I don’t warn her because none of it matters.
Mona is who she is, and I’m not responsible for that.
“Hey, Mona.” I knock before peeking my head through her front door. Immediately, I’m smacked in the face with the overpowering scent of black cherry candles.
Huh.
She must’ve cleaned today.
That’s a good sign.
“Come on in, baby,” she calls back. “I’m in the kitchen.”
Huh. Another good sign.
“What are you making? I told you I was bringing dinner.” I stopped by the grocery store on the way here, picking up their $39.99 Thanksgiving feast-for-four. Ham, rolls, scalloped potatoes, and green bean casserole for forty bucks. And no dishes to wash. Can’t beat that.
“Oh, just whipped up some side dishes.” Her back is to us, but she’s standing over the stove. Her fist is bunched into the flesh of her hip and she’s favoring one foot. Her cane leans against one of the cupboards, waiting on standby.
“Mona, I’d like you to meet Demi,” I say.
She whips around, her jaw hanging. She’s got her teeth in, so that’s a relief. Mona’s fingers flit around her thin, dark hair. Wiry wisps framing her face are slicked back behind her ear as she takes Demi in from head to toe.
“My, my, Royal. You didn’t tell me you were bringing anyone.” Mona arches an eyebrow. She’s not smiling, but she doesn’t mean anything by it. This is how she is.
“I hope you don’t mind.” Demi steps forward, offering up her pumpkin pie like a sacrifice. “Royal and I recently reconnected, and I wanted to spend the holiday with him this year.”
Mona clucks her tongue and releases a loud breath. She doesn’t take the pie.
“Demi, you say?” she asks. Mona turns to me. “This that Rosewood girl you used to run around with?”
I chuckle. “Yes, Mona. This is Demi Rosewood. Her family was very good to me growing up.”
She huffs. “Yeah, until they weren’t.”
Demi blushes, looking away.
I’d almost venture to guess that Mona is slightly jealous of Demi, which I find hilarious. But it makes sense. Mona’s had my attention all to herself for the last seven years. And she knows how much I love Demi.
Sighing, I take the pie from Demi’s hands and sit it on the counter along with the bags of food. Mona will fall in love with Demi once she gets to know her. No doubt in my mind.
“What kind of pie did you bring?” Mona asks, smacking her gums.
“Pumpkin, ma’am,” Demi says.
Mona cocks her head sideways. “Thank heavens. If you’d have said rhubarb or something crazy, I’d have had to show you the door.”
I mouth, “she’s joking” to Demi, and Demi mouths back, “I know.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Demi leaves my side and goes to Mona, placing her hand on her back. “I’d be happy to take over. I love to cook, and I don’t get to nearly as much as I used to these days.”
Mona looks at me, then at Demi, thinks for a moment, and then reaches for her cane.
“Sure,” Mona says. “Have at it. I’m gonna go watch my stories. Holler if you need anything.”
My mother waddles back to the living room, plopping down in the middle of the worn out sofa and taking a moment to catch her breath. She squints at the TV and flips channels, banging the remote against the coffee table when the buttons jam.
“That’s your mom, huh?” Demi whispers with a smile.
“Biological mother, yes,” I say slowly. “That’s Mona.”
“You have her eyes.”
“And nothing else.” I’ve been told I look exactly like my father, but my memories fail me. Last time I saw him I was five. Or so I’m told. He was an over-the-road truck driver who died of a massive coronary in the middle of hauling a load from New York to Nebraska.
I open Mona’s cupboards in search of clean plates and set the table as Demi peruses the stove situation. Two pans of some gelatinous concoctions bubble and boil, and the timer on the microwave signals that some dish in the oven is finished.
How Mona conjured up the energy to put all this together is beyond me. Half the time, she can barely take the time to microwave a Hot Pocket or two.
“Oh, Royal,” Mona calls out, muting her TV. “Set a fourth place.”
