11. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Maci
W ith Randi and Liv around, I take a backseat to discussions over purging the house. My cousin and I each pick out pieces important to us as we trail through the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Overall, conversation is amicable, albeit tense. I credit my aunt’s forgiving nature.
By the time we’ve finished the three common rooms, it’s lunchtime. “I don’t know about you guys, but my stomach is growling,” Randi says playfully. She rubs her belly to drive the point home. All morning, she’s been attempting to draw Stephanie and me into conversation.
Alan has been scarce throughout the day, showing his face briefly to grab a mug of coffee and then head back upstairs, where he stays locked in their bedroom. I haven’t a clue what’s so important that he’s working on up there, but it’s for the best that we don’t interact for the time being.
Stephanie checks her watch. “I’m not very hungry myself.” She adjusts a few pieces of perfectly positioned hair.
I need a break. “I’m sure you could use a rest. We can grab something to eat and get back into things when we return.”
Stephanie locks eyes with me for the first time since her sister and niece’s arrival, the cogs of her brain visibly turning. “There are only a few things I’m really concerned about from what’s left.” Her gaze moves to Randi. “Why don’t I pull those together, and you and I can discuss once you’ve eaten.” For once, her tone is genuine, though not really a question, and laced with fatigue.
Randi nods. “That sounds fine.”
She doesn’t ask before sweeping my mother into an all-consuming hug. At first, Stephanie is stiff at the gesture, but after a moment, she relaxes. Liv and I exchange surprised glances before forcing our eyes back to our mothers holding each other in Nana’s kitchen. The hug seems to last a lifetime.
Stephanie’s face is flushed, her eyes glossy, when they pull apart. She brushes at something invisible on her shirt and when she looks between the three of us again, they’re clear.
We decide to grab take-out for lunch and regroup at Nana’s where Liv and I sprawl on the couches in the living room.
“It was so lonely once you moved away. It was like losing a best friend,” Liv tells me, her bottom lip jutting out in a soft pout. “I was surprised you didn’t move closer after graduation.”
I consider her words. As two only-children, when Liv and I were little we were very close. The years had an easy way of creating distance between us and moving to Austin right before high school only added to that. “I think up until then, it seemed I would.” I never gave Liv the details of leaving my mother and step-father’s house. “I had started working my senior year of school and there was a photographer who was letting me assist her to get more experience. It was my fastest way up. At least, it seemed that way to me at the time. ”
Photography, and my work during high school, saved me from being on the street when Alan kicked me out that night. I had a piece-of-shit car, a boss who let me crash at her house for two nights, and enough money to put into getting my first apartment.
Looking back, it seems like I would’ve come back to stay with Nana after finishing high school, but I craved independence so deeply that I took the forced opportunity to prove to myself what I could do. And to stick it to them.
“I get it. I wasn’t here, anyway.” She wipes her hands on a napkin, gathering her trash. A year older than me, Liv left for college before I finished high school, getting her degree in education. She’s a third-year Kindergarten teacher, a path which always seemed so authentically ‘Liv’. Her way with children is innate.
Randi and Stephanie return from another room where they’ve been discussing items Stephanie pulled aside. Randi carries a small box in her arms. She looks at Liv in question, a silent request to leave. Liv nods and stands. I stand as well, hugging them both.
“I’ve taken everything of sentimental value to me,” Stephanie chimes. “If you three decide to keep more, that’s up to you. As I said, Alan and I have a team on standby to move things out when we’re ready.”
Somehow, I manage to keep my face blank. I wonder if at some point she’ll break over the loss of her mother. Maybe in the quiet comfort of her husband. I nearly snort.
They’ve always seemed like two peas in a pod. I’m skeptical Alan ever grieved the absence of his son. I don’t even know his name or what he looks like, just that he’s a few years older than me. Family photos weren’t a frequent display in our house, an aspect that added to the iciness .
I never thought to analyze that until now. Is that why my focus is family photography?
“We have time,” Randi says softly. “Liv and I can come over again on the weekend and give the rooms another once over.” She wraps an arm around me in a side hug before addressing her sister. “Bye, Steph. Drive safe.”
Stephanie drops her chin in a silent acknowledgment of departure. Her eyes flit to Liv for a split second, but that’s all the attention she gives. Despite what she said earlier, I know more than the situation with Alan led to this chasm between her and the rest of the family. A part of me longs to have the type of relationship where she would open up to me. That’s never been our way.
After Randi and Liv leave, I lock myself in my bedroom. I don’t trust myself to be around Stephanie or Alan anymore. I had planned to leave in the morning, but with everything finished earlier than anticipated, I could head home now.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I breathe deeply, preparing to pack when my copy of the will catches my attention.
Aside from the stipulation on the house, Nana requested to have her older Toyota sedan donated to charity. Her bank accounts are to be divided evenly between Liv and myself.
Nana was living on a fixed income for a while. I doubt there’s much money to speak of, nor do I care how much it is. I’d be just as happy not to have it and have her instead .
I set the document on the bedside table and flop back on the bed, busying myself with checking work emails from my phone.
Sprawled on my back when my phone rings, I nearly drop it onto my face. It lands in the quilt instead.
“Ooof.” I scramble to find it in the folds and answer out of breath. “Hey!”
“Uh…did I catch you at a bad time?” Leah’s voice is half-serious.
I roll my eyes even though she can’t see me. “No, silly. I dropped my phone.”
“Right.” She drags out the vowel with an auditory grin. “What are you doing? How was your day? Are your parents still there?”
“Which question would you like me to answer first?” After pushing off the bed to stand, I tuck the phone between my shoulder and ear as I make the bed. “And you would think by now you would remember that asshole isn’t my dad.”
Leah’s laugh spills through the phone. “Touchy, touchy. Start with whatever put you in this stellar mood.”
A heavy sigh precedes my pacing. “I don’t even know where to start. The usual, I guess.”
“What are you doing right now?”
“Talking to you.” My steps halt and I give the wall a duh look.
“Oh my goodness, you are in such a mood! I know you’re talking to me. Do you have plans tonight?”
“Yes. I plan to keep myself in this room until Satan and the Devil have left this house, otherwise I may end up in jail, or just pack up and go home.”
She ignores my reference to illegal activities. “Come out with me. There’s an okay bar in town. We can have some drinks, dance, maybe find a tall, dark, and handsome cowboy… ”
A cowboy is the last thing on my mind, a truth Leah is fully aware of, but the idea of having no pressure for a night is enticing. “It’s Sunday night.” My argument is lackluster.
“Sex happens every day of the week, sweetheart.” She doesn’t give me a chance to respond. “And who cares? I miss you.”
I ignore the initial comment. “Ok.”
“Ok?” Rustling against the phone hints at Leah bouncing excitedly.
“Don’t get carried away. A few drinks. Some dancing. No cowboys.” The last two words come out forcefully, like a parent setting a teenager’s curfew. She ignores it.
“Fine. We’ll see. Do you need to raid my closet?” A purring starts.
“I think we both know your style and mine are two different worlds. And are you purring?”
She breathes a laugh. “It’s Smokey,” she says, referencing her Siamese cat.
“Sure, it is. I’m sure I can wrangle something up here. If not, I’ll text you.”
“Oooh, yes! Ok, meet me at seven. We’ll drink our dinner tonight.” Her plan is right up my alley.
“Ok.” I grin. “Be a good girl and I’ll bring you a treat.”
Leah meows playfully back. “I’ll catch you later.” An air-kiss follows loudly.