by L. N. Pearl
“I know about Trinity.”
That stopped me. I turned to her. “What?”
“I said, I know about her.”
Her eyes were hard, and intense. She wasn’t sad anymore. She was pissed, and not hiding it. Like I owed her something.
I didn’t owe her anything, not that way. Money? Probably. Friendship? Sure. She gave me so much, and Gigi.
But if she was only doing it to get in my bed, she could stop.
I thought about telling her she was crazy, that there was no such person, but I couldn’t lie.
Instead, I started picking up the place, so that I wouldn’t have to look at her. “Who told you about her?”
“Drake.”
I almost ripped the head off Gigi’s favorite teddy bear. Drake? What game was he playing?
“I didn’t know you and Drake were so tight,” I said.
I kept putting toys away, willing myself to act casual even though I wanted to find Drake and beat him bloody.
“I know she’s Angela’s sister, too.”
That was too much. I stood and turned to her.
“That’s not his business. Why did he tell you? What the hell could you have been talking about that got you there?”
“We were just talking, that’s all.”
Did he seek her out on purpose, just to make my life miserable?
He knew how Sabina felt about me, and how I didn’t feel the same. He wanted her to come at me like this. He was fucking with my head, turning people against me.
I never thought we would end up like this.
I growled, “Drake needs to keep his mouth shut about things that aren’t his business.”
Sabina chewed on her lip, twisting her long hair around her finger. “Do you have feelings for her?”
This was too fucking much. Was there anything else I could deal with in one fucking day?
“Sabina…” I sighed, sitting next to her. “It’s complicated. And it’s not something I want to talk about. It’s personal, you know?”
“Since when do we have anything like that between us? We talk about everything.”
I smiled, and I hoped it didn’t come off mean. “Not everything.”
She frowned and looked away. “Just tell me. It’s all right. I can take it.”
I closed my eyes. Why did she want me to hurt her? There was no way to answer honestly without hurting her.
Couldn’t she let it go? Did she want to be tortured?
Either way, I knew she wouldn’t leave until I gave her an answer. She was stubborn like that. I tried to be kind about it.
“I care about her. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about anyone else.”
Sabina gasped, and turned to me, looking shocked. I thought she might faint for a second, or explode. She didn’t do either of those things.
She stood up and left instead, slamming the door behind her when she went.
I leaned back on the couch with my fists against my forehead. Why did she have to push me like that? Would things be weird between us, now? They had to be.
That was another reason I had always tried to be nice to her. I didn’t want her to stop watching Gigi or helping me out.
It was a shitty, selfish thing to think, but I was that desperate to raise Gigi well.
It was better this way, or I tried to tell myself that.
The more time I let her think there could be a future for us, the worse things would get. She needed to stop fantasizing and move on. Maybe she could be happy one day.
Either way, it couldn’t be my problem. I couldn’t take care of everybody in my life.
Chapter 3 - Trinity
After Tyler left, I went straight upstairs to my bedroom. There was no sense in trying to talk to Dad. I had nothing to say to him, anyway.
Even if I did, he wouldn’t listen…he didn’t understand anything. And should he had anything to say, I wouldn’t listen to him either.
I didn’t care what he thought anymore. I hadn’t realized until that night that I had no respect left for him.
How could I care about what he thought if I didn’t respect him?
What I needed to do was go to bed. I hoped a good night’s sleep would help me feel better. I needed to get my head screwed on straight again.
So much for getting to sleep. Being in the same bed Tyler and I just had sex in wasn’t helping.
It was hard enough saying goodbye to him on the front porch without having to be reminded of what we’d done before Dad barged in and ruined everything.
The sheets and pillows smelled like him. I took a deep breath. Yes…that was his cologne.
I wished I had a bottle of it for myself so I could sprinkle it on my sheets whenever I wanted to feel close to him.
I laid my head on one of the pillows and threw my arm over it, pretending it was his chest I was sleeping against. It wasn’t anywhere near the real thing, but it was the closest thing I had to him.
It would have to do. It might have to do for a long time.
It was a rough night. I had nightmares, tossed and turned. I dreamed of Angela. She was trying to warn me of something.
Then I had other dreams, and in those, I was trying to warn her. She wouldn’t listen. She laughed me off in that way she had—like she knew better, and I was the silly, overprotective older sister.
I kept reliving the night we found out she was dead. Her body was in the morgue, and we went to identify her. I saw the thick, purple circle around her neck.
My Angela. So perfect except for that bright slash of color.
When I woke up at dawn, it felt like I hadn’t slept at all. I might as well have stayed up all night—I could have spared myself a lot of nightmares.
After showering, it was clear that there was only one thing I could do. See Tyler…I had to. He had something to tell me. It was tomorrow. I needed to know what it was.
I hoped that it had something to do with Angela. Maybe he knew more than he’d told me before. Maybe he was finally ready to open up.
I hoped so…but only if he had nothing to do with the murder.
