Baba pointed his finger at me. “Don’t you dare.”
Lilit let out a deep guttural laugh. “I want to prove a point that you look exactly like our mother when you make that face.”
I smiled and quickly drafted a rough sketch on the notepad by the register.
Pride shone in Lilit’s eyes. “This might be your best work yet.”
Baba looked at the crude drawing and rolled his eyes. “Okay, let Nairie get back to work.”
Lilit lifted the drawing. “Why? She can probably sell this for millions!”
Baba eyed his sister with an unspoken warning. “No, she can’t. Nairie, take care of the customer in front, please.”
I stared between the two of them. Clearly, they weren’t play fighting anymore, but I wasn’t sure what it was really about.
I went back into the showroom and greeted a male guest perusing some gold chains.
“Do you need any help?”
The unibrow-ed machismo looked me up and down and smirked. “Yes, actually. I just bought that Ferrari out front and needed something to match.”
I wanted to smash my head against the counter but instead spent the next ten minutes showing him our most expensive selection.
Aunt Lilit sidled up to me and rested her hands on the cane in front of her, eyeing up the customer in a not-so-subtle way. “You can’t afford any of these. Can you?”
The customer balked at her brazenness. “I most certainly can. That’s my Ferrari out front if you haven’t noticed.”
Lilit raised her lustrous gray eyebrows. “That’s my Ferrari, you twit.”
The customer’s eyes widened as he shifted his weight. “No, it’s not.”
Lilit dug through the pocket of her long bohemian skirt and clicked the key fob, sparking the Ferrari to life.
I looked at my aunt in surprise and laughed as the customer sulked out the front door.
“You have a Ferrari?”
Lilit looked proudly at it. “Damn, right. Listen, now that I’m going to be in town for a while, why don’t you come to my house for tea? We can catch up on all youradventures.”
I laughed. “My adventures? You’re the one with all the stories. All I do is help Mom and Baba at the shop.”
Lilit eyed me like she knew something I didn’t and nodded. “I heard they want you to move back in.”
“Yeah,” I sighed in defeat.
“Don’t do it, kid.”
“Really?”
“Stay strong. Stall it as long as you can and come see me.”
I nodded and watched her swiftly exit the store. The Ferrari’s door opened upward, and Lilit threw her cane in the front seat before gathering her skirts and fumbling into the car.
I laughed, and so did Lilit as she opened the passenger side window to call out, “It’s a bitch to get in, but guys love it!”
When I turned around, both of my parents were right behind me. “Sheesh, you guys scared me.”
Mom herded me to sit on a nearby stool. “Listen closely, Nairie. We love your aunt, Lilit.”
