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Over and over and over, for the next fuckin’ hour, they all wailed, screamed, and argued.
By the time their parents started arriving hours later, I’d had more than enough.
With my day, added onto my night, the stress was getting to me.
That was why, when Simi arrived first, I left without another word.
I headed straight for my apartment where my sweet girl had arrived with food to start cooking dinner.
I found her in the kitchen, her fingernail between her teeth, and a look of concentration on her face as she stared at the oven.
The close of the door had her looking my way, a look of worry on her face when she saw the state I was in.
She immediately moved toward me, her eyes wide.
I met her halfway, burying my face in her hair.
“You okay?” she asked, running her fingers through my hair.
I mumbled something into her neck.
“What was that?” she snickered.
“I said, I hope you never want to have kids,” I repeated what I’d said. “And I do mean never.”
She snickered, then started to cough. “That bad?”
“That bad,” I said. “Nash wanted to pet the fish. Only, he petted him too long and fell asleep with him, subsequently killing him. They had an epic meltdown that even beat the time Merrit accidentally touched the elf and lost his magic.”
“Ummm,” she said, a slight wheeze in her voice. “What does that mean?”
“Well, it all stems from the stupid fucking elf that my sisters refuse to stop doing,” I explained. “Last year, they all had the goddamn elf. You can’t touch it, or it loses its magic. And when I say they all lost their goddamn minds when Merrit moved it last year when I was watching them, it would be an understatement.”
“Oh, boy.” She snickered. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s not even the worst of it,” I said. “Apparently, the state of Florida is suing me because I’ve ‘neglected’ my mother. She’s been in a home in Daytona Beach—which, might I add, how the fuck could she afford to live there?—and they found her being neglected. Apparently, they tried to get into contact with me, and couldn’t. And then there was some shit that my mother said that pretty much damned me in their eyes. All in all, she threw me under the bus, saying that I locked her in her home and only fed her once a week when I brought over groceries. She has bed sores because she decided to stop getting out of bed. She is emaciated because apparently she wasn’t ‘allowed’ to eat. But really, I think that she’s just fucking drugged up and couldn’t remember to do any of that. But she could remember my name to fuck me over.”
“Shit,” she said. “So you have to go? What’s the plan then?”
“I have to go there,” I confirmed. “Winston’s letting me use his plane. I’m going to fly there tonight. I should be there in time to get to the courthouse tomorrow morning at eight. Winston’s contacted a lawyer who’s going to read up on the case. According to him, it’s pretty cut and dry. I still have to show my face, though, or they’ll side in my mother’s and the state’s favor. I’m going to try very, very hard to be back by the time you have the funeral tomorrow night, but I can’t promise anything.”
She wrapped her arms around my belly and hummed. “I think that you’ve done a whole lot more for me than you know.”
She shifted, letting her head rest on my shoulder for a few long moments before saying, “I guess that’ll give me time to go through my sister’s place.”
I twisted, staring into her eyes for a few long seconds, before saying, “I said I’d go with you.”
She caught my hand and placed it over her cheek before closing her eyes. “I need to do this on my own, Keene. I know you want to help but… I need to do it.”
I looked deep into her eyes before saying, “If that changes, promise you’ll wait for me. I’ll go with you as soon as I get back.”
She leaned up onto her tippy toes and placed a kiss on my jaw before pulling away, going back to the oven. “Now, show me how to turn this bad boy on.”
CHAPTER 22
Sometimes, you just need to beat them with a stapler.
-Text from Ande to Keene
