Page 75 of Protecting Christina

I grinned. “Same.”

My fingers hovered over the keys, but then I started typing. “Want some company?”

It took some time for her to reply, but when she did, I stared at the message for a few seconds. “Sure.”

The meds had kicked in and my headache was better. It only hovered in the background now. I grabbed my car keys and drove to my sister’s place.

Donna didn’t live far from Simon’s house. We all grew up in that neighborhood. My sister now rented a room in one of the triplexes down the street from where we once lived. She answered the door wearing a pair of bicycle shorts and a baggy band shirt. “Hey,” she said and opened the door wider to let me in.

“Hey.” I stepped inside and the stuffy basement air smelled stale. I pulled off my sweatshirt and tied it around my waist.

My sister walked into the kitchen. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Sure.” I took a seat on her brown sofa. There was a stain in the middle that I tried to avoid.

Leaning into the fridge, she asked, “Well, I’ve got tap water or beer. Which do you want?”

“Water is fine.”

She turned on the faucet and let the water run. “So, what brings you here?”

I wasn’t surprised that she asked. In the fourteen years since she left me behind, I’d never been to her place.

“I’m not sure,” I answered.

In a low voice, I barely heard, she said, “Well, then that makes two of us.”

Then, she passed me the water.

“Thanks,” I said and took a sip.

The cool water helped the dryness in my throat. “How are you feeling?” I asked when she took a seat in front of me on a rickety wooden chair.

“Still a little banged up, but I’ll live.”

“How about your friends?”

“Same.”

I nodded.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly, looking out the window.

My sister sat and stared at me.

I wasn’t sure why I’d come. I wanted to know if she’d changed her mind and decided to testify against Simon. It had nothing to do with me not wanting to stay over at Will’s place.

“You’re going to get a headache if you keep grinding your back teeth like that.”

“I already have a headache,” I said.

“See.”

I rolled my eyes.

“So, how long have you been seeing Simon?” I asked, still staring out the window.

She looked out at the horizon, too. “A few months.”

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