“What’s that all about?” Julio asked.
He knew nothing about my personal life. Mostly because I didn’t have one.
“I played football with them in high school.” I heaved a breath and let it out. “Then they found out I had a boyfriend.”
Julio pursed his lips, thinking. “So they got jealous?”
A genuine laugh burst out of me. “Something like that.”
Julio grinned and chucked my shoulder. “Come on. We have half an hour until our next appointment. That Chevy is calling.”
***
That night at dinner, Amelia picked at her curry noodles. I’d stopped on the way home to pick up takeout from her favorite Thai place. Maybe it wasn’t great parenting to reward her for flunking math and ditching class, but getting pissed at her never worked, and I always hated myself afterward. Losing my temper was like punching a small hole in a dam. If I didn’t stop it up quick, more holes would break through, more emotion pouring out until I drowned in it.
“The school called,” I said, poking at a prawn with my chopsticks. “Again.”
Amelia hunched deeper, her dark hair falling over her eyes. “So?”
“Hmm, what’s this?” Dad asked. “When did they call?”
“This afternoon. Amelia’s failing algebra.” I turned to her. “If you don’t pass your midterm, you could wind up in summer school.”
“Whatever,” my sister muttered.
“Summer school is notwhatever.It sucks. But Christ,math, Amelia? I’ve told you a hundred times, I can help you. Ilikehelping you. I’m a big dork, remember?”
She didn’t crack a smile.
Dad held up his hands. “I can’t get through to her either.”
I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stay calm. “Amelia, you can’t be ditching school. I’m going to have to take your phone away.”
Her head whipped up, her eyes wide and blazing. She looked to Dad.“He can’t do that,” she declared, then seethed at me. “You can’t do that! You’re not my second dad, River. Don’t get a swelled head. You’re just my brother.”
“Yeah, I’m your brother who’s sick of watching his sister piss her life away.”
“You can’t have my phone. I won’t give it to you.”
I shrugged. “I’ll just take it off the plan. It won’t work if no one’s paying for it.”
Amelia glared at me. Dad poked at his food absently.
I shoved my plate away with a sigh. “Look, Amelia. Please. Just go to all your classes. You only have a few months left. Can you do that for me? Please.”
“Can I keep my phone?” she asked, trying to maintain her hard shell, but it had cracks in it too. This wasn’t her. This was Amelia without her mom.
“You can keep it if you swear to me I won’t be getting any more phone calls from the school.Andif you let me help you study for your algebra exam.”
“Okay,” she said in a small voice. “Thanks.”
Dinner resumed under a tense quiet, a silence that had infected the entire house since Mom died.
“So I’ve been thinking,” I said slowly. “The business is holding steady, and the restoration is coming along—”
“Your side hustle?” Amelia said with a rare smile.
“Yeah, that.” I grinned. “So I was thinking about getting my own place. An apartment between here and the shop…”
