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Unlucky for her that she came to my particular dark corner.
“What?” she asked, startled to see me there.
I gestured toward Melody.
“She was wearing a white strapless number that looked a whole lot like the wedding dress you’re wearing right now,” I told her. “But Crockett made her go change. Threw a glorified shit fit right there in the parking lot. You’re lucky that she’s only wearing the same dress as your mother, instead of the same dress as you.”
Belinda’s jaw clenched.
“I didn’t think she was that bad,” she admitted, still pissed as hell.
More pissed now that she’d heard what I’d just said.
“How do you not know she’s that bad?” I asked curiously. “Does Danny not tell you everything that she does?”
Belinda turned to me with a frown.
“What?” she asked.
“Does Danny not tell you that Melody and his dad treat her like absolute shit?” I rephrased.
She shook her head. “No. Danny doesn’t… I’ve never heard that she was bad. I’ve heard that she was difficult, but not bad.”
I tilted my head. “A few weeks ago, Crockett’s car broke down in the middle of a busy highway. When she called her dad, he didn’t answer, so she was forced to call her stepmother. Do you want to know what was going on? Ol’ Murphy 2.0 was at a track meet and refused to leave to come get her.”
Belinda frowned hard.
“When I picked her up off the side of the road—mind you, I barely knew her at the time. She only knew me as an ex-con that visited her store—I had to stop and get gas. And there was Melody. Waiting in her car for your father to come pump her gas. She’d called him at some point after Crockett had, and he’d dropped everything.”
Belinda started to look pissed.
“Obviously you know the whole Crockett/Rockett thing,” I continued.
That made Belinda wince. “I was told by Danny that Melody had a friend named Rockett that she’d always wanted to name her child after.”
I gave her a roll of my eyes. “I’m sure that’s it.”
We were silent for a few seconds as the wedding photographer had everyone move around upon hearing a request from Melody, repositioning Crockett so that she was on an end.
“Easier to cut her out of photos,” I told Belinda.
Belinda’s breath hitched.
Then, surprising me, she marched toward the group before anyone could take any photos.
“No, Danny.” Belinda clapped her hands. “Put your sisters on either side of you.” She made it to where Nora was on one side of Danny and Crockett was on the other. Then Belinda was on the side with Nora while Murphy 2.0 was on the side with Crockett.
Danny had both of his arms around his sisters, and he was grinning huge.
Though, even that ‘equalness’ still had him slightly leaning more toward Nora.
When Belinda came back, she was mad.
“Danny and Nora have lunch once a week without Crockett,” I said. “I heard that from Murphy.”
Belinda sat down hard on the chair next to me.
“She never has time to meet…” Belinda started.
“She takes a lunch every single day for a couple of hours. Closes the store down to do it if she doesn’t have someone to cover that shift. Twelve to two. When a normal person would take lunch,” I pointed out.
Belinda opened and closed her mouth.
“What did Crockett do wrong?” I asked. “Why does everyone hate her?”
Belinda pressed on her forehead.
“I…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize that anything was wrong.”
Just then, the group taking photos broke apart, and the two sisters separated to head to where I assumed was the bathroom. Danny came over to where his wife was standing and wrapped her up in his arms.
I wasn’t sure what to think of Danny just yet.
The same went for Nora.
I just couldn’t find it in my heart to like a person that willingly allowed their sister to be treated like crap from a family member while that family member treated them normally.
“Danny,” Belinda pulled back. “Why don’t you ever bring your little sister to lunch more?”
Danny frowned. “Because she’s working?”
He looked confused.
As if he didn’t understand the question.
“She has every single day off from twelve until two,” Belinda pushed. “Y’all go to lunch at eleven. Is there a reason that two self-employed people can’t go to lunch at a different time to include their little sister instead of going at eleven when she can’t be included?”
Danny opened his mouth and then closed it. “She…” He paused. “Dad and Melody sometimes come with us. I just figured she wouldn’t want to come.”
“Why?” Belinda pushed.
“Because they don’t get along?” Danny shrugged. “And the other times, it’s just a standing time that we’ve always had. When we started these, Crockett was away at culinary school. It wasn’t like we intentionally said ‘hey, let’s have these at times that Crockett can’t go so she doesn’t think we’re purposefully excluding her.’”
