Page 21 of When Sparks Fly

“You would’ve gone to jail. I made sure he didn’t press charges.” Condescension floods her words.

I stare at her in silence. “I can’t imagine he listens to you. What did you do?”

She feigns aggravation and doesn’t respond.

After all this time, she continues to protect him. She’s chosen him over me at every opportunity. My hand lifts in her direction, willing her to see what’s gone on. “We could’ve gotten help. For any of it. The gambling. The money. Him. We could’ve gotten away.”

“You’re always so dramatic.” Dismissed again.

Where is the bastard anyway? The house isn’t that big. He’s heard enough of what’s going on. I half-wish he’d come downstairs so he can see what else I carry on me these days.

Randi’s tires crunch over the gravel drive. She’s early, but after dealing with Stephanie’s antics as long as I have, I’m not surprised.

I turn on my heel. Rather than opening the front door to greet my aunt and cousin, I walk out and slam the solid door firmly behind me. The glass rattles.

What a fucking joke.

Chapter 11

Maci

With Randi and Liv around, I take a backseat to discussions over purging the house. My cousin and I each pick out pieces important to us as we trail through the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Overall, conversation is amicable, albeit tense. I credit my aunt’s forgiving nature.

By the time we’ve finished the three common rooms, it’s lunchtime. “I don’t know about you guys, but my stomach is growling,” Randi says playfully. She rubs her belly to drive the point home. All morning, she’s been attempting to draw Stephanie and me into conversation.

Alan has been scarce throughout the day, showing his face briefly to grab a mug of coffee and then head back upstairs, where he stays locked in their bedroom. I haven’t a clue what’s so important that he’s working on up there, but it’s for the best that we don’t interact for the time being.

Stephanie checks her watch. “I’m not very hungry myself.” She adjusts a few pieces of perfectly positioned hair.

I need a break. “I’m sure you could use a rest. We can grab something to eat and get back into things when we return.”

Stephanie locks eyes with me for the first time since her sister and niece’s arrival, the cogs of her brain visibly turning. “There are only a few things I’m really concerned about from what’s left.” Her gaze moves to Randi. “Whydon’t I pull those together, and you and I can discuss once you’ve eaten.” For once, her tone is genuine, though not really a question, and laced with fatigue.

Randi nods. “That sounds fine.”

She doesn’t ask before sweeping my mother into an all-consuming hug. At first, Stephanie is stiff at the gesture, but after a moment, she relaxes. Liv and I exchange surprised glances before forcing our eyes back to our mothers holding each other in Nana’s kitchen. The hug seems to last a lifetime.

Stephanie’s face is flushed, her eyes glossy, when they pull apart. She brushes at something invisible on her shirt and when she looks between the three of us again, they’re clear.

We decide to grab take-out for lunch and regroup at Nana’s where Liv and I sprawl on the couches in the living room.

“It was so lonely once you moved away. It was like losing a best friend,” Liv tells me, her bottom lip jutting out in a soft pout. “I was surprised you didn’t move closer after graduation.”

I consider her words. As two only-children, when Liv and I were little we were very close. The years had an easy way of creating distance between us and moving to Austin right before high school only added to that. “I think up until then, it seemed I would.” I never gave Liv the details of leaving my mother and step-father’s house. “I had started working my senior year of school and there was a photographer who was letting me assist her to get more experience. It was my fastest way up. At least, it seemed that way to me at the time.”

Photography, and my work during high school, saved me from being on the street when Alan kicked me out that night. I had a piece-of-shit car, a boss who let me crash at her house for two nights, and enough money to put into getting my first apartment.

Looking back, it seems like I would’ve come back to stay with Nana after finishing high school, but I craved independence so deeply that I took the forced opportunity to prove to myself what I could do. And to stick it to them.

“I get it. I wasn’t here, anyway.” She wipes her hands on a napkin, gathering her trash. A year older than me, Liv left for college before I finished high school, getting her degree in education. She’s a third-year Kindergarten teacher, a path which always seemed so authentically ‘Liv’. Her way with children is innate.

Randi and Stephanie return from another room where they’ve been discussing items Stephanie pulled aside. Randi carries a small box in her arms. She looks at Liv in question, a silent request to leave. Liv nods and stands. I stand as well, hugging them both.

“I’ve taken everything of sentimental value to me,” Stephanie chimes. “If you three decide to keep more, that’s up to you. As I said, Alan and I have a team on standby to move things out when we’re ready.”

Somehow, I manage to keep my face blank. I wonder if at some point she’ll break over the loss of her mother. Maybe in the quiet comfort of her husband. I nearly snort.

They’ve always seemed like two peas in a pod. I’m skeptical Alan ever grieved the absence of his son. I don’t even know his name or what he looks like, just that he’s a few years older than me. Family photos weren’t a frequent display in our house, an aspect that added to the iciness.

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