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My ma nurses unrealistic worries. She saw how Justice’s kids moved away. First, Felix to Tennessee. Now, he’s only around maybe half of the year. Then, Matilda left to marry an asshole. After returning for a short time, she followed Rie to Arcadia.
Now, