Page 15 of Unbearable
“So….” Lenny begins. Her eyes widen when I glance over at her. “Red knows about you and Tyler.” Lenny is Red’s girlfriend and she’s quickly become my best friend. I tell every single shitty thing about my life to her. Naturally, she was the only one outside of me and Tyler who knew we’d been hooking up.
“Red knows?” I gasp, my hand over my heart. It’s pounding so hard, so fast, I think it’s going to pop out of my chest. “Is Tyler still alive?”
When I left the apartment this morning I went back home to get the rest of my clothes I’ll need for the week and then over to Red’s house to talk to Lenny. It’s been something like five hours since I saw Tyler; he could very well be dead by now if Red knows.
“As far as I know, for now,” Lenny tells me, digging through the cupboards at Red’s house for the tequila. Nova’s at her feet asking if she can have some. “They’re apparently at the bar. He heard you arguing this morning and I did my best to distract him but he’s not stupid.”
She’s right. Red is far from stupid. Red’s my older brother by eight years and me thinking I could hide anything from him was a dumb thought.
“How did he hear us arguing?”
“He was helping me grab the last of my clothes and you two were in the bedroom.”
“Shit.” I throw my hands up in the air. “He’s going to poison Tyler and make it look like a suicide.”
She doesn’t say anything for what feels like minutes, like she’s seriously thinking about it. “Nah, he wouldn’t do that.” When she finally pulls the bottle down from the cupboard, she holds it above her head and looks at Nova as if she’s crazy when she reaches for it. “No, you can’t have any. It’s alcohol, Nova.”
Her hands are immediately on her hips. “So? What’s that mean?” Nova is Red’s daughter from his marriage to Nevaeh, his wife who died three years ago. Nova, who’s almost six now, acts like she’s about thirty most days.
“It means you have to be twenty-one to drink it.”
Nova scowls. “That’s ridiculous.”
“So how did this morning go? What did you guys decide?” Lenny asks the moment Nova takes off to her room. Lenny knew my intention this morning was to tell Tyler how I felt.
“I’m pretty sure his dick made love to me this morning, but the rest of him, yeah… not so much.”
Lenny frowns and hands me a shot glass and then the tequila. “Here. This will help.”
We’re just getting started with drinking when Nova reappears, her hands on her hips. “Can we talk about kindergarten?”
Lenny pushes her shot glass away and faces Nova. “Why?”
“I don’t want to go anymore.”
“You kinda have to.”
“No, I don’t. You’re technically in charge of me. Just call them up and tell them I’m not going anymore.”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“It does if you’re Rawley. I heard Daddy talking about him not calling when he doesn’t show up. And kindergarten is like prison.” Nova dramatically puts her hands on her hips. “I have to ask to go to the bathroom.”
I place my hand over hers on the table. “They’re teaching you manners.”
“Screw that,” she mutters, walking away.
Lenny’s eyes widen watching Nova flip her brown curls around. She probably can’t believe she just said that. Nova has a bad mouth and Red’s been fighting it since she learned to talk. None of us should be surprised by it. Much like me, she grew up with a bunch of mechanics as her role models. Her language should be the least of his worries.
“What’s all this?” I motion to the piles of clothes and two boxes sitting in the dining room.
“Red asked me to move in.”
“I’m so happy for you,” I lie, trying to smile at Lenny. I think I did a pretty good job, because the excited look on her face tells me she’s close to buying it.
“Really?” Lenny beams with my words and I almost refrain from my next comment.
“No.” I roll my eyes, throwing back my head to down the last of my drink. “I hate you. Don’t talk to me about your perfect life.”
