It was everything I had been telling myself. Everything I feared to be true. What if Harrison couldn’t understand? He was good and loved and saw the world through his star-studded glasses of privilege. Our romantic relationship made him incapable of seeing the ugly side of me. This inherent dirty truth of who I was and where I came from. I would eventually make him leave too.
“It’s not your fault, Frankie. We are cut from the same cloth. But this is a legit family, okay?” Joey came closer and pulled out her phone. She smelled like yesterday’s booze and sweat and something bitter. “Look.” She pulled up YouTube and played a video from her recently watched. It was a video of a family doing some sort of obstacle course in their massive backyard.
“I don’t—Why are you showing me this?” I asked.
“This is the family who wants Collette. They are legit. They have like threemillionsubscribers.”
“What do they do?” I shook my head, not understanding.
“That’s it. They just record their life. Dumb, boring shit. But like, for some reason, kids watch the hell out of it. These parents have seven adopted kids and a shit ton of money. And they want Collette.”
“But why?” My head was throbbing. The family on the screen were laughing and running around, challenging each other. They seemed happy.
“They’re a theater family. I showed them some of the videos Collette made. The ones of her singing and dancing around.”
“You shouldn’t—”
“You and I both know she’s insanely talented. Just because you don’t have any dreams doesn’t mean you should squash everybody else’s. Stop sucking the joy out of everyone else. That’s what you do.”
“That is not true.” My voice shook. “I just want to protect her. I am here. I am the one trying to help her.”
“Then help her.” Joey tossed out her arms. “This is a real family. And they are stupid loaded. They want Collette. There isn’t anything more to understand. How are you not excited?” She shook my shoulders, and I had to turn my head away to avoid her sour breath.
“You don’t think it’s weird that they record their kids all the time? They’re children, not content.”
She shrugged a bony shoulder. She had a break out of painful-looking bumps. When she caught me noticing, she tugged up her sweater. “It’s just how things are now. Everybody is online.”
“I don’t know. I need to think. I—when do they want her?” I asked incoherently.
A tension headache throbbed at my temple. I needed to talk to the lawyers. Was this even legal? Had they even met Collette? Nothing about this seemed normal. What were my rights? All my thoughts were swirled up.
“As soon as possible. And it’s not your choice. I’m trying to be a good sister and tell you.”
I pressed a hand to the acid burning up my throat. “You want to take her now?”
“The quicker I do, the quicker I get paid, and I can get some stuff. I’m low on cashflow at the moment. I need new headshots and clothes.” She scratched her neck and looked away.
“Joey,please,” I begged.
Please what? If she had just stayed away a few more weeks, I could have taken control, but now I felt so powerless. What could I say against her own birth mother? I needed to think. I needed Harrison. I needed Collette and George.
I needed myfamily.
This wasn’t my choice, but it didn’t feel like Joey’s either.
“Just stay. Just a few days. Eat and rest. And, and we can talk to Collette and see what she thinks?” I sat up straighter, nodding. “Don’t you think Collette should have a say?”
Joey raised her eyebrows at me in a way that told me she thought I was an idiot. “Sure. Let the six-year-old decide if she wants to move to the house full of toys or stay here with an old man.”
“Seven,” I said sadly.
“Whatever.” Joey rubbed her head. “We can talk to her tonight. But that’s it. I’m leaving in the morning. You can ask her, but it’s on you when it doesn’t go your way.”
I nodded, immobile with dread.
“I’m going to go lie down for a little while,” she said.
As soon as I was alone, I called Harrison. I knew he was filming, so I wasn’t surprised it went straight to voicemail. I begged him to come home and explained everything as fast as I could. I had no idea who else I could contact to reach him. I didn’t even know his work phone number. That aspect of his life was so hidden away. Because of me. He pretended it didn’t exist because I was too fragile to handle the thought of him ever leaving. He kept his career like a dirty little secret because I had made him feel that it was. I had taken cracks at his acting and hurt him. He’d done so much, and I continued to let my own issues dominate me. He was right. He wasn’t going to leave like my mother. I would have to trust that.
