Chapter 8 #2
Mom clapped her hands together. "I have a meeting I need to get to.
This year we're doing a silent auction to help benefit the people of Zimbabwe.
We're trying to raise enough money so everyone can have mosquito repellent tents to sleep under.
Next week we have a gala at the Four Seasons.
All donations will go to the Children's Hospital in Boston.
I trust that you will be there, Ana?" She dragged her critical eyes down my body for the second time today.
"Appropriately dressed? Yes?" She nodded with her statement and walked away.
"Oh, Avery is here somewhere," Mom said, before exiting the room.
"Avery's here?" I asked my dad.
He shrugged his shoulders. "She comes and goes from time to time."
I stared, thoroughly stumped. "You mean she comes and goes with her brothers?"
"Couldn't tell you. I don’t pay much attention." He swirled his glass and then took a sip. "It's good to see you, but I have to get back to work. See you for dinner, sweetie. I have a business call, then I'm flying out late tonight on a red-eye."
My face fell. I should've expected this, but I'd been gone for so many months that I assumed he'd take time off to see me.
"You're leaving? But I just got home."
"I'm off to Colorado for a few days. It won't be a long trip."
"With Michael?"
Michael Heron was his business partner and Avery's dad. They usually traveled together.
"Not this time. I'm meeting a potential new client.
" His eyes lit up as he raised his half-empty glass of alcohol, like he had tricks up his sleeve to win this client over.
I sighed. He either traveled for a potential client, or to close a deal, which meant he was always gone. Money was his biggest motivator.
Dad dropped a kiss to the top of my head, then turned and made his way back to his office.
Pulling my cell phone from my back pocket, I checked my notifications. Still nothing from Avery yet her car was outside. She and Xavier fought like siblings. I couldn't imagine she'd be at my brother's pool house…unless her twin brothers were there and she was with them.
Curious, I walked through the kitchen to look out a window.
Overgrown tropical plants edged the backyard, blocking the view of the pool house my brother had moved into after he graduated high school.
It was like his own little hidden bungalow.
Sliding open the glass door, I stepped outside and walked past the pool and under the archway that lead to one of two impressive guest houses on our property.
A string of high-pitched, fiery profanity carried through the air. I stopped walking and crouched behind the nearest pillar. Peeking through an abundance of plants, I caught a flash of blonde hair that dashed behind the leafy palms.
Avery?
A door opened and then slammed shut. Multiple footsteps pounded on the pavers. I stood up to get a better view and spotted Xavier.
"Get back here," he growled, storming after her. He was shirtless and in a pair of jeans that sat low on his waist. I was close enough I could hear what they were saying and luckily small enough to hide behind a stone column to watch.
I hadn't seen my brother in months, but there was a noticeable difference in his appearance. He had to be hitting the gym. He was much more muscular and way leaner than I remembered. He’d filled out and was in the best shape I'd ever seen him in.
"Avery!" Xavier roared. He had a black eye and a dried up cut on his lip. "I'm calling your name. I know you can hear me!"
"The dead can hear you," she snapped over her shoulder. "Go fuck yourself, you conceited bastard."
His eyes flared to life. Xavier reached out and yanked Avery by her elbow.
He spun her around and she fell into him with a huff.
He had her pinned against his bare chest, one hand on the back of her neck, the other on the small of her back.
Xavier took after both my parents and got the tall genes of the family.
He towered over Avery, she had to crane her neck to look up at him.
What the fuck?
Avery sagged against him, her shoulders loosened. I frowned, confused beyond hell to see them so cozy. My stomach revolted, mainly because she was my best friend, and because this was uncomfortable to watch. Chicks before dicks.
Their voices dropped and I had no idea what they were saying.
With their bodies pressed together intimately, faces separated by mere inches, I strained to listen, but all I was granted with were whispers through clenched teeth.
Avery moved to slap him, but Xavier grabbed her wrist before she could finish.
He glared at her as she resisted his hold.
She shoved and pushed against him, but judging by the smirk on Xavier's face, he knew he had control over her.
I couldn't take it. I was at the point of suffocating from covering my mouth so hard. A million and one questions floated through my head so fast I couldn't process them. I also couldn't be a sitting duck any longer.
