ff about him; like the cupboards in our kitchen, he’d come unhinged.
“I was wrong,” he laughed. “God sent you to test me. To punish me.”
He was on me before I could blink, his breath smelling of stale beer, his eyes the only shining thing in the darkness. Like devil’s eyes. Bright and menacing. Knuckles bruising into my flesh, he gripped my arm tightly and forced me to stand on my tiptoes to meet his stale breath.
“Are you satisfied?” he asked. “Are you? Have I been judged?”
I cried. “I don’t know what you want me to say!”
Letting go, he threw me down. My back hit the door with a crack. I cried out in pain.
“I won’t bend to you!” He spat at me and then walked away.
I stayed on the ground, my tears wetting my knees.
I would have preferred a beating.
“Have you ever had lobster, Grace?”
Lenny—sorry “call me whatever you want, but my name is Lennox”—and I were seated at a restaurant right over the beach. It was dusk and the sun was setting in oranges and purples above the inky ocean. Below people walked along the sand fully clothed, the beachgoers having gone home with the sun. An angry storm was brewing along the horizon. I watched as lightning marred the watercolor sky with harsh cracks, appearing to slap the ocean.
“I should have had us eat inside,” Lennox said, following my vision. “It doesn’t usually rain this time of year. At least not like this. Hopefully the storm won’t reach us until we’re finished eating. So…the lobster. Think you’ll want to try it?”
“Does it taste like fish?” I asked, returning my gaze to the menu. It wasn’t very fancy, which I was glad for. Even though the prices were far beyond what I could afford, the food itself was simple. Macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, and fries were the kinds of normal food I was considering, though the prices were sitting in the high forties. I guessed we were paying for the view.
“Not really. It tastes like what they season it with, and butter of course. But the lobster is so good here. If you’ve never had it, I would recommend trying it here first.” Lennox set down her menu as the waiter returned with our drinks. I ordered water, not wanting to pay for more than I could afford. Lennox ordered some kind of alcoholic drink that had numbers in it.
“We’ll start off with fries, thank you, but we need some more time to decide. Also there will be a third joining us.”
“A third?” I asked as the waiter disappeared. The sky darkened as the storm stretched its tendrils closer to us. I felt a chilly breeze that promised rain and thunder and carried the harsh smell of sea. The restaurant turned on its lights, but that somehow made everything appear darker.
“Vic will be joining us after all. Are you sure you don’t want something besides water? They make a great strawberry lemonade if you don’t like alcohol. It’s made with fresh strawberries.”
I shook my head. “No. No, thank you. Vic is coming?”
Lennox reached over, grabbed my hand, and said, “Grace.” Her eyes grew dark and serious, but there was something else in them too, something I couldn’t place. “I think you’ll like this family. Vic only has me. I don’t have much of anyone either. It’s just me and him, and Lissie and Zoe.”
“Lissie and Zoe?” I responded, almost because I only wanted something to say. What she’d said to me was everything I wanted to hear; it was the reason I’d come to California—though I couldn’t help but wonder if Vic even knew what she was saying to me. Did he want me to be a part of their family?
“Yes!” Lennox removed her hand from mine and picked up the menu. “They’re more family than friends. They’re expecting a child soon. Oh my god”—Lennox looked up from the menu like she’d just had an epiphany—“you have to come to the baby shower. They want to meet you so fucking bad. It’s perfect.”
“I don’t know…” It sounded like, well…not like fun, but like I should go. Lennox was being so warm and kind to me, the complete opposite of Vic.
“I’m not going to take no for an answer,” Lennox remarked casually. “I’ll come and drag you to the damn thing. You’ll be a part of this family whether you like it or not.”
“I would like it.”
Lennox peered over her menu. “So what’s the hold up?”
What was the hold up? “Nothing.” I smiled. “I’ll come. It sounds fun.”
“Good. Oh—here he is! Vic!” Lennox waved her hand, gesturing at someone. The dark sky and bright lights made it hard for me to see at whom she was waving. Even though I knew who it was—I mean she’d just said it was Vic—I felt the need to see him before he arrived. All I could see were dark shadows, though, and the distant thunder made the whole scenario intimidating.
I nearly stood and excused myself. I’d shown up—twice—to meet my brother. I wanted this, but both times had been on my terms. This time, he was advancing like a shade in the night. Soon Vic walked into the light, his features appearing gaunt and like caricatures at first. Lennox stood up and kissed him on the cheek, gesturing at the empty seat next to her. Though Lennox sat, Vic remained standing.
He looked nothing like me, but that wasn’t a shock; I knew he’d been adopted. I’d seen him my first day in California, when he’d come to the door—at least, I’d seen enough to recognize him from the photo I’d stolen out of Mama’s things. It had been an older picture; Vic must have been a teenager then, but his features were distinct. I’d run away too quickly to really study him, though.
He had long black hair and soybean colored skin, a square jaw that appeared perpetually set and black eyes. I also had dark hair and dark eyes, but my skin was paler than bone. Our appearance wasn’t what differentiated us, though that might have been the most obvious thing. I felt that even though we weren’t related by blood, we had something deeper to connect us: we had our parents, who were far more dangerous and more twisted than any vein.