Shoving a beach towel and sunscreen lotion in my tote, I toss a final glance at my father. As if sensing my stare, he takes his cool grey eyes off the mail he has laid out before him, bills he more than likely was sorting through, to lock gazes for several, long seconds. I held onto a glimmer of hope that he'd respond to my silent pleas. However, I know better and ultimately am not the least bit surprised by his next move.
Dad was the first to break eye contact. His salt and peppered mustache bristling subtly in a way that said: "Keep me out of this."
I watch him, his movements awkward beyond belief as he gathers all the envelopes to shove into the mail sorter set on the kitchen counter closest to him. From there, he uses his hands to slide out the dining room chair briskly heading towards the living room, leaving me to fend for myself. I, too, want to retreat somewhere safe.
I sigh under my breath about him being a traitor right at the moment Mom comes whipping out of the laundry room to hand me my bathing suit. Taking it begrudgingly from her, I shook the two-piece in my hand as I spoke, "Remind me, why I am doing this again?"
"You were invited," She calmly answers. Turning her back to me she reaches inside the fridge to place in front of me, on the kitchen island, a few water bottles.
I allow myself to sigh once more.
"It would be rude not to go." She adds upon seeing my reluctance.
"Coming from someone who missed Aunt Kathy's wedding, I find it rather hard to believe." I fuss while leaning over to scoop the cold beverages into my arms to drop in the bag after hoisting it over my shoulder.
"That's different." She blew air out of her mouth, rolling her eyes for good measure as she switched sides to fetch for some snacks in the pantry. "I've been nothing but supportive up until this point. Attended all three prior weddings. I think she'll live if I sit this one out. Besides, I can't keep spending money on gifts."
"Still," I start, joining her on a search for edible food that didn't look or taste like cardboard. "Isn't it strange to begin with?" I twist my head to stare at her, her own face staring back at me as I continue. "We haven't spoken in years. It's just so...random. After all this time why even bother to make contact?" As soon as I utter those words Mom turns away as if to avoid my question altogether.
"Mom," I groan. "You did not get me a pity invite!"
Her hand hovers over an unopened box of crackers, looking rather sheepish for getting caught. I swear. This woman could not lie to save her own life. I try my best to keep my cool walking out to sit in the same chair Dad forgot to push back under the table. Grumbling, I set my elbow on the surface before resting my chin on my palm. "Why are you making things difficult? Is it that hard to understand we aren't friends anymore?"
Mom pokes her head out, frowning. "Don't say it like that! I didn't want to be meddlesome but I'm worried about you, dear."
"About what?" I laugh at the silliness of it all. "There's nothing to worry over." I use my fingers to start listing off reasons. "I don't do drugs, drink, or smoke. I rarely arrive home past curfew. Heck, I don't sleep in or stay up weird hours. I keep my grades up. I'm virtually the picture-perfect child. What's there to concern yourself with?"
"That's the problem! You're too perfect for an only child." Exasperated by what I said, she flung her hands up in the air.
"Excuse me?" A voice chimes in. Both Mom and I turn to my older brother, Marcus.
His hair, a dark color of mocha was swept to the right side at a suave angle. About the only thing that made him appear neat. For whatever reason he hadn't bothered shaving the last five days leaving a scraggly beard adorning his otherwise attractive face. My eyes wander to the long sleeved T-shirt that had seen better days made apparent by the stretched out collar, and to top it off cotton sweat shorts piled with stains I didn't even want to fathom came from. Obviously, he'd been holed up in his room switching between studying and gaming. Although, it's anyone's guess which one took precedence.
Looking as if though he initially was heading for the bathroom he had stopped midway in the doorway of the kitchen. His arms folding to state clearly he took offense. "Mind repeating that to the people in the back?"
Mom swung her hands down to stick her index fingers in her ears. "Do you hear that, Naomi? It sounded a lot like a child who disowned me yesterday all because I refused to drive him to an airport. Could you be a dear, and explain to him—in detail—the reason why I did so since he's dead to me?"
I shook my head, fighting the urge to smack a palm directly onto my face. Who is the real child here?
"Marcus," I spoke in a monotone, gradually flicking my eyes over to Dad in his recliner, flipping through channels on the TV. "You lied about a trip that was 'supposedly' for volunteering when in actuality it's so you could travel to a gaming convention with your friends." I raised a brow, absentmindedly wondering how Dad could sit there unaffected by it all in the next room then shook my head to snap out of it.
