Only Davit’s different. I think because he’s the youngest, he’s been protected from the rest of us. Me, Annie, and Sam don’t care if he’s soft, and the others don’t live at home anymore, so they can’t do much to change him at this point. Mom and Dad are checked out and haven’t been interested in child rearing since probably Mariam was born about six kids ago. So Davit slipped through the cracks.
I wipe tears from my eyes. “You know what’s sick? I don’t want to be married to him, but I really wish he were here.”
“Oh Tallie, I’m so sorry.” He comes closer and gives me a tight hug. “I don’t think he’s a bad person. Does that help at all?”
“Not really. Wouldn’t a good person be here? When his wife is moving in? He knows, but he just doesn’t care.”
“Would you be here? In his place? It’s complicated, the two of you, and this house is clearly…”
“It’s nothing. It’s a shell.”
“I guess, or maybe it’s a new beginning. It’s a blank slate. You can do whatever you want here, right? In ways you never could back home. Maybe you can see it that way?”
I hug Davit tighter and let him go. “Yeah, maybe I can.”
He looks out the window and guilt surfaces again, my most cherished of all emotions. I shouldn’t dump this on him. Davit’s empathetic, he can’t even help himself, and if I take advantage my emotions will overwhelm him, the poor guy. I have to gathermy shit together, at least until later. I can cry myself to sleep in my empty house when the sun goes down and my siblings abandon me.
“It won’t feel the same without you.” He doesn’t look at me as he says it, but his shoulders are slumped.
“I know. I hate this.”
“But it’s good. You’ll be here… away from back there…” He trails his fingers down the glass. “Annie’s jealous.”
“I bet she is. She nearly lost her mind over the tiles.”
“No, Annie’s jealous of the freedom you have right now. She wants it too badly it kills her.”
I look back toward the steps. Her voice echoes from downstairs, that unmistakable bossy tone, probably telling Sam to go fix something only loosely out of order.
Is Davit right? Annie feels jealous? It’s hard to imagine. She’s always been the perfect one, the pretty twin, the blessed sister. And now somehow, I have something she wants?
“I’ll be okay.” I say it more for myself than for him. “Honestly, I’m not even that far from you guys. It’ll be fine. Besides, I can’t stay here tonight.”
“Why not?”
“There’s no freaking bed.”
He hesitates, looking around the room, and bursts out laughing. His laughter brings mine back and I crack up along with him. We lean on each other, hugging again, before Annie appears in the doorway with a deep frown.
“What the heck is so funny.”
“There’s no bed!” Davit howls with laughter.
Annie rolls her eyes. “God you two are so weird sometimes. The movers are here. When you’re done freaking out, come help direct them please.”
CHAPTER 11
BRENDEN
Sunset throws long pinks across a semi-cloudy sky. I haven’t moved in a half hour. My legs are sore from crouching. My feet are deeply asleep.
The door hasn’t changed.
It’s not going to.
Strange. I’ve cased a thousand targets in my career, but this is the first one I could walk straight into without any issues. I have the damn spare key in my pocket already.
No sneaking, no skulking, no climbing or picking or breaking.
