Page 108 of Smooth Moves
“I don’t know why you thought we wanted him to fail,” Mom said. “We love Rafi and you.”
“Not like you love Leanne,” Jordan muttered.
Mom blushed. “I swear, you are so competitive with your sister.”
“Please, Mom.” Rafi had to defend Jordan this time. “We both know you guys favor Leanne. It’s clear any time we’re all together. You treat her like she’s better than all of us. The rest of us might as well not exist.”
He was surprised to see his parents look discomfited.
“It’s just…” His dad trailed off. “We don’t mean to. She’s just so easy. Leanne did well in school and never gave us any problems, so of course we supported her.” His gaze narrowed on Rafi then Jordan. “Which we would have done for you two, but you had to be stubborn about things.”
Jordan gave him a rueful smile. “I guess you have a point. But you can’t deny you guys like her better. I could see that if she was your kid, but geez, Dad, she’s your stepdaughter. Rafi’s your own blood, and you treat Leanne better.”
Rafi loved that she said what he’d been dying to for years. “Yeah. Why is that? Is it because she’s blond, like you? And we look too Brazilian or something?”
Jordan tilted her head. “A good question. Are we too dark for the Youngers?”
“That’snonsense,” their mother cut in. “You look just like me. You’re beautiful. Carl didn’t have to marry me, you know. He did it because he loves me, including the way I look.”
Their dad huffed. “I can’t believe you guys think like this.Of courseI love all of you. Yes, you guys favor your mother. And you’re lucky you do. She’s gorgeous. I’m sorry if it seems we love Leanne more. We don’t. We love all of you equally.”
Jordan scoffed.
Dad pointed at her. “That’swhy it’s easier to deal with Leanne. She never argues with us, never tells us we’re wrong about anything.”
“Even when we are.” Mom sighed. “I can see your point, kids. We’re sorry. We do love you all. And we’ll try to do better at showing it. If we seem like we like your sister more, it’s just because she’s on her own now and happy, in love. No matter how you feel about Troy,” she said, staring at Jordan this time, “he loves Leanne and takes care of her.”
Dad looked down. “She is easy to handle. But you shouldn’t feel less because of it. I’m so sorry, Son, Jordan. And Rafi, you should never feel like you can’t come to us with problems. That’s what we’re here for.” He turned to Jordan. “Before you step in with some remark about military school, we had no idea he had a problem learning or we’d have treated this differently. Defacing school property and mouthing off to teachers isn’t because of that though, is it, Rafi?”
“No.” He sighed. “You’re right. But I did some of that because I was frustrated I wasn’t smart.”
“Youaresmart.” Jordan, once again, refused to let him belittle himself. Man, he loved her. “You’re just not learning math at a level you should be. Now stop being a dork and let Mom and Dad get you a tutor you like. I’ll talk to the guy or lady and make sure they aren’t an asswipe.”
“Jordan.” Their mother pinched the bridge of her nose. “Language?”
“Sorry, Mom.” But she wasn’t because Rafi saw Jordan’s grin.
Mom laughed. “What am I going to do with you?”
They all sat around smiling at each other, and Rafi felt better about life than he had in a long time. “Now can we stop talking about me and instead talk about Jordan and her new boyfriend?”
His sister punched him in the arm. “Ow.”
“Who?” Mom straightened in her seat.
“Cash.” Rafi felt smug, glad not to be in the hot seat for once.
“Your school friend?” Dad’s eyes grew wide.
Jordan blushed. “No. Geez, Dad. That’s gross. And illegal.”
Rafi laughed. “No, Cash is Jordan’s boyfriend. They work together, and he’s a Marine.” Yeah, he’d thrown Jordan under. But he didn’t feel bad about it. He had a feeling Cash would be coming to family dinners soon enough. And maybe Rafi liked seeing his sister the center of his parents’ attention. Time for the good daughter to stand in the spotlight.
Now if he could just forget about Juan and the drug problem. He tried hard to have faith that Cash would sort it all out. But in Rafi’s experience, bad news had a tendency to circle back and bite a guy in the tail. He looked at his family, smiling and laughing with each other, and treasured the moment. Knowing it wouldn’t last.
