by Ivy Smoak
Kennedy’s smile dropped, probably when she saw my reaction. “I don’t think that’s true,” she said. “His older brother is a total man whore. But I think Matt’s kind of sweet.”
“The Caldwells are all the same,” Cupcake said. “One and done. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. Ask anyone.”
“No they’re not, Joe,” Kennedy said. “And it’s unbecoming to spread rumors.”
“Babe.” He pulled her back into his side. “What do either of you care about Matthew Caldwell anyway?”
“We don’t,” I said and pushed my salad aside. But I did. I really did. But I couldn’t say that out loud. And I couldn’t defend Matt, because for all I knew, what Cupcake was saying was true.
Kennedy cleared her throat. “Exactly, we don’t.”
“Cupcake?” Cupcake asked and pulled out a box of cupcakes from…I have no idea where. Seriously, where had those been a minute ago?
“Absolutely,” Kennedy said and grabbed one with chocolate frosting.
He held it out to me.
“No thank you,” I said.
“Felix?” Cupcake waved the box in front of Felix’s face.
“Actually, can we talk for a minute?” Felix asked. “I have an idea I want to run by you.”
Cupcake closed the lid. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Let’s talk just the two of us,” Felix said.
“Okay. Later, babe,” Cupcake said and kissed the side of Kennedy’s forehead.
After an awkward hug with Felix, I watched them walk away. “What was that about?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Kennedy shook her head. “But I don’t like it.”
I watched the two of them leaning against the cafeteria doors talking. Me either.
“Is something going on with you and Felix?” she asked. “It looked like you panicked when he asked you to homecoming.”
“I didn’t panic. I said sure.” I said sure a lot, actually. I pushed some lettuce around with my fork. At least I could be honest with her about one thing. “But we did decide to just be friends.”
“Really?” She sounded a little excited, but I didn’t blame her. She’d made it clear that she hated him. “Does that have something do with Matt? Because Joe’s information about him seemed to really bother you, despite the fact that you always insist that he’s a jerk. I kinda thought you’d agree with him.”
“It has nothing to do with Matt.” I desperately wanted to tell her that Matt came over last night. That he’d given me his varsity jacket. But I’d promised not to. I wished I could just go back to last night when Matt was holding me in his arms. Everything made sense then. Before the cheerleader sexcapades.
“You sure about that? Because he still looks at you like something’s going on.”
I glanced back at the Untouchables table. Matt was staring directly at me. A scowl slicing across his perfect face. His swollen and bruised perfect face. I quickly turned away.
“Nothing’s going on,” I said.
“Good.”
“Good?” I looked up at her. “Why is that good? I thought you wanted me to date Matt?”
“I did. And you’d make a much cuter couple than you and Felix. But…I think it’s probably a bad idea. At least right now.”
Did she think he was a slut too? I was worried I’d learned more about Matt in the last five minutes than I’d learned during all my time here. All I could think about was that box of opened condoms in his nightstand. I wish I’d counted how many were left. Had he used five? Twelve? Seventy-two? I felt like I was going to throw up my salad.
Kennedy pushed her tray aside. “I’ve been dying to tell you this all day. I just didn’t know exactly what to say. And I thought it might be best if I got to the bottom of it before even telling you anything. But I don’t want to keep it from you. I overheard a conversation between my mom and Uncle Jim. He stopped by this morning early before work.”
“Okay…” I waited, but Kennedy didn’t offer any more information. “What were they talking about?”
“You. And someone at this school.”
I held my breath. Did my uncle know that Matt had spent the night? He was going to ground me until I was old and gray unless he decided to kill me instead. “Who?” I asked.
“I didn’t catch the name. But I heard one thing clear as day.” She leaned forward.
I leaned forward too. Waiting. My heart pounding.
“Brooklyn, you are related to someone at this school. I don’t know any more than that. But I promise I’ll keep digging.”
My throat felt even drier than before. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Am I related to another student?”
