Her sisters started wailing.
“Enola,” I said, “can you please help calm them down?”
“No!” Greg barked. He turned on me and said, “Enola is a child—not a mom, not an adult. She is a little girl. You, however, Beck, are a full-grown adult male. These are your little sisters. So you do something about it.”
“It’s okay,” Enola said uncertainly. “I’m used to taking care of them.”
“And that ends tonight,” Greg said simply, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Enola looked around apprehensively. I picked up the wailing little girl at my feet and gingerly cradled her against my shoulder while she cried.
Greg picked up a list from the cake-smeared counter and turned to me and my brothers, pinning us with a steely-eyed gaze.
“From now on, each of you will be doing your part. This is not Harrogate where you get to foist off your responsibilities on other people. Everyone will be helping take care of our sisters.”
Liam raised a hand. “So are we going to take babysitting shifts?”
“No, I will be parceling out the girls to each of you.”
“I can’t take care of children,” Liam complained. “You always said I was a fuckup.”
“You are a grown man,” Greg snapped. “You will take care of one, if not two, of these children.”
“Two?” I said, frowning. “That seems excessive.”
“Yes, Beck, two,” Greg snarled. “And excessive would be your overinflated sense of self-importance that you display at meetings.” He glared at us. “Your assignments are as follows: Beck, you have Enola and Annie. Mike, you have Kiki. I will take Coco and June—”
“No, I want Coco,” Liam complained. “I want to take her to the park and pick up women. Chicks love a guy with an adorable baby.”
“I’ll swap you Kiki,” Mike offered.
“No horse-trading,” Greg thundered. “When I call out your name, you can go help the girls gather their things then get out of my condo.”
I followed Enola and Annie down the hall to where their belongings were stored. They didn’t have much. I had a brief flashback from when my brothers and I had all fled the compound in Wyoming after my father had kicked us out. I remembered how cold and lonely and scary it was.
“We’ll buy you new stuff,” I promised my sisters as Enola silently handed Annie a plastic grocery bag filled with her meager belongings. “You want to go shopping, don’t you? You can decorate your room however you want.”
“Will I ever see my sisters again?” Annie asked me, eyes big.
“Of course! We all live in this building,” I said, hoping I sounded reassuring.
“Greg said we were moving,” Enola told me as I ushered them past my other shell-shocked brothers, who were following our little sisters down the hall.
“We’re just moving a few blocks away. We’ll still be together. In fact, there will be so much togetherness you’re going to be begging for a vacation.”
After herding them downstairs, I settled Annie and Enola down in one of the guest bedrooms. Then I leaned against the wall in my study. It was early in the morning and almost time for me to wake up, so I decided to start working.
I sat at my desk and ran a hand through my hair.
There was no way I could take the girls to the Quantum Cyber office. I needed a babysitter.
I began to compose a text to Cressida, but then I hesitated. I didn’t want to give her my address. The last thing I needed was to have her showing up here.
Beck:Please send the new temp to Svensson Investment. And make sure she is good with children.
8
Tess
