I barked with laughter. “Put that on my tombstone when I die.”
She giggled. “Done. It’ll piss Mom and Dad off, and that’s what’s most important.”
It felt good laughing with my sister. It felt like old times, honestly. Like we were little girls again and telling each other secrets that we thought would end the world if we uttered them out loud for the masses to hear.
“Either way, I’m glad you called. Save this number in your phone in case you need it, okay?” I asked.
“Already done, actually.”
Kelly inched my door open, and I silently beckoned her inside. She closed my door and set a Mountain Dew on my desk, then blew me kisses before leaving again.
But I knew there was something on my sister’s mind.
“Are things okay back home?” I asked.
Mags sighed. “Actually, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk with you about.”
I braced myself for bad news. “Whatever it is, we’ll work through it.”
“Oh, no no. It’s nothing terrible like that. I just--.”
I waited with bated breath. “It’s okay, Mags. It’s just me.”
She cleared her throat. “Did you mean what you said? I mean, about me coming out there and getting a job and us living together?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, of course. Why?”
“I don’t know. I’ve just been thinking about it.”
“That’s good. Thinking is good.”
“Do you think I’m crazy?”
I shook my head. “I think that we’ve both led lives that people see, then lives that people don’t.”
“Right, right.”
“You know you can tell me anything, Mags. I’ll never judge you, or chastise you, or see you as lesser for--.”
She spoke quickly. “I know Dad told you about my juvie record.”
I licked my lips. “It probably wasn’t his place, but he did.”
“You’re right, it wasn’t his place. But it’s not like I opened my mouth to say anything, either.”
“Mags, if you don’t want to talk about this, we don’t have to.”
“You need to know, though.”
I nodded. “All right, then. Whenever you’re ready.”
She drew in a deep breath. “When JoJo and I were together, I did a lot of things just because he wanted me to. He teased me a lot. When you asked about whether or not he was cruel with me, it brought back a lot of memories I didn’t want to remember.”
I slowly stood to my feet. “If he gave you that scar on your back--.”
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. The scar is unrelated, kind of. But my juvie record is from a fight we got into.”
“A… fight? Like, a fist fight?”
