Page 142 of Haunt Me

I curse, and the next minute I find myself on the floor.When did I get down here?I hope I didn’t faint in the process, although, by now, I’m already looking at my dignity in the rearview mirror. Have been since I set foot in this house.

“You ok?” Manuela asks me and I nod. She and Faith are sitting cross-legged on the floor next to me, as if it’s the most natural thing to take this conversation to the ground.

“I thought…” I lick my dry lips, and try again, “I always thought, back then, that if I gave her space and time to be herself, she would eventually, you know… Become free or whatever. I guess it’s not as simple as that.”

“The doctors have been working with her, but it takes time.”

I put my head in my hands and swear long and hard. I don’t care that Eden’s sisters are looking at me with pity (Faith) or with their eyebrows raised to their hairline (Manuela). I can’t help it.

“Fine. Let’s give her permission, then,” I say, defeated.

“How do we do that, genius?”

“Hey!” it comes out as a reflex. “Don’t call me—I’m not—”

“I know you’re not,” she retorts. “Trust me, I know.”

“Guys, stop,” Faith pleads.

“Wait, was that your way of trying to call me stupid?” I ask her.

No one’s ever called me stupid to my face, or tried to, but my brother, Wes and Teddy. I am enjoying the heck out of this. Manuela has turned beet-red, but she’s not backing down. I look at her expectantly, hoping she’ll say something back, something like—

“No,thisis my way of trying to call you stupid,” Manuela says, without missing a beat. “Are you an actual moron?”

I smile, on the verge of bursting into laughter. And to think, I was about to throw up just seconds ago. Now I can barely stop myself from cackling.

“Do you expect an answer to that or…?”

“Please stop acting like real actual siblings for a second,” Faith interrupts us and Manuela looks down, hiding a smile. I’m having so much fun right now.

“Sorry, Faith,” I say at the same time that Manuela says:

“Sorry, Fee.”

We glance at each other and smile.We’re not sorry at all.The sibling glance. Nailed it.

“Back to our subject,” Faith says indignantly, and a little smugly, for once the adult in the room. Well, we are all adults here, but… some more than others. “Eden. How do we give her that ‘permission’, so to speak?”

“She needs it from you,” Manuela tells me.

I shake my head. “I’m not giving it to her.” That’s where I draw the line. It should be her sisters to do that, if anyone at all. “You could just broach the subject, and gently let her know that it would be okay if she wanted to stay home and go back to school. Or, rather, for the very first time.” I inhale sharply at the realization: she has had zero education, apart from what education she gave herself. And that is far superior to the one I received in my private school, I’ll bet. “I am not going to play into that dynamic—it should be her family she relies on for ‘permission’. And later, hopefully, no one at all.”

Faith is chewing her lip.

Manuela is saying nothing.

“Would it help if I fired her?” I ask quietly.

“I think it would.” Manuela smiles.

“Done,” I say.

They both lean back, relieved.

“I’ll wait until the last possible minute though,” I promise, “in case she decides to quit on her own.”

“You’re good at this, Isaiah,” Faith tells me.

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