“Four?” I call back, scratching the side of my temple. “Who else is coming?”
Our eyes meet from across the house, and I wait.
“Don’t hate me,” she says. “But I invited Misty.”
My blood reaches a frenzied boil beneath my skin, and for a minute, I can’t see straight. Everything’s blurry. Everything’s a shade of crimson. If Demi weren’t here, I’d fucking lose it. I’d walk right out and never come back here again.
Mona knows how I feel about Misty, and for the last seven years, I thought Mona felt the same way.
It takes all the energy Mona has to get back up from the couch, and she limps through the sagging floor of the dining room back to the bustling kitchen.
“It’s the holidays, Royal,” she says. “And Misty just lost the love of her life. She’s homeless. Been staying at some women’s shelter. And she’s trying to get clean.”
“Or so she says,” I spit back.
“It’s time,” Mona says. “It’s time to forgive. To let go of the past and move forward.”
Demi stands at the stove, her back toward us. She’s not a part of this conversation, but I’m sure she’s very much tuned in.
“It’s going to be fine,” Mona says. “Deep down, Misty has a good heart. She just needs us to remind her.”
Misty does not fucking have a good heart. In fact, I’m quite positive she doesn’t have a heart at all. Nobody with a heart would’ve done half the shit she did. Someone with a heart is capable of feeling remorse. Guilt. Shame.
Misty feels nothing.
My body shakes, my fists clenched at my sides. I’ll try my hardest to remain cordial today, but only for Demi’s sake. Demi did not sacrifice her Rosewood Thanksgiving for a Lockhart Shit Show.
As soon as the food is spread out and glasses are filled and seats are taken, a cold gush of air and the gentle shutting of the front door ushers in a demon from hell.
Misty’s hair is a freshly dyed platinum blonde, washed for once, and pulled into a low ponytail. A thick layer of makeup hides the meth scabs around her mouth, and she’s dressed in enough layers to camouflage her bag of bones body.
Her eyes are brighter though. And she’s less fidgety.
“Hi, Mom. Happy Thanksgiving.” Misty wraps her arms around Mona, and I silently hate that she calls her “Mom.” It’s as if she’s in a better place emotionally, and I know that’s not true. Mona was never a mom to us.
Not to mention the fact that Misty can so easily disregard the past lights a fire so deep within me that I have to look away for a second and gather my thoughts.
Demi slides into the chair next to me, reaching beneath the table and taking my hand. She doesn’t say anything, but clearly she notices my discomfort. I may have mentioned Misty to Demi once or twice in the past, but only briefly. We were always placed in separate foster homes growing up, but with Misty being four years younger, I’d always felt extra protective of her. She was the only real family I had. We were in the same boat. As her big brother, it was my job to come running when she needed something.
But no good deed goes unpunished.
“Hi, Misty. I’m Demi.” Demi reaches her hand across the table and smiles, shaking Misty’s dry, cracked-skin hand.
“You Royal’s girlfriend?” Misty asks. She hasn’t dared to look at me since she stepped in.
“We’re old friends,” Demi says. “We go back a lot of years.”
“Ah.” Misty quickly glances my way, then back to Demi. She knows damn well that her lie cost me Demi, but knowing Misty, she’s probably feeling a little less guilty now that she sees us together. That’s how she thinks. She justifies fucking every
thing all of the time so she doesn’t have to feel an ounce of guilt or pain or suffering.
“It’s good to have you here, Misty.” Mona smiles at my sister. “How’s the methadone treatment going?”
“Good days and bad.” Misty shrugs and starts diving into the food, loading up her plate with more food than could possibly fit in the stomach of a girl her size. She acts like she hasn’t eaten in days. “Eight days clean.”
“Well that’s great,” Mona says. “Keep it up, Misty. Real proud of you.”
Mom doesn’t understand how the drug addicted work. Her greatest vices are food and slot machines. Misty will lie and tell everyone what they want to hear. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Misty had gotten lit before hopping on the bus to come here.
