Page 23 of All Twisted Up
“I’m sorry, baby. In my defense, when I tell you what happened, you’ll understand.” I stepped past her into the house. It smelled like bacon and coffee. I glanced at the ceiling. “Thank you, God, for coffee.” I heard the front door shut and lock behind me as I continued across the hardwood floor, heading for the heart of our home.
“Joshua!” Barbie’s footsteps were muffled as she followed me in stockinged feet. It didn’t matter. I could feel her behind me. When I got to the kitchen, I slung my messenger bag onto a chair and set the puppy on the tile. I was filling a bowl with water when she caught up to me. “You have a dog with you.”
I glanced over at her and smiled. “A puppy!”
She smiled, looking down at the little guy. “He’s adorable.” She transferred her gaze to me. “What happened?”
I set the bowl down and the puppy toddled over to it like a little drunk. I straightened and gave my beautiful sister my full attention. Her short, blonde hair was a shade lighter than mine, her gray eyes a shade darker. Right now, though, they were filled with worry. I walked over and wrapped her up in my arms, grounding myself as I held on tight. She hugged me back and then leaned back, still in my arms. She wore a serious expression. “You look tired, Joshua. What the heck happened last night?”
I framed her cheeks with both hands. Barbie, Pete, and Meggie were my whole world. I knew how lucky I was, counting my blessings every day. “I’ll tell you in a minute but first, a more pressing question.”
“What’s that?”
“How old is the coffee?”
Predictably, she chuckled. “If you let go of me, I’ll make a new pot. The dregs in that one will burn a hole through your stomach. I made it at seven.”
“This morning?” I asked, letting go. I considered the black liquid in the bottom of the pot as she poured the remnants down the sink. “Jeez, it’s nothing but mud. Why didn’t you shut it off?” I asked before realizing that was probably the wrong thing to say. Sure enough, she frowned before filling the pot with fresh water.
“Because I figured you’d atleastbe thoughtful enough to be home by the time the kids got up and when you weren’t, I walked them to school and forgot all about the dumb coffee.” She turned to look at me. “I jumped right into calculus after I got back, and the time got away from me.” Barbie was a senior in high school, but took advantage of online classes, only having to go in on Mondays to pick up a packet and on Fridays to drop off her completed assignments. Since I held down two jobs, it worked for both of us and saved huge money on childcare. “What happened last night?” She held up a hand as I opened my mouth to reply. “If your answer is something sexual, spare me the details.”
I laughed as I dumped out the old coffee grounds. “Trust me, it wasn’t something sexual. It was the opposite of sexual.”
She glanced sideways at me. “You became a monk?”
I smiled at her, trying to decide how to tell her so she wouldn’t totally freak out. “No, actually, I got into some trouble with Billy last night.”
“Billy Jenkins?” Barbie frowned, taking the fresh coffee basket from my hand and slipping it in place before flipping the switch. She turned to face me, crossing her arms. “I don’t like that guy. You know he was high the last time he came over here.”
I opened my mouth to reply when Dog barked. We both looked down to see him standing at our feet, wagging his little stump of a tail as he looked up at us. I bent and scooped him up, holding him to my chest as he licked my face. “I need to get dog food,” I muttered into his fur.
“He’s a sweet, little guy.” Barbie petted him. “Where’d he come from?”
I glanced at her. “He’s Billy’s. We’re going to have him for a while.”
“What are you talking about?” she said. She held out her arms and I passed the little furball to her. She smiled, immediately cuddling him close. “What do you mean a little while, Joshua?”
“I convinced Billy to go back to rehab. I told you some things happened.”
“What happened?” She looked at me skeptically. There was no use trying to BS Barbie Calder. After life with my mother, she was a human lie detector just like I was.
“I’ll tell you, but first I need coffee.” I nodded to the pot and moved to the refrigerator. “And food. I haven’t eaten.” I pulled out bread and the makings for a BLT after the discovery of bacon.
“The avocado is ripe.” She gestured to where it sat on a shelf in the fridge.
My stomach growled. I pulled out a knife and quickly assembled a sandwich for myself. “Do you want one?” I asked, looking over at her.
“No, I’m okay. I had salad.”
She didn’t eat enough and worked too hard, forced to become a parent just like me when things at home had spiraled out of control three years ago. I sat at the kitchen table and bit into my sandwich, finishing it off quickly. I really had been hungrier than I realized. I watched her hold the puppy up, letting him lick her nose as she giggled.
“What’s your name, little guy?”
“Dog,” I said, walking to the sink with my plate. I watched her set him down on the ground. He ran around in circles and then toddled toward the living room to explore.
“Dog? That’s a stupid name,” she said. “It almost sounds like the kind of name a drug addict would give their dog…oh, yeah, one did!”
I sighed, pouring coffee into my cup and adding half and half from the fridge. I glanced over at her. “You gonna have a cup?”