“I don’t know. It might be a faculty member. Or it might be…Matt.”
I didn’t know how to react to that news, so I just stared back at her.
“It was great that you were dating Felix because Uncle Jim flat out said you weren’t related to him. But now that you guys aren’t dating…you need to be careful. You don’t want to accidentally make out with your brother,” she said with a laugh.
My stomach churned. Yeah, I was definitely going to throw up my salad.
“I know I said I’d help figure out this whole missing father mystery and I’ve been a little MIA. But we can figure this out together. We already have our first real clue other than the fact that your father at one point lived in the city.”
“But you think Matt's father is my dad?” God, I am a brother kisser! I was pretty sure there was a special place in hell for people like me. I’d probably be forced to kiss my brother for eternity as punishment. Although…if Matt really was my brother, the punishment sounded pretty good to me. No! Stop thinking about kissing your brother, you monster!
“I think that your uncle would have no other reason to be concerned enough to talk to my mom about it if it wasn’t someone you were hanging out with. And you just had that after school project the other day. So I was thinking it was probably Matt. Or…Rob.”
Rob joked around with me like an annoying brother. I tried to remember what he’d said about his father the other night. Something about picking up call girls on Wall Street. I swallowed hard. I didn’t want Rob’s father to be my dad. I wanted someone caring and kind. But I knew that wasn’t the case. A kind caring man wouldn’t have abandoned me and my mom.
As soon as I thought it, I realized I already had the best father figure I could. My uncle was kind and caring and patient with me. I wished I could forget about the whole father thing completely. I didn’t even really want to meet my father. But I also didn’t want to accidentally date my brother. I had to talk to my uncle. “He said you could come over and do homework with me after school today,” I said. “Will you help me ask him?”
Her face lit up. “Are you ungrounded?”
“Only for you and schoolwork.”
“I knew he’d cave,” she said with a smile. “It hasn’t even been a week, the big softie. Okay, so now we just have to figure out how to ask him about it.”
“Yeah. Please tell me you have a plan?” Because I had nothing but flat out asking. Which maybe would have been suitable, but I’d already done that. And he’d denied my very reasonable request.
“Well, first I think it would be easy to just start talking about how hot both of them are.”
I laughed.
“And then we can gauge his reaction to see if he’s disturbed or not.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“We got this. We’ll just study his reaction and I think we’ll be able to figure it out before you go to sleep tonight.”
She was so confident that I found myself nodding my head. We’d figure out who my dad was before I went to bed. Also before Matt came over tonight. If he came over again tonight. I hoped he would. I wanted to kiss him again. Oh, God, what is wrong with me? Please don’t let me be related to Matt.
Chapter 26
Thursday
Kennedy flopped down on my bed. �
�What’s with the flowers?” she asked.
The roses Matt had given me were in a vase on my nightstand. It had taken me forever to find a vase this morning. I’d eventually found it tucked all the way in the back of a cabinet I couldn’t reach unless I was standing on a chair. I had completely forgotten that the flowers were there, or I would have suggested we watch TV instead of hanging out in my room once we were finished with our homework. My thoughts came to a halt. The flowers weren’t the only evidence of Matt’s visit. His jacket was slung over a chair in the corner. Luckily Kennedy was busy staring at the roses.
“Did Felix send you these?” she asked when I didn’t respond to her first question.
“Yup,” I said without even really listening to her, as I tried to slowly slide over to the chair.
Kennedy started to turn and I threw myself into the chair to block the jacket from her view.
“I never took him as the sending flowers type,” she said and shook her head. “I can’t believe you broke up with him right after he sent those.”
I pulled my blazer off and tossed it behind me on the chair to cover up the jacket. I breathed a sigh of relief that it was successfully hidden. The roses could be explained away. But Felix didn’t have a varsity jacket. Especially not in whatever large size Matt’s broad shoulders needed.
