“Nice rack,” Art says.
Water spurts from my mouth as I cough uncontrollably. Josh pats my back to help me out.
“Art,” Ricky warns.
“Thank you,” Lilah gushes.
“She’s the one showing the girls.”
Poor thing doesn’t realize the comment for the insult it is. My coughing subsides.
“He’ll fuck her by the end of the week,” Josh says for my ears only.
“I say, he’ll fuck her in a few hours,” I whisper.
“What the fuck did you do to your face?” Josh asks.
And here we go. I have a feeling it will not be peaceful in this house for the remainder of the school year.
“Jealous?”
“Fuck, no.”
“Let’s have a peaceful family dinner,” Ricky says.
“That entire bedroom can fit inside my closet at home,” Art says.
“Dad, do you want to give up your master bedroom for the king over here?”
Ricky slams his palm down on the table. Art and Josh give each other death glares.
Art moves slowly past Lilah to take a seat across from Josh, resuming their staring match. Lilah happily sits next to Art.
“This is my daughter, Cin,” Mom says.
“What type of stupid ass name is that?”
“It’s short for Cinnamon,” I snap.
“You’re named after a spice. It must suck to be you,” he replies.
“It must suck—”
“I cooked a special dinner for you, chicken Marsala. I hope you like it.” My mom attempts to break the tension in the dining room. Lilah reaches for the bowl of rice, then the chicken, to serve Art a large portion.
“Since you’re the guest of honor, you should be served first, of course,” Lilah gushes.
I’m going to be physically ill.
He puts a forkful in his mouth, then immediately spits it out.
“I wouldn’t feed this crap to a pig.” He brings his face to the plate and sniffs. “It looks like vomit and smells like shit.”
By my mom’s facial expression, I know she’s crushed.
I stand, pissed on my mom’s behalf. “You don’t have to be so mean.”
His gaze leisurely travels over my body with disgust written all over his face. “I see your cousin was blessed with all the titties and ass in the family. If you cut your hair, you could pass for a boy.”
