holding my forehead in my palm, I groaned loudly, but my mom only sucked her teeth at me. “I’m telling you, May, he’s no good. Whatever he’s up to is bad, and you shouldn’t get dragged into it.”
“What’s his name?” I had just said Oran’s name not forty-five seconds ago, and my mom hesitated at my question. “Mom, what’s his name, huh?”
“What does that have to do with anything? I know a bad apple when I see it.” Closing my eyes as I sighed in frustration, I couldn’t help but wonder why my mom thought this was appropriate. For that matter, why the fuck did she think I’d consider her opinion? Oran and I were dating, and nowhere in there did my mom have any right to butt in.
Besides, I’d dated guys with tattoos before, and she never had a problem with any of them.
“Mom, I’m not breaking up with him, and you’re not going to change my mind just because your fucked-up sense of intuition sputtered to life. What the Hell did you think was going to happen when you started this conversation? That I’d just fall over myself to do what you say? No, you havenosay on my life. You have less of a say on my life than you do on Sarah’s, okay. I’m hanging up. If you call me again, I’ll go to the FBI and report you for what you’re doing.”
Did the FBI even handle this kind of shit? I didn’t know, but when I hung up, I hoped my mom took my threat seriously enough not to chance it. It’d also confirm that my mom knew what was going on was illegal, and she lied about that shit, too.
“Hey, Sarah.” Popping my head out of the bathroom, I forced a smile when Sarah raised her upset eyes to me. “Let’s go shopping.”