The house was quiet as a morgue, just like always. Dad’s bedroom door was closed.
For a moment, I wondered whether he was all right. I’d really ripped him a new one the night before.
I even felt a little sorry for the things I’d said. I couldn’t help remembering the look on his face.
Still, if he wanted to work things out, he knew where to find me. I was sorry for hurting him, but that didn’t mean I was going to take back the things I said.
They were all true. Maybe he’d take them to heart, and I’d wind up inadvertently shaking him out of his stupor.
I went straight to the garage when it first opened, wanting to see Tyler before he got too busy.
Only he wasn’t there yet. I was ready to burst with anticipation, and he was killing me by being late. Today of all days.
I went across the street to the coffee shop to wait for him, taking a table by the window so I could see when he walked in.
I felt like a stalker but told myself it was worth it. I considered calling him, but told myself I’d look even more desperate if I called and then just happened to be waiting for him when he got to the garage.
I had to keep some of my pride intact, didn’t I?
After an hour, it didn’t feel worth it anymore. What was up? I decided to go over to find out where he was. It would be just my luck to wait for him on his day off.
It turned out, he was off, but it wasn’t scheduled.
“Yeah, he called out today,” one of the mechanics told me. “His sister’s sick and he had to take her to the doctor.”
A sister? I didn’t know he had one. Then again, I didn’t know much about him, did I? I hadn’t even known until the night before that he and Dad had a past.
“I need to talk to him. Can you tell me where he lives?”
The mechanic looked me up and down. I knew it was a strange request.
“P
lease, I’m not going to hurt him or anything. You’ve seen me here before, right? That’s my car.”
I pointed to it, where it sat in a row of cars being worked on. I guessed Tyler’s absence meant I was going to wait even longer to get it back.
He nodded, “I guess it’s all right.”
He gave me the address, and I caught my breath. He lived in that neighborhood? It was the most dangerous in the city!
Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to visit him, after all.
I squared my shoulders and told myself it was worth it. Besides, it was daytime and only a ten-minute walk from here. Nothing could happen.
That didn’t stop me from clutching my purse in a death grip the closer I got to the apartment complex where Tyler lived.
I wondered about his life as I walked. It was so different from mine. No wonder he thought I was rich if this was where he lived.
Compared to him, I might as well have been a millionaire. And he had a sister? I wondered if they lived together, since he took her to the doctor.
When I reached his apartment door, I realized I’d made a huge mistake. There was no way I could do this.
God, who was I? Showing up at his apartment?
I had turned into a crazy person. I told myself to go home and wait for him to call me. Only I wasn’t the type of person to do that.
So I knocked on the door anyway. There was no answer. I knocked again, and put my ear to the door in hopes of hearing some movement inside.
Nothing. Maybe he was still at the doctor.
Well, I sure as heck wasn’t waiting outside for him. I didn’t even want to wait in the hall.
I decided to stick to the “go home and wait for him to call” idea, and berated myself for going there in the first place. I got what I deserved for being impatient.
As I turned to walk back down the hall, another door opened. The apartment next to Tyler’s.
A pretty girl, a little younger than me, maybe. She had skin the color of caramel and long, shiny hair. Her dark eyes didn’t look friendly.
When she looked me up and down, they narrowed dangerously. Oh, boy.
“Yeah?” she asked, still looking me up and down in a very obvious way.
It didn’t look as though she liked what she saw. My cheeks burned with embarrassment. I wished I’d never come at all.
“Hi, sorry if I disturbed you. I was looking for Tyler.”
The girl nodded, “Well, he’s not here.”
“Yes, I see. Do you know where he went? Or when he’ll be back?”
She shook her head, “No. He took Gigi to the doctor.”
“Gigi?”
She smiled nastily. “His sister. I guess you two aren’t so close, huh?”
My cheeks went red. This girl didn’t like me, no doubt about it. I wondered why. I didn’t even know her, yet I had the feeling she knew me. How could she?
“We haven’t known each other for very long.” I looked around. “Maybe I’ll just wait here for him, then. I really need to talk to him.”
“That’s not a good idea,” she said flatly. “You should probably just leave, instead.”
“Really? Why?”
I had to know. The cold waves radiating from this girl were unmissable, but I still had to know why she was determined not to like me, when we’d only just met.
“’Cuz like I said, I don’t know when he’ll be back. You know how doctor’s offices are.”
“That’s true.” I knew that wasn’t the real reason. “I don’t mind waiting, though. I have a book.”
I thought I might sit in the hall; it was a little on the dilapidated side, but it didn’t look dirty.
“Listen, I’m tryin’ to be nice to you, but you’re making it hard for me. You need to go. Okay?”
I had the vague idea she might hit me. How did girls fight? Hair pulling?
I’d never been in a fight before, so I really didn’t know. Why did she hate me? Maybe it was better to leave, after all.
Then, she smiled. “I’m tryin’ to do you a favor. Don’t waste your time. Lots of girls come looking for Tyler. You’re not the first one, ya know. And they all go home with their hearts broken.”