“Did he do something?” Kennedy asked. “To make you just want to be friends with him instead?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m just trying to focus on myself right now. And with everything with Uncle Jim…”
“He told you?” Kennedy asked.
I frowned. “Told me what?”
She stared at me for a minute, her eyes scanning mine, before looking back at the flowers. “Told you about who you’re related to. Duh.”
I laughed. “No, I didn’t corner him at school and demand answers. Don’t you think I would have told you instead of going over English notes? I’m pretty set on our plan for tonight. I just meant the whole me being forbidden to see Felix outside of school thing.”
Kennedy waved her hand through the air. “He’s already letting you see me outside of school again. I’m pretty sure he’ll ease up on Felix too. Just give him a little more time.”
I made sure my blazer was perfectly covering Matt’s jacket before standing up. “Regardless, I think it’s best if I’m just friends with Felix.” I plopped down on the bed next to her. “How are things going with Cupcake?”
“Delicious.”
I laughed. “I’m serious. Are you happy?”
She crossed her arms behind her head and looked up at the ceiling. “How can I not be happy when he brings me cupcakes every day? He literally showers me with sweets.”
“And he’s cute. Don’t you think it’s cute that he calls me babe?”
“Mhm. So very cute.”
She kicked my ankle with her foot. “Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not,” I said.
“You hate him.”
I pressed my lips together. “I don’t hate him. I was just surprised to find out that you liked him. I thought maybe you would have mentioned your crush on him after he nailed me in the face with a dodgeball.”
“Well, that hardly seemed like the time,” she said with a laugh.
“Fair enough,” I said, laughing too.
There was a knock on the front door.
I sat up. “Weird. Uncle Jim must have forgotten his key or something.” When I answered the door, Kennedy’s mom was standing there with a smile on her face.
“Hi Mrs. Alcaraz.” I turned away from the door. “Kennedy! Your mom is here!”
Kennedy ran into the kitchen. “Can I stay a little later? Por favor?” She drew out the “o” in “favor” in a way that made her mom smile.
“I came to fetch both of you for la cena. Jim called and said he’d be home late, Brooklyn. You’re stuck with us for the rest of the evening.”
As much as I loved Mrs. Alcaraz’s cooking, I really needed to talk to my uncle. “But…”
“Mi amor, you look hungry. Come, come.” She started walking down the hall toward her apartment before I even got a chance to protest.
“Come on,” Kennedy said and slipped her arm through mine. “She’s making empanadas…your favorite.”
Darn Mrs. Alcaraz and her mouthwatering empanadas.
“Plus…she knows who you’re related to too. And I’m pretty sure she’ll cave before your uncle does.”
Kennedy was right. I quickly locked the door behind us and followed Mrs. Alcaraz. The secret of my father’s identity was spreading. All I needed was for it to spread to me.
The smell in their kitchen was heavenly. Mrs. Alcaraz placed a dish of steaming hot empanadas down in the middle of the table and I was the first to dig in.
“God, they’re both so hot. You couldn’t go wrong with either,” Kennedy said through a mouthful of steaming beef and pastry dough.
We hadn’t talked about how we were going to broach the subject with her mom, but I should have expected that we’d be sticking to the original plan. But now it felt awkward as her sentence hung in the air.
“Wait for them to cool then,” Mrs. Alcaraz said. She reached over and pulled the empanada out of Kennedy’s hand.
“I’m talking about the two boys Brooklyn has a crush on at school.” Kennedy grabbed the empanada back and took another bite.
I cleared my throat. “Right. Robert Hunter and Matthew Caldwell are both so dreamy.”
“But Kennedy told me you were dating Felix,” said Mrs. Alcaraz. “El narcotraficante.”
I just stared at her. “I’m sorry, I have no idea what that means.” I tried to swallow down my bite so I wouldn’t be talking with my mouth full.
“It means she likes him,” Kennedy said.
Her mother glared at her. “No. The drugs,” she said. “He has the drugs.”
