“Mom would get so mad because we would pretend we couldn’t hear her when she called us.”
“We can still do that. Just you and me, kid.”
“We can’t block out the world forever, Dac,” she said sadly.
“No, but we can block these two out.” I jerked my thumb toward Opal and Mick, who were having some sort of argument over the limo seating while Mr. Mahoney was trying to pacify both of them. Poor guy.
I supposed it was time I get out of my bad mood and help out. “Auntie, you will ride in the car with Aria and me, of course, but Mr. Eugene can’t. He would have to ride with Trevor.”
Mick smiled an “I told you so” smile.
“Stow it, Mick. It’s not cute,” I shot. Okay, so maybe my bad mood wasn’t fully gone.
“Here is a breakdown of everything that we have discussed, and the total is at the bottom. I will go ahead and have this on standby and wait for you to give me call later today so that we may proceed and have the service on Saturday,” Mr. Mahoney said.
Saturday? That’s in two days. We would say good-bye forever in two days.
Mr. Mahoney wisely handed the packet to me, and we thanked him and headed out the door. I looked over at Aria on our way out, and she must have been thinking what I was. She knew that somewhere in this building lay our parents. She was reluctant to leave, as she kept looking back. But we knew if we asked, they wouldn’t let us see them, and we knew we wouldn’t want to see them.
“Do you think...you think they are watching us?” she asked kind of dreamily.
“Yes,” I said, without hesitation.
Although we never attended church services, Mom was a religious person and she taught us to believe in heaven and hell. I believed our parents, even Wally, were in heaven. They were good people.
“You think that they would want us to do the right thing, even if it would hurt other people?” Aria asked.
I frowned at her question. “What do you mean?”
“If we did something, an accident that hurt someone, do you think they would want us to tell, even if it would hurt someone else? Someone they love?”
What? “I think that they would want us to make the right decision to clear our conscience. If we feel in our hearts it’s the right thing to do, then it’s probably the right thing to do,” I said.
“I knew you were going to say that,” she muttered.
“Aria, what are yo—” I began but was cut off.
“We need to get a move on if we are going to make it to the bank,” Mick interrupted.
“Never mind, I was just asking a hypothetical question, you know.” She quickly climbed in the front of the car, and I climbed in the back, which ended the conversation since we couldn’t continue in front of Mick and Opal. Something was bothering her, and it had more to do with something than just our parents. I didn’t know how to help her, but I knew I had to try.
Now, on top of everything else, life had to throw an angst-ridden teen with a secret my way? Thanks, life.
Chapter 12
Once we got to the bank, I was still wondering what Aria had been trying to tell me and was so wrapped up in my own head I wasn’t even paying attention when Mick announced we had arrived.
“Whassa matta with you, chile?” Opal asked as I was helping her out of the car.
“Nothing, I’m just worried that Mom and Dad didn’t have enough money in savings to cover the cost,” I lied.
“Oh, pshh. Don’tcha worry ’bout that none. I got some money saved up, and I’m sure slick here will pitch in—ain’t that right, slick?”
“Uh, sure, I think I have some bonds I can cash in.”
I’m sure, I thought sarcastically.
Mick held the door open for us, and we walked to the information desk and asked to speak with someone who could help us about our recently deceased parents’ account. The woman behind the desk picked up the phone, and a little while later, a medium-sized Puerto Rican man appeared with a nametag reading Ronald Soto.
“What can I do for you?”
“They needed to access their parents’ accounts. They recently died in car accident. Mr. and Mrs. Harper,” Mick stated diplomatically.
“Oh, yes, of course. I was informed of that. Follow me.” He gave us a sad look and ushered us into an office with a desk and a computer and sat down behind the desk. There were only three chairs, so Opal, Aria, and I took them, leaving Mick to stand.
“Now you must be the Harpers’ daughters?”
I gave a nod.
“I was so sorry to hear about your parents,” he said as he began typing on his computer.
Word traveled fast, small town and all.
“Your mom used to come in here about once a week, lovely woman.” He shook his head sadly. “They had a joint checking and a savings with beneficiaries. Do you guys have identification?”
“We are the beneficiaries?” Aria asked, shocked.
He nodded.
We pulled out our IDs and handed them to him, and he looked them over and handed them back. He then turned his monitor around to let us see the amounts that Mom and Dad had in their accounts that were now ours.
We had just enough for the funeral arrangements and maybe enough to last us for a few months after, unless they had a will we didn’t know about. He transferred the accounts into me and Aria’s names and stated that we would be receiving checks in our name in a few days.
“Can’t they just have the cash?” Mick asked, looking anxious. “The funeral is in two days. They have to pay for the service.”
“I’m afraid with this amount we cannot. If you want to tell me the amount, we will be more than happy to draw up a check and send it over to the mortuary for you.”
“What’s wrong slick? That ain’t gonna work for ya?” Opal asked, eyeing him.
“No, it’s fine,” Mick replied in a clipped tone.
I wrote down the amount and handed it over to Mr. Soto, and he typed something on his monitor. I nodded that it was okay to send over the check, all the while eyeing Mick, who was fidgeting in his shoes. I had never trusted him, and I wasn’t about to start now.