"Avery?" I called out, walking toward them.
"Adrianna?"
Surprise laced her tone. She and Xavier jumped apart.
"Oh, my God. Is that you?" she squealed, then ran toward me with a huge smile on her face. We threw our arms around each other in a tight hug, rocking from side to side with happiness. I was curious to see if she was going to bring up that little scene I just witnessed.
"I've missed you!" I said.
"I can't believe you’re home!"
I pulled back when Xavier walked over. "Hey, sis." He smiled and pulled me into a hug. He reeked of weed and I could smell the faint scent of day-old booze on his breath. "It's good to see you."
"I wish I could say the same for you. You smell like shit," I said.
He chuckled, unashamed.
"I wasn't expecting you until closer to Christmas."
"I finished my final exams a couple of days ago, so I came home early." Xavier's eyes lifted toward Avery for a split second before returning to mine.
I glanced at Avery. She had her bottom lip rolled between her teeth.
"I called you while I was on the road a million times to tell you I was coming home early, but you never answered. What are you doing here? Where've you been?"
Avery let out a loud and annoying huff. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She held it up to my face. My brows shot up.
"This is why I didn't get your calls. My phone won't turn on.
My dumb, fucking brothers thought it would be hilarious to paint my iPhone ‘Bama colors while I was sleeping last night.
My brand new iPhone, Aid. Not only that, with the help of your brother"—she shot him a murderous glare—"they doused my car in cake flour and eggs. I swear to God, I'm gonna murder them."
She handed me her phone and I looked down.
I tried to scratch and flick at the streaks of white and gray paint, but it wouldn't scrape off.
There was an ‘A’ painted in crimson on one side, and ‘Roll Tide’ written on the other in what looked like black permanent marker.
At seventeen, Avery was a massive Gators fan.
She wasn't a huge Bulldogs fan, but she detested Alabama.
Georgia and Alabama were rivals of Florida.
At least it wasn't Miami colors. No one liked Miami.
I glanced up at my brother, puzzled why he and her brothers would do this.
"Really, Xavier? What are you? Ten?" A vein throbbed in the center of his forehead.
He tried to stifle his laughter, but he was bursting at the seams like a one-year-old smashing blueberries in his hand as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
"It rained early this morning, Aid," she stated, her feet shifting from one to the other. "Flour was stuck to my car."
When she said stuck, it hit. My jaw dropped, and my eyes popped wide.
I tried not to laugh but I couldn't help it.
I swung back and slapped my brother in his midsection with the back of my hand.
This was a typical senior prank at our high school.
Only she wasn't a senior yet and they were just assholes.
"I spent all morning having my baby detailed, inside and out.
I got enough off the windows so I could see where I was going, but when I got inside my car and turned the air on, I was shot with a massive puff of flour.
There was flour everywhere, Aid, everywhere.
I tried hosing off the flour on the outside, and it only made it worse.
There's still flour and eggshells all over my driveway. "
I couldn't contain myself and busted out laughing as I pictured Avery sprayed with flour.
"Oh, my God. But why would they do that?" I turned toward my brother and asked him the same question.
"Why not?" Xavier said, shrugging.
"Because they're fucking assholes, that's why. Need any more explanation?"
I chuckled at her annoyed tone, and so did my brother. It was impossible not to.
"So, you came over here to yell at them?" I paused, thinking about what my dad said and the scene I just saw. "My dad said you come here from time to time while I've been gone."
She shot Xavier a fleeting glance before setting her eyes back on me. "I think your dad is drinking too much bourbon. Why would I come here without you? To see who?"
"That's what I said. But then I…I thought maybe… " My heart pounded. I had to get it out. "I thought…I thought maybe you guys might be seeing each other or something."
"What! Are you fucking kidding me?" Xavier exclaimed. His face turned a deep shade of red. He wasn't laughing anymore. "I'm not a fetus humper. Young bitchy Barbies aren't my type."
Avery stared straight into my eyes as if she was calculating his demise in her mind.
"A fetus humper," she stated, putting heavy emphasis into the words. "A fetus humper. Where do you come up with this shit?"