Was that true? Or was she just messing with my head?
What reason would she have to do that, though? We didn’t know each other. Who was she to Tyler?
“Oh. That’s a shame. But I’m not here for that…”
“In case you are, or you start feeling that way, let me give you some advice. Tyler’s not the type of person to be serious about anybody.” Then, she smiled, “Not even your sister, Angela.”
My blood ran cold, “What?”
“I said, he wasn’t even serious about Angela. She’s your sister, right? And you’re Trinity.”
I had to lean against the wall for support. She could have kicked me in the stomach, and I probably would have felt the same mixture of pain, shock and breathlessness.
“How did you know that?”
“I know what I know. And Tyler knows, too. He knows a lot of things.”
She smiled one more time, the smuggest smile I had ever seen, and closed her door.
I was still leaning on the wall, trying to make sense of what I’d just heard.
Tyler knew Angela? Were they together? Could it be? And he’d sat there and pretended not to know her when I told him all about her?
It was like a nightmare, and I forced myself to take deep breaths with my eyes closed to keep from being sick.
He knew her. He’d lied to me. They dated. How the hell could I have been so blind?
Then, a really sick thought sliced through my mind. Did Tyler have something to do with Angela’s murder?
Chapter 4 - Tyler
Sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office felt like a little slice of hell. Or the waiting room to hell.
Either way, it was the worst two hours I’d spent in a long time, and that was saying something considering how my life had been going lately.
A bunch of coughing, whining kids...all complaining about how sick they felt, or how bored they were. The TV was turned to some shitty talk show where women cackled about stupid shit nobody cared about, but there was no way to change the channel.
The room was too hot, too, which made it worse.
Gigi was the only well-behaved kid in the place, though I knew that had more to do with the way she felt.
She woke up with a fever and a cough, saying her throat hurt. I took her straight to the doctor’s office, but of course, there were already a dozen people waiting ahead of us. She sat there next to me the whole time, with her head on my arm.
I carried her home after picking up her prescription from the pharmacy.
“Why don’t we get a cab or the bus?” she asked.
Because we can’t afford it right now. Because between the doctor’s visit and the antibiotic, money’s too tight and you need to eat.
I only said, “Because I need the exercise, and you need some fresh air. I didn’t think you’d wanna ride on my motorbike with me.”
“I do! I do!”
“I know you do,” I said. “But you know the rules. Not until you’re older.”
As light as she was, and as strong as I was, I was still happy to get home. We reached the hallway leading to our apartment, and from the stairs, I noticed a girl sitting against one of the doors.
Then I recognized her.
“Trinity!”
The whole world felt brighter. When did I get to be so corny? It was true. The day had been a shit storm up to that point, but seeing her made things much better.
She didn’t look at me. I might as well have never spoken. She looked straight at Gigi.
“Hey. Who’s this? You must be Gigi.”
She smiled at my sister, who was a little shy but smiled back eventually. I smiled, too.
Then I remembered I never told her about Gigi. How did Trinity know her name? I couldn’t ask her in front of the kid.
“Come on
inside,” I said. I didn’t think it was a good idea—she looked pissed—but I couldn’t leave her in the hall.
“Thanks.”
Her voice was tense. Great. What did I do this time? It had to be big if she sat and waited for me to get home. I braced myself while I put Gigi to bed.
When I walked into the living room, Trinity was standing in the middle of it. She looked so out-of-place there.
Even when she was dressed casually, as she was then, she could have been a model in a magazine.
My apartment looked like something Goodwill passed up on. Everything was second-hand, whatever I could find. The only new things were the TV and the toys for Gigi.
It was small and cramped, and I knew we couldn’t live there forever.
Then there was Trinity. Her basement was probably the size of the entire apartment.
I walked over to her. “What’s up? How did you find my place?”
She didn’t say a word. She slapped me, instead.
I took a deep breath. It didn’t hurt. It was knowing she was angry enough to do it that bothered me.
“What was that for?” I asked, rubbing my cheek.
No one had ever slapped me, especially not a woman. “What the fuck’s going on with you? Last night when I left, you were crying and didn’t want me to leave. Now you’re slapping me?”
She still wouldn’t talk. She’d only stare at me. It was unnerving. I wanted to beg her to say something, anything, to break the weird silence.
I wouldn’t be the one to talk first, though. I had to keep a little bit of my pride.
After a million years, she finally said, “You’re a liar.”
“What did I lie about?”
“You knew Angela.”
I exhaled loudly. It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. “How did you find out?”
“Your little friend next door. She told me all about it.”
“Who? Sabina?”
“She wouldn’t tell me her name,” Trinity said, nastily. “I can’t say she and I would make very good friends, since she clearly hates me.”
I knew why, too, but this wasn’t the time to get into it.
“She told me a lot of things,” Trinity continued.
Her voice was shaking. She was ready to explode—I got the feeling the only reason she didn’t was because of Gigi in the other room.
