Page 6 of The Infinite Light of Dust

“Let’s go out there before they hear us and come in here,” I suggested, waving to the living room.

Gloria started singing and we followed. Karina’s face went from colorless to alive when her eyes landed on Gloria. Fischer wasn’t as affected—more surprised, but not as reactive.

“You really didn’t have to have a second birthday cake for us.” Karina looked at Gloria after she blew out the candles. “But I do love monster trucks.”

She laughed lightly, and it was music to my goddamn ears.

“Fischer, what’s up with you?” Mendoza asked, as if he didn’t already know. He went to sit next to him and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer.

“I’m just—” I could see the struggle in Fischer’s eyes, hear it in his voice. “I don’t want to talk about it, but thank you for being here.”

Mendoza squeezed Fischer then patted him on the head. “I’m always here, man. No matter what.”

Fischer began to cry, and Mendoza brought him in for a full-on hug, covering his shaking shoulders. I turned the volume up on the TV, and Gloria turned her attention to distracting Karina, who was slumped over with a plate of cake in front of her, watching her brother’s breakdown.

“Twilight, huh?” Gloria pointed at the screen. “I haven’t seen it in forever, but I’m team Charlie. Poor guy.”

Karina’s mouth twitched at the corners, pulling up the tiniest of bits. On the screen, the two main characters were flying around the trees. It was completely ridiculous, but was seeming to work to keep Karina from breaking down too.

“Imagine the story from Charlie’s point of view,” Gloria continued, reaching to pull Karina to sit by her on the floor, so the couch was behind their backs. “It’s a horror movie. His moody daughter comes to live with him after her mother runs off with some athlete, then she’s a hermit, finally gets a boyfriend, and he’s this creepy pale white boy whose family all look like dolls and have tons of money, then bam, she’s in the hospital, he leaves her, she becomes depressed, he comes back, and suddenly she’s married, pregnant, and turns into a freaking vampire.”

Karina laughed, her body rocking with real laughter. “Well, I’ve never thought about it like that. You summed up the story in thirty seconds and it’s so much funnier from Charlie’s point of view.”

“I bet he doesn’t think it’s funny.” Gloria wiped her eyes, laughing tears at the corners. “Then his only grandchild grows at a freakish pace, and Jacob turns into a werewolf in front of him then ends up with his granddaughter. Talk about family trauma.”

Even I’m trying not to laugh at this point. Calling the Mendozas over was the right move. I might not be the best at comforting or distracting because I tend to stay in my pain and deal with the suffering myself, but having Gloria here was a breath of fresh air. She suffered, too, but handled it better than the rest of us.

After a while, we all picked at the now-cold Chinese takeout, and Gloria picked most of the icing off the cake. Fischer and Mendoza played Xbox for what felt like days, and Karina and Gloria talked and talked and fucking talked. I zoned out, not because I didn’t care what they were saying, but because I wanted to give them privacy without leaving Karina’s side. Eventually, the Mendozas had to go back to get their kids from the neighbors, and Karina’s eyes were barely staying open as she leaned against the back of the couch.

“Bed?” I whispered in her ear from where I sat behind her.

She nodded and I helped her to her feet. Fischer was asleep on the couch and Karina covered him with a blanket before following me.

I led Karina to my room and opened the door. It wasn’t much at the moment, but at least the floors were finished and my bed frame was almost done. I’d been focused on the renovations, not decorations, so the room looked empty and sterile, but I doubted Karina would even think about that tonight.

“I’m finally staying over,” she said, standing in the center of the room, in front of the mattress on the floor. “We left in such a hurry. I don’t have anything, not even a toothbrush.”

“I have an extra. And you’re not a hostage—well, maybe for tonight you are, but tomorrow we can go back. Think about it like camping.” I tried to lighten the mood a bit.

“So, this is your room,” she said, looking around. “I love the paint and the flooring, the fixtures.” She pointed to the matte-black handle on the door to the en suite bathroom. “Is that a connected bathroom?”

I nodded.

“What a dream.”

“I have a bathtub too. I installed it a week ago, but if you want to use it? Your tub is so small,” I said.

She jutted her hip to one side and placed her hand on it. “Do you think this is the time to insult my tub?” She smiled, and a huge feeling of relief opened in my chest.

“No time like the present,” I responded, and sat down on the edge of the bed, rubbing my hand over my leg. I couldn’t focus on the pain—I was out of pain meds and had forgotten to pick up my prescription this morning.

“You don’t even want to see it?” I asked Karina, knowing curiosity was going to get the best of her, no matter how stressed she was.

She stared at the door then nodded, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. I stood up and winced in pain, trying to dull it with my mind, but Karina noticed it before I could hide it.

I opened the door to the bathroom and watched her eyes go wide, and the way I could tell she was impressed made me feel like I had won a medal.

“The inside of this place is much flashier than the exterior,” she told me with a smile.

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