We thanked Mr. Soto, left the bank, and headed back home, my brain completely cluttered with thoughts of Mick and Opal and Aria. I was so preoccupied I didn’t even realize when we pulled up at home and everyone got out but Mick.
“You guys go ahead. I need to go and do some things, and I’ll come back by later,” he said vaguely.
“Do what stuff?” Aria asked.
“Stuff that I don’t have to tell my eighteen-year-old niece,” he said, then pulled away.
Aria shrugged her shoulders and went inside, and I started to follow, but Aunt Opal grabbed my arm for me to stop.
“You watch him, you hear.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, although I knew.
“Slick, you watch him. He’s money-hungry, and I’ve seen his type before. He reminds me of a fella come through here once befo’, robbed this gal blind of money and love, then took off.”
“I know, Auntie. I’ll be careful.”
She patted my arm, and we went into the house, earning a look from both Tina and Aria as to why it took us so long to come inside. Mrs. D had lunch already laid out—you guessed it, casserole.
I was still a little tired and decided to skip lunch and went to take a nap instead, heading upstairs. I got to the door before Tina caught up to me.
“You’re going to leave me hanging?”
“Damn, I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.” I opened the door and went inside with her on my heels.
“Nice try. Spill. I want to know how everything went.”
I lay out on my bed and she on Aria’s and proceeded to tell her how the morning’s events went minus Aria’s strange question—she would think I was making a big deal out of it—and when I was done let out a long and much-needed breath.
“I knew I should have come!” She pounded her fist on the mattress.
“Yeah, ’cause I sa
id nothing else of importance.” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, I missed so much. Mick is certainly up to something, the bastard, and aye, poor Opal. And I would have loved to see the caskets you guys picked out for your parents.”
“They were beautiful,” I said, then yawned, closing my eyes.
I don’t remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew, it was dusk and there was a tap on the door.
Mrs. D poked her head in. “Trevor is here. Should I tell him you’re still sleeping?”
I rolled over, wiping drool from my mouth. It was a wonder I had a boyfriend. “What time is it?”
“Six thirty, dear. You were tired.”
“Apparently.” I stretched.
I got up from the bed and rolled my head from side to side, cracking my neck to release some tension.
I walked downstairs to find him in the kitchen eating some casserole dinner in his normal clothes. He must have gone home before coming here.
“Hey, rough day?” he asked, eyeing me.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Ignoring his question, I placed a kiss on his lips.
“After I left?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
He slid his plate over to me, offering me what looked like cream chicken mixed with green beans, and I shook my head.
“No thanks. I’m kinda casseroled out.”
“Yeah, this isn’t that good, but I’m hungry, plus,” he gave me a crooked grin, “I’m a guy.”
I shook my head. Of course, that explained why he was eating it.
“So how was today?”
I was hoping he would let that go. I shrugged. “It was okay, all in all. Where is everyone?” I noticed the place was pretty quiet, and I hadn’t seen anyone on my way down.
“Oh, um, I think your aunt left before I got here, and Tina and her mom were headed to the store. Mrs. Delgado let me in and got you, and your sister is out with Riley somewhere.”
“And Mick?”
“Don’t know. He wasn’t here when I came.”
I wonder if he had come back like he said or if he was still out doing whatever he was doing. And why hadn’t Aria awakened me to tell me she was going out with Riley, and where had she even gone?
“Did Aria say where she was going?” I asked.
“No, she was walking out the door as I was walking in. I do know they went in Riley’s car though,” he offered. “Why, you don’t trust your sister with Riley now? I thought he was your friend.”
“He is my friend. I just want to know where my sister is, and she always tells someone where she is going.”
“So just text her, or him.”
Well, duh. I went upstairs to get my phone and came back to the kitchen and sat back down.
Where r u?
W/Ri-Ri
I know that, where?
Out
Don’t B a brat
I’m fine Dac
Aria
Dacey
Dammit, I’ll just ask Riley where U R
Y R U being so grumpy
Y R U being such a teenager?
News flash, I AM a teenager!
I let out an exasperated sigh and slammed my phone down, annoyed, then picked it back up and texted Riley telling him to keep her safe, no drinking, and he had better have her home in a hour. Slamming my phone back on the table, I let out a curse and rubbed my temples.
“So I take it everything is not okay with your sister?”
“You take it right. It’s like she has turned into this brat all of a sudden, and it’s annoying as hell. She was never like this with my parents.”
He rubbed my back and pulled my chair closer to his. “Babe, you know how teenagers can be. It’s a phase. And people grieve in different ways.”
“No, not Aria. She was never like this. She was the good kid. This is new, and something is up with her, I’m telling you.”
He looked at me like Tina had looked at me the first time I had told her this very thing, like I was making it more than it really was. They were looking at me like I would look at Opal.
“Don’t look at me like that, like I’m being stupid. I know my sister. This isn’t her.”
“Okay, okay. You know your sister,” he pacified.