“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not…” was there even a point in arguing with Mrs. Alcaraz about this? I sighed. “You’re right. Which is why I like those other two boys now.”
“Mis niñas.” She leaned forward and put one hand on my cheek and then her other hand on Kennedy’s cheek. “You’re both too young to date.” She removed her hands and started eating like that was the end of the discussion.
“But Brooklyn really likes both Robert Hunter and Matthew Caldwell,” Kennedy said. “A lot.”
Mrs. Alcaraz ignored her and kept eating.
“A lot a lot.”
Her mother continued to ignore her. Or was she just hiding her gaze? Was she actually avoiding eye contact?
Something in my stomach churned. And it wasn’t the delicious food.
“She’s thinking about sleeping with them,” Kennedy added.
Mrs. Alcaraz spit her food out onto her plate and started coughing. “Perdóneme?” she asked after a huge gulp of water.
“At the same time,” Kennedy added.
Mrs. Alcaraz turned to me with so much shock on her face. “Grupo de tres?”
I didn’t need to understand Spanish to know that the words group and three were a part of that sentence. As in…threesome. “No,” I quickly said. “Nunca.”
Mrs. Alcaraz sighed. “Kennedy, what has gotten into you?” She grabbed the empanada from Kennedy’s hand again.
“Hey! I was trying to eat that.”
“Explain. Now.”
“I heard you talking to Uncle Jim this morning. You said Brooklyn was related to someone at school. I didn’t catch the name. And we thought maybe it was Robert Hunter or Matthew Caldwell?” She emphasized each of their last names.
Kennedy was a worse liar than me. But I wasn’t mad about it. The question was out there now. We should have just flat out asked to begin with. Then her mother wouldn’t think I was a hussy.
“I…” Mrs. Alcaraz’s voice trailed off. “It’s not my place to say.”
“But, Mama.”
“This is not our place, Kennedy.”
“But I know that you know. And B
rooklyn deserves to know who her father is. You can’t keep this from her.”
“It’s not my place to say,” her mother repeated.
“But what if she ends up sleeping with her brothers…”
Brothers? Plural? “Kennedy stop,” I said. “Please stop saying I’m going to sleep with both of them.” I was pretty sure my face was bright red. “But Mrs. Alcaraz, I really do need to know. I want to know.” I think.
“You have to talk to your uncle about this, mi amor. Not me.”
“I’ve already tried.”
Mrs. Alcaraz started eating again like the conversation had come to another end.
“Where is he tonight?” I asked. “Did he say?” That annoying feeling of a clock ticking down in my head had returned. And I had no idea why. If Matt showed up again tonight, I wasn’t going to sleep with him. But still the clock was ticking.
“He had to take care of some business,” she said.
“What business?” Janitorial work didn’t have a night shift. Well, maybe it did. Wait, did it?
“Por favor!” She threw up her hands. “Would you two both just eat? I made your favorite, Brooklyn. Por favor.”
“Sorry,” I said.
Kennedy locked eyes with me and gave me a sympathetic smile. “Lo siento, Mama.”
“Sí sí.” Mrs. Alcaraz lifted up her fork and started eating again. And this time it was the end of the discussion.
***
I was filling out the daily crossword puzzle my uncle always did when the door to our apartment finally opened.
“I thought you’d still be at the Alcaraz’s,” my uncle said as he placed a satchel down on one of the kitchen chairs. A satchel I had never seen before. He was also in a suit. I didn’t even know he owned a suit. It was a little baggy on him because of the weight he’d lost. I wanted to comment on it. To give him a compliment. But the air felt heavy between us.
“I had dinner there. Hours ago. Where were you? I was worried.”
“I’m the adult.” He kissed the top of my head. “Let me do the worrying, kiddo.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Six across is colonel,” he said.
I glanced down at the crossword puzzle. It was one of the only answers I didn’t know. And he was right. That definitely fit. I looked back up at him. “I meant the ‘where were you’ question.”
