Page 6 of Heartless

“Why does your sister not answer our calls, but she’s quick to answer MJ’s?” Mama asks.

“Maybe because she doesn’t have to hear a speech or judgment.”

“We don’t judge her,” Mama says.

“You don’t, but Dad does.”

“As I should,” he pronounces, grabbing a saucer and shoving me aside not so gently to get to the cake platter.

“John, you’re only going to ruin your appetite if you eat that cake now. You’ll be complaining that you’re not that hungry when it’s time to eat,” Mama says.

Dad looks at me and then at Mama. Pointing the cake knife at me, he says, “He can eat, but I can’t?”

Shaking her head, she says, “Fine, John. Eat the cake. If you lose your appetite, that’s not my concern. I’m not saving any food for you. I’ll send the leftovers home with Onyx and Meadow. And I’ll even send some home with Dani.”

“If she arrives,” Dad mutters as we hear the front door opening.

“Well, seems like she’ll be taking your portion,” Mama says, twisting her lips at Daddy as she begins grabbing the plates and heading to the dining room.

I walk out to the front to greet my sister. MJ is hugging her when I arrive. My sister pulls back from MJ’s embrace when she spots me.

“O.”

“Dani, Mama was just about to have me call you.”

“Meadow told me,” Danica says.

“Dad’s in a mood. He’s been waiting for over an hour to eat so you know he’s not going to be too happy that you’re walking in here like that,” I say, referencing her glassy eyes.

“Like what, O?”

“High. Or drunk. Hell, I’m never sure which one it is anymore these days.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Danica says angrily, brushing past me.

“I don’t? I’ve been your brother for all thirty-four years of your life. I know my sister...the mood swings, the dodging family, the absences, the glassy eyes, and the stumbling walk,” I point out.

“Back off, will ya?” Danica says as she stops at the end of the hall to glare at me.

“Onyx, baby. Not today, okay?” MJ says softly as she places a hand on my arm to keep me from following my sister.

“I don’t know what she’s doing, MJ. I can only guess, but what I do know is that she’s killing my parents. Dad’s constantly asking himself what he could have done differently and where he went wrong. Meanwhile Mama is always trying to cover over it as if nothing’s going on while straddling the fence between Dani and Dad so that they don’t explode.”

“I know, baby, but you jumping on her isn’t going to make anything better.”

“What do you suggest I do, huh?” I ask angrily, glaring at my wife.

MJ does what she always does. She strokes my arm, lifts an eyebrow, reminding me that she’s not the enemy, and then, in that peaceful, soothing tone that she has, she speaks.

“I suggest that you set up a meeting with your sister to have this conversation privately away from your parents and away from me. When there’s no one else around, she may not be as defensive.”

“When do you suggest that I do that since she’s avoiding my calls and texts?”

“Either you show up at the studio, or you show up at her house. Let her know that she left you no options.”

I nod, knowing that MJ is right. My sister is a retired fashion model who now has her own talk show that’s filmed right here in Charleston and airs every weekday at ten in the morning right after the news shows end.

Financially and career-wise, her life is successful, but her personal life is a dumpster fire.

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