“Ugh, just forget it.” I got up to get something to drink. Why couldn’t everyone trust that I knew when something was off about Aria and not think this had something to do with her grieving? He came up behind me and snaked his arm around my waist. I had half the mind to shrug out of his grasp, but I didn’t want to fight with him. It wasn’t him I was mad at.
“I’m sorry, I can’t pretend to know what is it you guys are going through, and I’m not good with this kind of thing. No one I know has ever...I have never dealt with this type of thing before.”
“No, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to drag you into this. You’re my island. I should be trying to keep you out of it just so I can have an escape. I’m just...I don’t know,” I said, turning to face him.
“Hey, I’m here for you, whatever you need me to be.”
He lifted my chin with his finger to his mouth and kissed me gently at first, but when he went to pull back, I grabbed him, wanting more. I desperately wanted him make me forget about the past two days, the deaths, the forgetting aunt, the conniving uncle, and secretive sister—all of it.
As I leaned farther into the kiss, I wrapped both my arms around his neck and kissed him harder, and all too soon, he broke away, panting hard.
“Babe, don’t get me wrong, because it’s been two whole days since you kissed me like this, but I don’t think now is a good time to do this, especially here.”
“Why not? No one is home.” I kissed him again, more forcefully.
I pushed my hands through his hair, and he kissed me back, his breathing getting heavier, then he pushed away from me again. Dammit!
“You really have to stop kissing me like that,” he breathed, moving out of my grasp.
“Ugh! What is with you? I’m practically throwing myself at you, and you say no?” I yelled. Couldn’t he see I just needed my mind taken off all the shit for five minutes? Ten, if I was lucky.
“Babe, I get it, I do. But I wouldn’t be a very good boyfriend if I took advantage of you when you’re in such a weakened state,” he said, then more to himself, “Did I just say that?”
“I’m not in a weakened state. I just want sex!” I replied angrily, hitting my fist to my sides.
“I know the kind of sex you want. I just can’t give it to you, at least not right now.”
“You’re my boyfriend. You’re supposed to give me what I want. You’re my island, for crying out loud!” I threw my hand in the air, exasperated.
“I’m giving you what you need. You will thank me for this one day, even though you can’t see it now, even though I can’t see it now.”
“Just go, Trevor,” I spat angrily.
“Babe.” He looked hurtfully at me.
“Either give me what I want or go.” I stared at him.
I heard the front door open, and Tina and Ms. D walked in with grocery bags. Trevor stood there staring at me a moment and then went to help them with the bags. I took that time to stomp up the stairs to Aria’s room and slam the door.
I don’t know what I was mad about, the fact that I couldn’t just get my mind taken off all of this for five fucking minutes or the fact that Trevor was right and I was already starting to see that I yelled at him and made an ass of myself. I lay down on the bed faceup and stared at the ceiling until Tina came in and lay on Aria’s bed.
“So what’s up? What did he do?”
“What do you mean?” I sighed out.
“Well, the lump was all mopey, not that I care,” she clarified. “Then he helped with the groceries and you slammed the door, which I haven’t heard you do since high school. So what’s up? What did he do?”
“Why do you assume it’s what he did? I could have done something incredibly stupid, you know.”
>
“This is the lump we are talking about.”
I rolled over and propped myself onto my elbow on my side. “He wouldn’t sleep with me.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you correctly.”
“You heard me. He. Wouldn’t. Sleep. With. Me,” I emphasized each word.
She waited for me to explain, so I began to tell her the whole story, starting from the texts with Aria and Riley, ending with me attacking Trevor in the kitchen and him turning me down for my own good.
“Okay,” Tina said, “this is going to make the walls come crashing down on my world, and if you ask me in the future if this happened, I will deny it. But he was right.”
I looked at her wide-eyed for a full minute, and she held my eyes, and then held up her hand in a defensive pose.
“I know, I know, apocalyptic. But you see where you went a little cuckoo for coco puffs, right?”
“Yeah, I saw the second I came up here. I just was to shamefaced to call him and apologize.”
“Call him for what? He’s still downstairs.” She rolled her eyes.
He didn’t leave.
“I can’t believe he didn’t leave after the way I kicked him out,” I admired.
“Me, either, I would have hit the door in a minute.”
“It’s a good thing we don’t date then, isn’t it?”
“You could never handle all this.” She gestured to herself.
“You are so right.” I shook my head, getting up.
“I guess I should go downstairs, huh?”
“Nah, let him suffer awhile longer.”
“You are so evil. When you have a boyfriend, you will see.”
“My boyfriend won’t be as stupid as the lump.”
“Would you stop calling him that?”
She looked as though she considered it, then said, “Nah, it’s catchy.”
I went downstairs and found him on the couch with his hands behind his head and eyes closed, as though he were asleep.
“Hey,” I said cautiously.
He looked over at me, not sure if I was still in my bad mood or if I had calmed down.
“Hey?”
“I’m sorry, babe. You were right. I just wanted to forget for a while about everything, and I knew you could make that happen. I guess I was just using you in a sense, and that was wrong of me. I’m sorry.” I held my head shamefully.
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