Page 22 of Tell Me Softly
“Kamila, Prudence won’t be here until this afternoon.”
“Then I guess I’ll talk to Ellie and tell her I’ll have to meet her later.”
I ran out before Mom could catch me, putting in my earbuds on the porch and taking out my phone to find my favorite playlist. I stretched and flexed my hips and, without meaning to, found myself glancing at the Di Bianco house. Thiago was out cutting the grass and…my God, he didn’t have a shirt on. Taylor was nowhere to be seen. When their mother stepped out on the porch, my heart stopped.
Kate Di Bianco had always been attractive, but her brown hair and green eyes made her fade into the background more than a person like my mother. I scurried down the steps, turning my back to her. If Mom came out and she and Kate saw each other, I didn’t want to be there to witness it. At best, it would be uncomfortable; at worst, it could get dangerous. To hell with my warm-up, then. I took off running. I was sure Thiago had noticed me, but I wasn’t about to stop and chat. My mother would be proud of me––she always thought we were too good for the people in our neighborhood, and she never bothered waving to them.
The run helped me clear away the tension of the preceding days and think through my frustrations. I stayed out for an hour, and when I got home, I couldn’t believe what I saw: my brother was with our neighbors again! He had his iguana with him and was talking a million miles a minute with Taylor and Thiago. I didn’t see their mom anywhere. My mom’s car was gone too. She didn’t even have the decency to wait until I’d gotten back.
Cameron heard my footsteps and looked up, and that meant I had to continue over. I took out my earbuds and tried to act cool, even though I was dripping with sweat and panting. If only it had just been Taylor there! Thiago’s eyes made it impossible for me to cool down. At least he’d put a shirt on.
“Kami, come here!” Cameron shouted. “I want to introduce you to Taylor and Thiago!” I didn’t tell him we already knew each other well. What would my mother have said if she knew he was hanging out with the Di Bianco boys? There would be hell to pay.
I walked up behind him and put my hands on his shoulders, looking at our two neighbors doubtfully. Taylor was clearly happy to see me. Thiago was—well…less so.
“Out for a run, huh?” Tay asked with characteristic cheerfulness, ignoring Thiago, who just stood and stared.
“Yeah. I mean…” I trailed off and turned my brother around to face me. “What are you doing here, Cam?” I asked, trying to make the situation comfortable.
“They asked me to come help them with their yard, and Mom never lets us do anything in ours because supposedly only the gardener can. Thiago’s even letting me use the saw! A real saw! I’m gonna actually cut some wood! My friends will FLIP OUT!”
Flip outwas my brother’s favorite phrase those days. But the person about to really flip out was me. Taylor asked if we wanted to go with him to Lowe’s, adding, “We need some gardening stuff before we pull out all the weeds growing in the back.”
“HECK YEAH!” Cameron screamed, so excited he dropped his iguana.
“Sorry, Cameron, it’ll have to be another day,” I said. “I need to take a shower and make you some lunch.” I could tell I had disappointed Taylor.
“No, Kami!” Cameron protested, on the verge of tears. “Please! I’m so bored!” Those blue eyes of his were so hard toresist! Thiago stepped away to pick up the prunings, tucking the shears in his back pocket with his back turned to us.
“I don’t mind taking him if you’ve got stuff to do,” said Taylor, while my brother jumped up and down, pleading. “It’s not far; we won’t be long.”
I knew Cameron would be in good hands, but I didn’t want to burden Taylor. My brother was my job.
“Nah, it would be better to save it for another day,” I said. My brother started throwing a tantrum, much to Taylor’s amusement.
“Really, Kami, I don’t mind.” I knew he meant it, but I couldn’t allow it. Mom would kill me.
“I’m sorry, but I really feel like he should stay with me.” It sounded rude––I could tell––and my brother totally lost it.
“You suck, Kamila!” he shouted and ran home. That was a bad sign, calling me by my full name. That was the same thing Mom did when she was mad. I was embarrassed, but I couldn’t let my brother hang out with them. It wasn’t appropriate. It was against Mom’s rules. My brother wouldn’t understand, but he’d have to deal with it.
“I’ll see you guys,” I said, walking away.
Chapter Eight
Thiago
Kam was the spitting image of her mother. Not just in the way she looked, but also the way she felt superior to my brother and me. Why was I so stupid? How could I just assume she’d be the same person she’d been when I left? I should have known the old Kamila no longer existed. She was pretty, sure, just like her mother; and just like with her mother, there was nothing behind that pretty face. I felt bad for her kid brother, being surrounded by such superficial people: Kam, the ice princess, and her mother, the ice queen. Everyone said it, and so far, I hadn’t seen anything to tell me they were wrong.
When she said she wouldn’t go to Lowe’s with my brother, I tuned her out. I wasn’t going to waste my time with her. I had more important things to do, like organize the workouts before our next game.
When I was done outside, I went to the kitchen and took all the cheese out of the fridge. That was another thing I had to learn to do: cook. Ever since my mother started working overtime shifts at the hospital, I was the one in charge of making dinner. She wasgoing in tonight, and I could hear her in the shower getting ready to go when I started preparing the ingredients.
Once Kam and the kid went inside, my brother went to his room and didn’t come out for the rest of the day. It didn’t matter to me, really, but ever since we’d come back, there had been a strange tension between us. I got pissed when I saw him playing pool and having a good time with Kam. Them being friends again—that wouldn’t work for me. It wasn’t right. My brother owed me more respect than that, and I wasn’t just going to forget it.
“Wow, honey, that smells amazing,” Mom said, walking into the kitchen and pulling on a jacket.
I was making macaroni and cheese—my special recipe, the first one I’d ever learned. I added cheese to the warm milk and stirred so it would start melting. I turned to find Mom looking for God knows what.
