by Ashley Nemer
~*~
“Leon, stop poking at your brother.” Kain tried to keep his voice at a whisper, but that was one thing he was not known for.
“But he’s going to be late for school.”
“Well that’s on him and Aunt Nadia. Stop poking him.” Kain signaled for Leon to come sit at the table. He had made eggs and they were getting cold. “Now come eat and be quiet.”
“Fine I’m coming, sheesh. Never get to have any fun.”
“Leon…”
“Yes, sir.” Leon sulked all the way to the table and ate his eggs in silence.
Nadia had heard the commotion and was beginning to wake up from her nap. She looked over her shoulder and saw Kain smile at her and Leon’s scowl while eating. She looked at Daman who was curled up in her lap. She shook him gently to wake him and slowly he started to make groggy replies.
“Wake up, Daman. You’re late for school.” Kain’s voice came through the silence, making Nadia feel guilty for keeping him awake this morning. She reached over to the remote and turned the movie off; she guessed it was about halfway through, so they most likely had only been sleeping thirty minutes or so.
“Sorry, I went jogging and came back and he was awake. He already ate breakfast.” She forced Daman to sit up when she stood to get off of the couch. She pulled him to his feet and pushed him off into the direction of his room.
“You alright? Must have been jogging early.” Kain picked up Leon’s empty plate and motioned for him to leave the room and finish getting ready.
“Yep, I’m alright. I just needed to clear my head. I’m ready to go home later. I just needed to process some stuff. You know how it goes.” She folded the blanket that she and Daman had been using then put it away. “Can you drop me off after we drop those two off at school?”
“Alright, I’ll be able to teach you how to use your new alarm system, so that works out perfectly.”
“What works out perfectly?” Anabella walked into the room; of course she was perfectly dressed and presentable. Never leaves the room without looking like a million bucks.
“Nadia’s going home after I drop the kids off at school.” Kain was finishing making lunches for Leon and Daman and putting them in their lunchboxes.
“I can just take her over so we don’t have to wait for you to drop the kids off.”
“He has to show me the fancy new alarm system. Apparently it takes a man to teach me. I can’t just read the instructions.”
Both women laughed and Kain looked rather annoyed at the underhanded jab his sister was giving him. “Ha.Ha.Ha. Very funny, you laugh now, but when you have a toilet clogged and your instruction manual isn’t helping, don’t come calling me.”
“Oh Kain, stop that. We’re just teasing you. Have to make light of the situation, right Nadia?”
“Exactly Ana, but you know Kain; he’s a robot. He doesn’t know how to loosen up.”
“Maybe we should get him an oil can and call him the Tin Man from now on.” Anabella burst into laughter, she couldn’t even get the sentence out.
“Well seeing as it’s pick on the best man in your life day, I’m going to grab my boys and go. You ladies can be on your own all you want.”
“What a spoil sport. Come on, Nadia. We can follow him in my car, and we can ALL go over to your place and learn the new alarm system.”
The ladies packed up their things from the spare bedroom. While the circumstances hadn’t been ideal, they had enjoyed spending the time together with their family. They didn’t all get together as much as they would have liked, so the special moments that the last few days had brought meant the world to everyone.
“You sure you’ll be okay sleeping alone tonight? I can stay over again.” Anabella picked up her bag and purse and headed for the living room, Nadia close on her heels.
“Yeah I got it I think, but if you just have to stay, you can.” Nadia knew what Anabella was doing, she wanted to stay at Nadia’s and feel helpful, useful.
“Glad that’s settled. You’ll have a roommate for a few days.”
“Come on girls, we’re late, move it!” Kain called out from the front porch.
The women hurried out of the house and into Anabella’s car. They followed Kain to the school and watched the boys get out of the car and head to class. Nadia felt her stomach start to churn. She was about to go back to the crime scene, her house. Maybe having her sister spend one or two more nights with her was a good idea. Who knew how Nadia would handle living in a place where someone died, let alone her friend?
“Penny for your thoughts?” Anabella asked.
“Just thinking about Matt, about his body and how he looked the last time I saw him alive, then when I came home that night. It started to smell a little bit after we had been waiting around for a while. In everything I’ve reported, I’ve never had to meet a body up close and personal. So that’s what I’m thinking about.”
“Well, all that makes sense. You know, if you need to, you can move. We can help you with the financial aspect of moving if it’s too much, but it would help keep you safer if that asshole does have your wallet. Speaking of, did you ever manage to recover it from that night in the alley?
“Yeah, my purse and everything inside of it was left undisturbed at the crime scene. Well, inside my car, I guess that was one of the crime scenes.”
“Do you know if they ever found fingerprints on your car?
Nadia took a moment to think back to her conversations with Kevin “No, actually they were unable to lift any prints from any surface of the car or the house, at least that’s what they are telling me. They could be lying I wouldn’t put it past him since I’m a reporter, but I doubt they did. This guy was a professional.”
They pulled into Nadia’s driveway and waited for Kain to arrive. They lost him somewhere on the main road and couldn’t go in without him; he had the key. “I’m a little scared, Ana.”
She reached for her sister’s hand and held it tight. “Don’t worry. We aren’t going to leave you alone. At least not until you are safe. You know that.”
“Should we tell Mom and Dad what’s going on? I don’t want to worry them.”
“Hopefully they have missed all the news about Matt and him being killed in your house since they were out of town.”
“Yeah.” Nadia paused, she felt her stomach churning, waiting for all of this to end one way or another. “I’ll tell them when they get back.”
“Good. I see Kain driving down your street. Let’s get our things. We can learn the system, then I need to get some work done.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They got out of the car and pulled their bags from the back seat. Kain pulled his car in behind theirs and came up to them.
“After you, ladies.” He waved his hand and motioned for them to lead.
“Oh no, you’ve made sure you were the leader of this crew, after you, Kain.” Anabella nudged him ahead, and the three of them walked up Nadia’s sidewalk to her front door. Kain pulled out the set of keys, and they crossed the threshold. He silenced the alarm and the three of them looked around. They all took a sigh when things appeared to be in order.
