With each second I stayed, the more I realized this was a bad idea. There was no way I could stay in this house. Especially if my two biggest tormentors were in a relationship.
My heart, just like the night I'd left, cried for my father.
"Welcome back," Monica said, her voice bitter. "I saw the dog. That can't stay."
I closed my eyes as memories kept punching me over and over. There was no way I could stay here. Lolita came through with bowls of bread, and I was handed one and told to eat. I took a bite, but I had lost my appetite. Instead, I sipped on my water, trying to find a way out of this.
Do this for Johnny Blue.
The words ran through my head and I repeated them until I calmed down.
"That's fine. I don't want to stay." I shoved my chair back and stood. Just then, the doors to the dining room burst open and the one and only Marisol, my older sister by three months, stormed in and plopped down at the other end of the table.
"Well, well, well, congrats, Fab. You did it. How much does he get for finding her?” She leaned across the table, glaring at all of us. Marisol was the only one in my family with any significant changes to her appearance. She had dyed the front half of her hair orange, leaving the rest her natural black. Her lipstick matched her clothes, which were also black. Her makeup was thick and looked like she'd had a professional artist doing it. Everything about her screamed money, power, and privilege. "Is she wearing my clothes?"
"How was the park today, Marisol?” Uncle Carlos asked, ignoring her questions.
“Same as every opening day. Lots of idiots to train how to do basic shit. Was your hair always that color? I can’t remember.” She grabbed a roll and pointed to me.
I reached for a bleached strand. Some of the red from the rest of my head mixed with it. Of course, this wasn’t my natural color.
“No,” I said. “My friend, Fox, did it. They are going to school and wanted to try out the colors."
"Well, Fox made you look like a cherry skunk." She laughed. "Red and blonde? With your complexion and eye color?"
I looked down, ashamed. The fact that I was lighter complexioned than all my siblings had always been a point of contention in the Risky house. It was further proof that I was a bastard child and not their full sibling. Despite what Dad tried to say when he was alive, I was no blessing.
"What?" She grabbed the beer bottle right out of Lolita's hand the moment she brought it out. "Sisters rag on each other. Can't I do that?"
"She just returned to us, not tonight. Besides, I think the colors compliment your skin well. You are very pretty, Domino," Uncle Carlos complimented.
Dinner was served. Steak, potatoes, and asparagus. I tried to eat modestly, as I could feel all eyes on me, with each thinking something different. Concern, amusement, curiosity, disgust.
"Mattias is our crisis manager. He makes sure the staff is trained with how to respond to accidents and deals with anything legal," Marisol said.
Mattias rolled his eyes. "I just call the lawyer when someone threatens to sue."
"Yes, and that. That's a big thing!" Uncle Carlos laughed. "And Fabian, you were just promoted to ah, what's it called?"
Fabian took a drink of his beer and then used air quotes. "Guest experience manager. I manage the restaurants, giftshops, and the amphitheater stuff. Anything that isn't a ride is my jurisdiction."
"And everything that is a ride is mine," Marisol boasted. "I'm the operations manager. I'm the boss of everyone. Which brings us to the elephant in the room." Everyone looked around the table, no one appeared to know what she was talking about, so she continued. "Everything is taken. We didn't need you to come back. There's no place for you. I don't care what Dad wanted. He was wrong, you aren't a blessing."
I flinched at the hurtful way she threw the nickname Dad had for me back in my face. While I did agree with her, I didn’t like it.
Low mutters of disagreement came from across me, my brothers shaking their heads. While they'd never been loving, they weren't cruel like my sister was.
"The Risky blood runs just as much in Domino as it does in us," Fabian chimed in. Out of the three of them, he was the only one who was nice to me. "As the oldest child, I think I should step in and help make some decisions. I've already spoken to Uncle Carlos and we both think?—"
"I have decided to make your sister Risky Rush's new Park Ambassador," Uncle Carlos boomed, raising his hands with a large smile on his face.
Marisol sprung up and whipped her beer at his head. He dodged it and the glass hit the wall behind him, shattering into a million pieces. The two of them began a shouting match from either end of the table. I couldn't do anything but watch. I was too overwhelmed. I'd never wanted this life.
Do it for Johnny Blue.
"I don't understand why this is so bad. What's a park ambassador?" I shouted across the table. My brothers shared a look, and then Mattias cupped his hands around his mouth to shout back.
"Park Ambassador is the face of the park. Commercials, flyers, all of that. She's mad because that used to be her job."
