Mom looks at her. “She acts just like you. Do you know that?”
“While I wish I could take all the credit for Jo, she is far more feral than I am. I know you’d never admit it, but Jo acts a hell of a lot like you.”
Before Mom can reply, I step in, “Hi, I’m Jo—the girl you’re talking about like she isn’t here.”
Ronnie reaches over and pinches my cheek. “And we just love you.”
Mom speaks again. “I am not feral.” She looks to Dad when all of us go silent. “Am I feral?”
He looks at her with all the love in the world. “While you’re not roaming the streets, threatening to bite people, I have watched you try to fight full-grown men twice your size.”
“I don’t do that. Okay, I don’t do that anymore.”
“Sweetheart, you did that last Thursday.”
She gives him a defeated look, prompting him to add, “I like you a little feral. It makes life more fun.”
That’s one thing about my dad—he never has done a single thing to try to change my mother. He has loved her for exactly who she is.
Every guy I’ve ever been with has either tried to rein me in or tried to push me down the rabbit hole of being even more of a hot mess. Not a single one of them has ever looked at me anywhere close to how Andre admires Suzanne.
I’m not sure I’ll ever find that. I seem to attract every loser within a ten-mile radius.
When we finish, I need a break from the chaos, so I walk out onto the deck and take a seat in one of the chairs around the fire pit.
It doesn’t take long for Ronnie and Liz to join me.
“What’s wrong, kiddo? You look sad,” Liz says.
“Why do you say that?”
Ronnie answers, “Because you don’t have that usual Joanna Lawson spark and sass. When you’re upset, it’s written all over your face.”
“I just had a couple awful encounters today,” I say.
Before anyone can say anything, Dylan and Michelle come out to join us.
Michelle says, “What’s up, bitches?”
Ronnie looks at her. “You are so much more fun since you started getting laid regularly.”
She grins. “I know, right?”
Ronnie leans back in her chair. “Alright, Jo was just about to tell us about her bad day. Let’s do a little sibling sesh.”
Michelle sits down and gets comfortable. “We need a cool name. We could be the Lawson Five…you know, like the Jackson Five.”
Ronnie sighs, “Lame.
I ask, “Who are the Jackson Five?”
They all stop what they’re doing to stare at me.
I can’t help but smile. “I’m just fucking with you guys.”
“Jo,” Dylan huffs. “We can never tell if you’re actually serious.”
Ronnie shushes him. “Jo, tell us about your day.”
