What kind of person was I to be happy at someone’s death?
Especially when Death had taken everything from me?
“If you’re not going,” Tee said as her voice ripped me from my trance, “then I’m not going.”
My voice grew stern. “I’m not arguing with you on this. You’re going somewhere safe and I’m coming back to help. Those men have ruined us, Tee. Or at the very least, they’ve tried. And they’re about to find out exactly what I’m capable of when they mess with us.”
Tee snickered. “You know what we should do? We should mowallof them down. Every single one of them. Those guys that took me. The guys here. We should burn it all to the ground. Fuck them, right? I mean, they’re gang bangers, just like the people that killed Mom and Dad. Walking around thinking they own shit. Breaking the law without a second thought. Thinking they’re above normal moral codes. Yeah?”
The teary-eyed half-smile on her face tugged at my heart. I knew she was hurting. I knew she was in pain. And I knew that all of this was so much more complicated than it had to be.
So, at least for a few seconds, I entertained my sister’s broken soul. “Yeah, fuck them. And if that’s what you want to do? Count me in.”
But when my sister drew in a deep breath and blinked her tears back, I knew she had come back to reality. Because sometimes, one had to entertain the fantastical before being capable of accepting reality.
I wrapped my arm around her and let her place her head on my shoulder. “You know as well as I do that these guys are good, though. Despite what’s going on below us and despite how we’ve initially run into them, they aren’t like the men that took you. They aren’t like the guys that killed our parents. I know you know that, deep in the pit of your gut. That’s why I have to stay and help them. I owe them for saving your life.”
She shook her head. “You owe them nothing, and you know that.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Either way, you’re right. The men that did this to us can’t get away with it. But the only way that’s going to happen is if we surround ourselves with people who know what they’re doing. And Fangs? These guys that he trusts? I honestly believe they know what they’re doing.”
Despite the television rolling in the background, the two of us managed to lock our eyes onto the wall and drift off into our minds for a little while. I leaned back against the couch, bringing her with me as I sank deeper into the cushions.
And it wasn’t until Theresa spoke again that I knew what I had to do.
“If you’re staying, then I’m staying,” she said calmly. “I’m not leaving you. I’m staying for you, just like you stayed for me.”
I shook my head. “I’m telling you, your body is in no condition t—”
She got up from the couch, stood over me, and placed her hands on her hips. “Julia Alyssa Rydell, I have spoken my piece. And since you came after me, I’m coming after you. I’m staying with you, and that’s final.”
I snickered. “There’s nothing I can say, is there?”
She sat down next to me and was the one to take my hand that time. “We’re in this together, no matter what.”
“Promise?”
She leaned her forehead against mine. “I promised Mom and Dad at their funeral that I’d take care of you. That I’d watch over you because God only knows you’d starve or die of thirst before taking care of yourself.”
I giggled as a tear dripped down to my leg. “It’s so bad.”
She groaned. “Ugh, it’s so fucking bad. But I promised them no more. I promised them that I’d take care of you, so let me do that. Let me be with you now while you see this through.”
I wrapped her up into a tight hug. “I love you so much.”
She sniffled. “I love you too, Jay.”
As we laid back down onto the couch, Tee planted her head squarely on top of my chest. We relegated ourselves to an evening of laughing over some wild television show about a pretentious radio host who thought he was awesome at everything but turned out he’s awesome at almost nothing other than being, well, pretentious. I remembered back to the times where Mom used to sit down and watch that show with us. It had been one of her favorites as well, and to this day I could still smell Dad’s cologne as he sat next to me and groaned.
“I still don’t understand what the point of this show is,”he’d say as he handed me a juice box.
To which I’d stab the straw into the box and say,“Simpletons.”
The happiness of that memory grew almost painful as Tee’s soft snores emanated from my chest, and I knew that if I started crying it would surely wake her up. I swallowed the knot building in my throat as I blinked the tears back, all the while shoving the sounds of the haunting television show out of my head. I had to focus on something else. Anything else other than how much it hurt for Mom and Dad to be gone. Especially when there was no justice. No jail time for their killer. Just some assholes out to prove their worth to some gang that didn’t give a shit about anyone, and our parents had to die for it.
That took my thoughts directly to Fangs.
I wondered what he was up to. I wondered how the plans were coming. I wondered if he was stressed, worried, or even looking forward to tomorrow night. I wanted to kiss his gruff little face, squeeze his cheeks together, and tell him how cute he was just to get him to focus on anything that would tug that beautiful smile of his across his face. I’d have to talk with him tomorrow, though, no matter what. I’d have to tell him about my decision to help, and then I’d had to find a way to convince him to let me help.