We finish our meal in silence, Demi trying her best to make small talk with Mona and Misty. And me? I don’t even try. I don’t even taste the food I shovel into my mouth. It’s all I can do to keep from watching the clock above the fridge.
The minutes drip by, each one slower than the one before.
As soon as we’re finished eating, Demi slices and serves the pie and starts cleaning the kitchen. Mona doesn’t stop her, doesn’t tell her she doesn’t need to do it, and Misty doesn’t offer to help.
I slide out from behind the table and fill the sink with warm, soapy water. Side by side, we wash dishes in silence. When we’re done, the place looks better than it ever has. The counters sparkle and the sink shines, and all dishes and utensils are placed in their rightful places.
Demi is her mother’s daughter.
“We should probably head out,” I announce when we’re done.
Mona and Misty stop their chatter and stare my way.
“But you’ve only been here a couple of hours,” Mona protests, brows scrunched. If she expects me to spend another minute in the company of that white-haired heathen, she’s got another thing coming.
I came here so Mona didn’t have to be alone.
And she betrayed me by inviting the last person on earth I’d ever want to spend this day with.
“Demi needs to get back to Rixton Falls,” I lie.
She nods.
“Well, all right.” Mona groans, her breath raspy and thick. “Thanks for the pie, Demi. And good seeing you, Royal.”
Misty says nothing, she just sits there shaking like she’s coming down from some high or she’s terrified of me. Maybe both.
As soon as we’re back in my car, Demi cranks the heat and blows into her hands. We sit for a minute, letting the engine warm up, and I stare ahead at the dash.
“You okay?” Demi asks. “That was . . . intense.”
“Wasn’t expecting to see Misty today.” I press the brake and shift into drive. “Mona knows how I feel about her.”
I watch Demi from the corner of my eye. She bites the side of her mouth, studying me, and her body is leaned my way. Sliding her hand into my lap, she tucks her hand inside mine.
“I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that,” she says.
“Like what?”
“With such . . . hatred in your eyes.”
I nod. I’m not sure what she wants me to say, but I’m not about to deny the fact that I hate my sister. I hate what she did. I hate what she’s done. I hate everything about her self-centered, ugly little heart.
“I need to get gas,” I say, changing the subject.
We pull into a little Conoco station on the corner of Glidden’s main drag. It’s one of the few places open today, and it’s packed. Cars pull up, frantic husbands run out with random gallons of milk and cartons of eggs, stressed travelers refuel their mini vans, and tired toddlers throw tantrums as their parents pop a new DVD into their rear entertainment systems.
I park in front of a vacant pump, and Demi grabs her bag.
“I’m going to get us some wine for tonight.” She points inside and gives me a wink that sends a twitch to my cock.
I fill my thirsty car and grit my teeth when the credit card machine is down. It instructs me to go inside and pay, but there’s a line ten people long.
Guess I don’t have a choice.
All I want to do is go back to my place and lose track of time for a few hours with Demi. She’s the only highlight of this shit-tastic day, and she’s so fucking gorgeous I want to devour her from head to toe.
She needs to be naked, in my bed, her curvy legs wrapped around mine and her nails digging into my ass as I bury my cock inside that perfect pussy of hers all night long.
From outside, I see the top of her head as she peruses the gas station’s fancy wine selection. Pulling my wallet from my pocket, I head inside and get in line.
“Oh, hey,” she says when she sees me. I take the bottle from her hand.
“You can head on out if you want.” I nod to the car.
The line grows shorter when a second checker comes to the front. A couple more people and I’m next.
My cock throbs when I think about what we’re going to be doing in T minus fifteen minutes.
“Okay, I’ll see you in a few.” Demi kisses my cheek and heads out, the bells on the door chiming as she skips through.
But then my stomach drops. For reasons I never could’ve anticipated.