Clearing my throat, I continue.
"Upon figuring it out, which I took no part in helping mind you, Mom decided the best course of action was to prevent you from going altogether. Which, you proceeded to retaliate by claiming she was no longer your mother." I blink my eyes slowly, glancing back at him with a smirk.
"You did this to yourself, Bro." I chuckle.
Marcus happens to be five years my senior but his behavior reminded me that of an immature teen which is why I was prepared as he rounded the table in a few quick steps and wrapped an arm around my neck to give me a noogie. "You. Little. Brat! I'll get you for this!" He laughed.
"Stop!" I try to shove him off and laugh along as he carries on in messing my hair up further. "I have a party to go to." He immediately halts what he's doing. As his grip loosens to stare down at me, I catch the look on his face and reel on the words I just said.
"I mean," My voice squeaks as I ramble. "I got invited to go. It's not a big deal. I'm doing this to not be rude." The words grow softer after I finish by saying, "It's not...what you...think." My brother's lips curve up in a grin that somehow made me extremely uncomfortable. I mentally kick myself. "Really," I clear my throat. "It's not like I want to go."
"Want me to take you?" He leans over, removing his arm to rest his hand on the back of my seat. His stormy grey eyes were practically ablaze with amusement at the predicament I got myself into.
"Excuse me?" My eyes blink rapidly at his offer yet, taking into account Mom is still present, I steady myself in my seat. "I mean, I wouldn't want to trouble you." I say coolly. I want to foolishly believe he's joking and not actually serious.
"I have errands to do and anyway it'll save Mom time." His eyes wander to her giving him a thumbs up. "What do you say, sis?" He interjects like he knew what I was thinking.
I force a smile, "Sure" The side of my mouth twitches. "That'll be a big help."
"Great!" His grin grew even wider.
"Great." I repeat back through a clenched tooth smile, the word left a sticky feeling in my mouth.
"Meet you outside." He says passing by me to retrieve the keys from Mom.
Crap.
I instinctively gathered I wasn't ever going to hear the end of it when I get back afterward.
-💜-
I huff, "This is stupid and I hate you." My brother gleefully ushers me out the house and I angrily stomp outside. As I make my way over to the car in the driveway, I kick at the ground and quietly fume. Folding my arms, I spin on my heel to press my back against the passenger's side watching the debris I sprung up with my foot settle.
I stare past the dust to the front porch to Marcus. I waited for him to finish up his call which takes forever and a day. I was unsure who he's speaking to since he's talking in a hushed tone yet the small smile poking at the edges of his lips had me guess it was his new flavor of the week. He isn't exactly a player yet he's never alone for too long either. What they see, I examine his attire for the second time, is beyond me.
After a while Marcus calls out, "I'll need the address, Nay-Nay." He laughs to himself when he sees the look on my face, utterly disgusted at the mention of that atrocious nickname. "I can't take you otherwise."
He holds his phone out to me after unlocking the car so I can climb into the minivan. Sitting inside for a couple of seconds, I peel my eyes off the touchscreen of my brother's phone to steal a glance at him strapping on his seatbelt.
I take a breath to speak, fiddling with his phone in my hands like a nervous child. "Can't you be a cool older brother and drop me off somewhere for a few hours? We don't even have to tell Mom or Dad." Marcus angles his head to see if I'm being serious or not and when he discovers I am, he awkwardly moves the belt aside to turn the rest of his body to me. One look already told me this conversation was not going to be in my favor.
"Listen," He began, he licks his lips and shakes his head at the same time. "I AM being the cool brother right now. You need to go to this party."
Darting my line of vision to peer past him, I suppress an eye roll. "The only reason you're bothering to take me at all is so you can dis me later."
He places one hand on the steering wheel then the other, he shakes his head all over again as he readjusts himself to face forward. "I will most certainly tease you. Relentlessly. It's part of the job description but have you read the fine print?" As he talks, he slides the key in to turn on the ignition. "If anyone other than me picks on you then it is my natural birthright to kick their sorry ass. Now, do us all a favor and freaking type in the address so we can go already."
"I can't..." I mumble almost silently.
"Why the hell not?" He asks, perturbed.
I show him his phone. "It shut off." He narrows his eyes at me and I can't help but snigger. "I need the password." Grumbling under his breath, he swipes it out of my hands to frustratingly type in the code before tossing it back in my lap.