As the noise from the arena fades, Gwen’s face flashes in my mind again.
What is going on with me?
The radio hums to life with a track by Ryan Jesse, and I’m halfway through it when an incoming call cuts in. I sigh. When Lisa calls, it usually means something is up.
“Hey, sis,” I say, pressing the button. We’ve gotten a lot closer over the years, no more arguments over toys or who got the bigger slice of cake.
“How is my favorite brother doing?” Lisa asks in her usual bright tone.
“I am your only brother.”
“So? I still like you,” she replies, and I can’t help but smile.
“I’m good. How are you? How are things out West?”
There’s a pause.
It puts me on edge immediately.
Lisa is my little sister. Worrying about her is practically instinct.
“It’s not what I expected,” she says finally.
“Are you ok?” I ask, my grip tightening slightly on the wheel.
“I’m alright. I just… don’t think things are working out here. I miss you. I miss my old job. I even miss freaking Chicago. Can you believe that?”
Lisa had moved out West chasing something bigger. A fresh start. She said she wanted to become a Hollywood agent, but I always suspected part of it was a need for distance, space from everything, from everyone.
A part of me still feels responsible.
Back in Chicago, people didn’t just see her. They saw “Zane’s sister.” The Grizzlies’ Zane. Not just her older brother from Minnesota.
“Well, then why don’t you come back?” I ask, like it’s the simplest solution in the world.
Her tone shifts to a softer, more careful one now.
“That’s why I’m calling you… My favorite brother.”
I exhale slowly.
There it is.
“What do you need?” I ask, keeping my voice light.
“I need a place to stay. Just for a little while,” she says. “I’ve already booked my flight, but I don’t want to stay in a hotel. My budget’s a little… tight right now.”
“So this is why I’m your favorite brother?” I tease.
“Among other things,” she fires back.
I laugh.
Lisa has never asked me for money. Not once. Even when I offered after she first moved out West, she refused. She wanted to make it on her own. I know how much it must have taken for her to call me like this.
“Let me know when you land,” I say. “I’ll get your room ready.”
I hear the relief in her breath, and it hits me harder than I expect.
