Chapter 9
Cori
Predictable motherfucker. I found the tracking device within seconds of pulling into my parents’ driveway and deactivated it. My phone’s been buzzing like crazy with texts from Eden and Selene.
Eden: You won’t believe the shit that Sylvie just pulled.
Eden’s been my best friend since our first day of kindergarten, and her older sister has been a bitch since I met her.
Selene: What did she do now?
Selene is my cousin. We’re only three months apart in age, and she moved to Shadow Cove when we were in the fifth grade.
She’s been part of my best friend circle since.
Even though Eden left Shadow Cove after high school and lived away for ten years, the three of us have managed to keep our tight bond.
Eden: She had Gavin crash our lunch date. Ripley showed up, and all hell broke loose.
Selene: I hope someone got their ass kicked.
Me: I’ll come by later.
I enter my parents’ house and find my mom in her chair in the kitchen.
“You hungry, sweetie?” Mom asks. “Your brother is here.”
I try not to roll my eyes. I’ve never been close to my younger brother, the fuck up. I was relieved when he moved away, but he returned last week, complete with a six-month-old baby we knew nothing about until he brought her home.
The little girl looks just like him, so there is no denying she is his. He also said that her mother was sentenced to twenty years in prison for drug trafficking.
“Do you think you can help him with Ruby? She’s been fussy, and I’m trying to get Sunday dinner made.”
Of course, she would ask me to do that.
“Um, no. I don’t know anything about babies. He’s the father, so he can do it. Do you want me to help with dinner?” I kick off my shoes because Mom has a no-shoes-in-the-house rule. That’s when I notice how messy and cluttered it’s gotten. There’s a playpen and baby items everywhere.
“You can learn about babies,” Mom suggests.
“Or Devin can, since he’s the father.” Mom sighs, but she doesn’t pursue it.
“Can you make the salad? Make the kind your brother likes.”
Since I have no idea what kind that is, I’m going to make the kind that I like. I pull out everything I’ll need from the fridge. “Where’s Daddy?” I ask.
“He had a meeting. He’ll be home soon, though.”
“He’s working on a Sunday?” It’s not atypical, but he hasn’t done it in a while.
“You know Shadow Cove’s mayor has no set hours. The man works all the time. After you make the salad, can you straighten the living room a bit?”
I hear crying in the back of the house. I don’t reply. I’ll do it to help my mom, but I’m getting out of here as soon as I eat.
“Have you sold any dresses lately?” Mom asks from the stove.
“I sold a couple of bridesmaid dresses last week. I shipped them out on Thursday.” Thank goodness I did before that maniac got his hands on me.
“I think I’m going to put my favorite one for sale.
I’ll need the money to start my own P.I.
business.” I plan to work for myself and leave my job behind.
In a year or two, I hope to have employees do the work while I manage them and focus on making more dresses.
“We’ll need extra money for the baby now,” Mom adds. “Do you think Mr. Armstrong will give Devin your job when you leave?”
I shove a piece of cucumber in my mouth to stop from laughing.
I don’t bother asking why we would need more money for the baby, when the baby doesn’t belong to us, but I already know.
We all pull in to help the fuck up. It will be a cold day in hell before I lift a finger to do anything for his ass.
“Devin has never held a job longer than six months. Everyone in this town knows that,” I add. “He also knows nothing about being an investigator.”
“Maybe you can train him?” Not gonna happen.
“He will have to look outside of Shadow Cove.”
“Why are you so hard on him?”
“Why are you so easy on him?” I challenge.
“Because he needs us.”
“I’m not his parent, Mom. If he needs you and Daddy, fine, but please stop trying to pull me in. He’s an adult, and I don’t remember a single time when you called on him to help me.”
Her head rolls back as if I just slapped her. She gasps and looks away.
“That’s not fair, Cori.”
“But is it untrue? And not fair to whom?”
“You know your father and I love you. We don’t know what we would have done without you.” As usual, she has unshed tears in her eyes. This is when I would apologize or change the subject so her feelings won’t be hurt, but I’m done doing that.
“Who said anything about you loving me? I said you’ve never called on Devin a single time to help me with anything.
You’ve never counted on him to help you either, but if you and Daddy want to help him now, go ahead.
All I’m asking is that I don’t get dragged into it because I have nothing to give him. ”
“This isn’t even about Devin. This is about an innocent baby.”
“Well, Mom, if he wasn’t ready to have a baby, he shouldn’t have had sex.”
“Cori, Ruby is already here. He can’t return her, honey. She needs us.”
“I’m done with this conversation.” I mumble something under my breath, but Mom doesn’t hear.
