“Tomorrow?”
“No, Daddy. I’m still a few days away.”
“You need to understand our concern here. I’ve been watching your credit card usage and your bank account. There’s no activity. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not caught up in something illegal, are you?” Just as I thought he would.
“No, Daddy. Sofia is paying for everything as a way to say thank you to me for driving.” I can’t believe how easy the lie flows. I’m surely going to need months in church to repent all my sins.
“Well, I don’t like that one bit. You’ve told me before she doesn’t have a lot of money,” dad says. Neither do I and you’d have a heart attack if you knew I was waiting tables, so I could stay here a little longer.
I’m afraid my stint in Los Angeles is going to come to an end soon even though it’s only just started. There’s so much to see and do, I’ve limited myself by lying to my parents. I should’ve been upfront from the get-go and told them about Kellie’s offer. Thing is, they would’ve said no, and I didn’t want to hear it.
“Her mom insisted.” Another lie.
“I don’t like this, Willard,” Mom says. “Maybe you should fly to wherever the girls are and drive them here.”
“No!” I interrupt. “Daddy, please. We’re having fun.”
He sighs. “We understand that your future is already planned out for you, but you have to understand, you have a life here, and it can’t continue to wait while you dilly dally.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Roy… he’s ready to set a date and get things moving.”
“Daddy!” I about scream his name. “He hasn’t even asked me to marry him yet and you want me to rush home and be at his beck and call? What about a women’s right to choose, my right to work and live on my own for a bit? What if I don’t want to marry Roybert? Have you ever thought about that?” I cry out.
“Oh, Eleanora, now you’re just being a child. Of course, you want to marry Roy. You’ve wanted to since high school.”
“Things change, Mama,” I say this, knowing my words will fall on deaf ears. They’re set in their ways and nothing’s going to make them see things any differently. My sister accepted this fate and I will as well, just as my grandmas did and so forth. Truth is, I do love Roy, but I’m not ready to settle down and marry him. I want to live. I want to explore the world. I want to stay up all night watching movies and go to work the next day regardless of being tired, knowing that I had the best night just being. That’s not Roy.
“Eleanora, I think it’s about time you come home, missy.”
I sigh and fight back the tears. My fairytale vacation is coming to an end whether I like it or not. “Okay, Daddy.”
“Good, that’s settled. When should your mother and I expect you?”
“A couple of days. I’ll be there.” We say our goodbyes. I fall back onto my bed and cover my face with the pillow, screaming out into it. I was so stupid to think I could get away with this, that they wouldn’t get suspicious and I’d be able to spend my summer here.
I was wrong.
So very wrong.
I look around my room. It’s a mess, especially after my covers fiasco when I was looking for my phone, but I realize, I like it here and need to find a way to be honest with my parents. The problem is all the lies I’ve told. My parents aren’t going to look past those any time soon.
The tears that I shed while on the phone with my parents haven’t stopped. The walls around me are closing in, the suffocation I felt before I left for college is bearing down on my chest. Without picking up my room, I grab my phone, keys, and head to the courtyard. This complex is huge and there are always people milling about, doing something.
When I reach the center, the pool is full of children with multiple women standing on the edge, giving out instructions while chatting amongst themselves. I walk farther, deeper into the reserved space and find a bench to sit on. Behind my dark sunglasses, no one can see my bloodshot eyes or red puffy lids. Unlike the South, where people will stop and strike up a conversation whether they know you or not, that doesn’t happen here. People are too busy with their own drama to worry about someone else’s.
I thought that being outside, my mind would clear, but it’s only littered with noise and the constant commotion of people walking by. I’m about to give up on everything, tuck my tail, pack my things and head home when I see a familiar face coming at me. My heart, the one I thought was in my throat earlier is now sitting in the bottom of my stomach.
His smile can be seen from miles away, figuratively speaking. He holds his head up high and the hazel eyes I know so well, hidden behind mirrored aviators. Part of me thinks I’m seeing things, that there’s no way my brother is coming toward me.
I stand, prepared to run from the impending nightmare, but I’m stuck to the ground. “How did you find me?” I ask as he steps to me. Rhett doesn’t remove his glasses and turns his lips into a smirk.
He’s smug.
And has women falling at his feet.
“Hello to you too, little sister.”