Page 33 of Mother Parker
I couldn’t help feeling like I should be out there, fighting the bad guys of this island instead of becoming a glorified bartender.
But this was my life now. Challenge after challenge that I had to overcome on my way to finding some kind of…meaning or purpose.
In a way, I guessed, I was jealous of Hwan. He seemed to have his shit together. He was doing something he enjoyed. He knew where he was going in life and who he was.
Which was probably why he did everything with a smile.
I wished I could be like that. Unburdened by a shit life and shit people who only ever betrayed me.
I shook my head and tried to focus on the next video. It was yet again the same measurement of ingredients with a different flavored powder. I hadn’t wanted to admit it to Hwan, but I quite liked the tea flavors, although I wasn’t sure about the boba. There was something strange about chewing while also drinking.
I had probably made such a fool of myself, fumbling with everything, unable to follow simple instructions. That was why I wanted to go back tomorrow and show him I wasn’t stupid.
There was a knock on the front door, and I looked up to find Autumn peaking through.
I paused the video and got up to open the door.
“Autumn,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you too, bro,” she replied, pushing through and putting her purse on the kitchen island.
“I just meant it’s late. I wasn’t expecting you,” I said, mentally punching myself for being unable to get some manners.
One of these days.
“Well, I wanted to check how your first day with Hwan went.”
“It was fine. I don’t need you to mother me—”
Yeah,good job,buddy.Way to be nice to your sister.
“And you said something about teaching me self-defense, so…here I am.”
I checked the clock over the sink, and yeah, it was late. Five minutes to ten, in fact.
“What, now?”
“There’s no time like the present,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and looking around. “Where were you thinking?”
I scratched my forehead, bit my tongue, and thought before I spoke.
It was late. I was just a guest here, but Asher was at the Outpost with Biscuit, and Maddox was working there—probably avoiding some very inappropriate flirting from his boyfriend.
“Yeah, here…I guess,” I said and started moving the couch.
Autumn pushed the armchair, and together we got the coffee table out of the way until the carpet underneath was free.
“Cushions,” I said and started throwing the cushions from the couch to the floor.
“Okay. What did the cushions do to you? What are we punishing them for?”
I stared at her, and she had the nerve to grin.
“What?”
“Nothing. You just seemed very angry at the cushions.”
I shook my head and tried to focus.
