Page 32 of Damnation
“Thomas!” I shout, rushing to the defense of Leila, who, meanwhile, has leapt to her feet at lightning speed. She wobbles for a second, clearly still out of it.
“What the hell? Are you out of your mind? You soaked my entire bag!” she sputters, punching his shoulder.
Thomas doesn’t bat an eyelid. He jabs a finger at her and, with the most uncompromising look I’ve ever seen on his face, says, “I’m taking you home now.”
Leila doesn’t respond, but neither does she seem at all intimidated by her brother. Without even looking at him, she takes her sodden bag and shoves it into his chest. “You better hope to God that my phone still works!” Then she stumbles past him. The rest of us retrieve our coats and follow her out of the club.
***
Ten minutes later, and we’re still sitting in our parked car in theClubSeven lot because apparently Thomas can’t multitask. He can either yell at his sister or he can drive. And he’s chosen the former.
“Shut up, you’re gonna give me a headache,” Leila snaps, exasperated, in the back seat behind her brother.
“You’re so wasted, your brain wouldn’t even recognize a headache,” he finishes angrily, glaring out the window.
“Come on, leave her be; can’t you see she’s sick?” I say, coming to Leila’s defense. I reach across the seat and give her leg a gentle rub, trying to comfort her a bit.
“She’s not sick; she’s drunk,” Thomas points out, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
I give him the side-eye. “It’s nothing you haven’t experienced before, though, is it? I’m betting you got your first hangover when you were still taking your whiskey in a baby bottle,” I say, and I can hear Tiffany laughing behind me.
“This isn’t about what I do.”
Oh, of course it isn’t.
“Hey, people…” Tiffany murmurs.
“Think about it this way,” I begin. “If the bouncer hadn’t let her into the club, none of this would have happened. And apparently we only got in thanks to you and that… What’s his name? Oh yeah, Martinez… So maybe instead you should tell us why your names carry so much weight around here? What are you, some kind of mob boss?”
Thomas dodges my question and glares at his sister in the rearview mirror. “Did you drop his name to get in?”
“I had to…” Leila’s voice trails off.
“Either way, this doesn’t seem like the time to start lecturing her.” I take Leila’s side, hoping that Thomas will leave her alone. “She could have been on her way home by now, Thomas. In fact, we all could have been.” I snort impatiently, looking at my phone screen, where the clock reads 1:20 in the morning.
“Oh, but now seems like the perfect time to me,” he replies.
“Look, you’re blowing this out of proportion,” I say. “She tied one on… She’ll sleep it off by tomorrow. She’s eighteen years old, nota child. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, and I understand that you’re worried about her, but yelling won’t make the situation any better.”
“Hey, I’ve gotta…” Leila continues from the back seat, interrupted by Tiffany’s voice.
I can’t hear what either of them are saying because Thomas admonishes me so harshly that it makes gasp: “Don’t stick your nose into things you know nothing about, Ness.”
Stung by his reproachful tone, I look down at my interlaced fingers and start worrying at them. “Sorry,” I mumble awkwardly. “I didn’t mean to—”
“No! Don’t even think about doing it in here, not on me!” Tiffany squeals. Throwing open the car door, she jumps out and drags Leila with her. Thomas and I whip around to see what is happening. The two girls move a few feet away from the car before stopping. Leila bends over, her hands pressed to her stomach before…vomiting.
Thomas heaves an exhausted sigh, letting his head fall back against the car seat.
***
Fifteen minutes later, and we haven’t moved. Thomas gave Leila his jacket to protect her from the cold and tried to help her, but she shoved him away rudely. So then I gave it a shot, only to discover that seeing her puke makes my stomach queasy as well. I held out for as long as I could, but eventually I was forced to ask Tiffany to swap with me.
Now Tiffany is holding back her hair and supporting her shoulders, while Thomas and I lean against the car and supply Tiffany with clean tissues and water for Leila.
“You cold?” Thomas asks me, frowning at me slightly. I’m shaking. The cool damp of the night has gotten into my bones.
I nod. “A little…”