Two more people are ahead of me, but I fish a fifty out of my wallet and slap it on the counter, telling the cashier to keep the change.
I have to get outside.
Now.
Chapter Forty
Demi
“Hey. Hey, you.” A woman leaning against the brick façade of the gas station calls after me as I head to Royal’s car.
I turn around, doing a double take. She looks familiar, but I can’t immediately place her. Matte, dark hair frames a round face, and pencil thin eyebrows accent blue, almond-shaped eyes. She wears a lot of makeup, like a woman with secrets for days, and her full lips are bunched into a hidden smirk.
She reminds me of a Bratz doll, pretty by her own standards and looking like she’s completely up to no good.
Stopping and adjusting the purse strap over my shoulder, I stare a little harder and rack my brain.
I know I’ve seen her before . . .
The woman motions me closer. Her knee is bent, her foot pressed against the back of a cage of propane tanks now.
“Excuse me, do I know you?” I ask, stepping closer.
Glancing inside the Conoco station, I see Royal slapping some cash on the counter and rushing to get out the door.
“You don’t know me, no.” She produces a lit cigarette from behind her, tapping the ash on the sidewalk and taking a slow drag. Clear gray smoke curls in front of her face and she laughs. “But we have something in common.”
Narrowing my eyes, I shake my head. “What are you talking about?”
Royal bursts through the doors, the bottle of my wine under his arm.
“What the hell are you doing here, Pandora?” he says.
She takes another drag and a couple of steps toward him, blowing a puff of smoke in his face.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She smirks. “What, I’m not allowed in Glidden ‘cause all of a sudden you think your fucking cock is too good for me? Running around with this rich bitch now, so you can’t be seen associating with me?”
“Royal, what is she talking about?” I move closer to him.
“This is my boss’s daughter. Pandora.” His jaw clenches when he says her name, and he watches her every move. “We used to . . . hang out. In our free time.”
“Oh,” I say. “Oh.”
That’s where I’ve seen her. At the garage the other week.
She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman I imagined Royal with over those lost years. In fact, she’s the opposite of what I ever pictured for him.
I won’t judge him though. Rixton County is slim pickings. All the smart, pretty, ambitious girls always move to Manhattan.
Royal hooks his hand into the crook of my elbow and nods toward the car.
“Let’s go,” he says
.
Pandora’s nose scrunches, and she flicks her cigarette, grinding it into a paper and tobacco stump with the scuffed toe of her pleather boots.
“Do you know?” Pandora looks directly at me.
“Do I know what?” I ask.
Royal leads us away from her. But she follows.
“Do you know that he’s a sex offender?” Pandora yells after us. A man heading inside stops, stares, and then continues. A woman pumping gas takes a step closer to her sedan. “That’s right. Your little knight in shining armor is a fucking perv.”
My ears ring, and I can’t bring myself to look at him.
Sex offender?
His hands have explored every inch of my body. His cock has felt me from the inside. His mouth, his fingers, his tongue . . .
My stomach rolls and flips, and I feel a dry heave forming in the base of my belly.
Not to mention the fact that being associated with a sex offender is career suicide when you’re an elementary educator. No one, and I mean no one, wants their child’s teacher to be fucking a sex offender.
For a moment, my disgust fades and everything turns red. My head spins, and my chest thumps. I’m trembling, but I’m not scared.
I’m furious.
No wonder he didn’t want me to know.
No wonder he kept delaying. Distracting. Prolonging.
No wonder my parents want nothing to do with him.
My mind is flooded with every disgusting, sick, and vile assumption it can conjure, and my legs wobble as he leads me to his Challenger and opens the door.
“Get in, Demi. I’ll tell you everything.
Chapter Forty-One
Royal
{seven years ago}
I’m barreling down the highway in my truck, northbound to Saint Charmaine where my fifteen-year-old kid sister spends most of her days getting herself into all kinds of trouble.
ROYAL Page 20