Moments later, my phone buzzes from across the room, but I don’t make any moves to get it. Only, it doesn’t shut up. It keeps buzzing. Annoyed, I leave my salad and pull the damn thing out of my purse.
Unknown number: I can still taste you on my tongue
I don’t know how he got my number, but I should not be surprised.
Me: No surprise since I taste so good
Unknown number: I’ll see you soon
Me: No
Unknown number: I didn’t ask
Me: And the answer is still NO
Me: Leave me alone
I shut off my phone and put it back in my purse. Once I finish the salad, I return to the living room to straighten it out.
I’m in the middle of pulling the playpen into a corner when Devin comes out with Ruby in his arms. She’s in nothing but a diaper. She has tears in her eyes and continues to whine.
“Hey, Cor,” Devin says.
“Hi.” I turn my back and continue my task, eager to finish so we can eat, and I can return to my quiet, tidy apartment.
“Did you give her a bath?” Mom wheels herself to my brother and caresses Ruby’s chubby leg.
“Not yet.” Of course, he didn’t, but I know what’s coming next.
“Maybe Cori can do it after we eat,” Mom suggests.
“Cori will not,” I say with a lot more attitude than needed. “I have work to do.”
“She’s your niece.” I don’t answer my brother. Devin is not worth my energy, so for my mom’s sake, I clean up the living room and vacuum the floor before I return to the kitchen to help her get dinner on the table.
As if he has a radar, Dad walks through the door once the table is set and the food is on it. Like he always does when he comes home, he kisses Mom’s cheek and opens his arms for me.
I wrap my arms around his thick frame and he kisses the top of my head like he’s been doing since I was a child.
“Hi, Daddy,” I say.
“My favorite daughter.” He kisses both my cheeks, then I wait for it. “I don’t know what smells better. The food, you, or your mom.” I roll my eyes at him.
“Well, it’s not me,” Mom says. “Cori’s the one who wears all the good-smelling lotions. I smell like onions.”
“Cori has money for expensive lotions?” Devin asks. “That’s not a necessity.”
His last words make the hairs on my body itch.
That was my father’s refrain after the accident.
If it wasn’t a necessity, we didn’t buy it, even though I was working two jobs to save money to attend the New England School of Design.
It was my dream, but after my mother’s injury, it started to slip away.
“Cori has a job, so she has money for whatever the hell she wants,” I snap. “When you get one, you can do the same. Until then, shut up about what I buy.”
“Cori, is all that attitude necessary?” Mom shakes her head in anger.
I don’t respond. I won’t. I’ve already given Devin too much attention and energy, and I know he’s only fishing about my financial situation. He’s too stupid to know that things have changed, and it will be a cold day in hell before anyone dictates how I spend my hard-earned money.
“Let’s eat,” Daddy says, thankfully ignoring my brother.
Like always, once dinner is done, the men sit down, and I’m left cleaning. By this time, Mom is tired, and the dishes fall to me. Fine. I’ll do it as fast as I can and get the hell out of here.
Devin sits in the middle of the living room while Ruby makes a mess with the toys I had just cleaned up.
“Mom, do you need me to do anything else before I go?” I ask.
“Leaving already?” Mom sounds disappointed. “Can you help me in and out of the shower?”
“Sure.”
“I was hoping you’d stay and spend time with Ruby,” Mom says. “And get to know your niece. She’s the only one you have.” I know that means she’s hoping I’ll stay and take care of her while Devin sits on his ass and complains about his lack of money.
It’s not going to happen. Devin is not my responsibility, and neither is his daughter. If I open the door and start doing him favors, it will become expected that I take Ruby on as my responsibility, and it’s not an option.
“Let’s get you in the shower, Mom.” I take her wheelchair and start to push her out of the kitchen.
“Here, Mom. Take her in with you.” Devin tries to hand Ruby to my mother, but I quickly step in front of her and block him.
“She can’t hold her while in the shower. She needs to hold on to the rails for balance. It’s unsafe.” I try to keep my voice as level and steady as possible. I don’t want to make Ruby cry or upset Mom, but he’s not about to pass his child off so he can watch television.
“Well, you take her,” he says.
“I’m going in there to help our mother, Devin. How the hell do you expect me to hold a six-month-old while I do that?”
“Cori, stop cussing,” Mom admonishes.
“My language is the problem here?” When Mom doesn’t reply, I say, “You can give your daughter a bath. And do it now because she smells like shit.”
“Devin, get off your ass and take care of your child. You were supposed to bathe her hours ago.”
I cross my arms and dare him to refute Dad’s orders. He sighs and stomps to the bathroom we used to share.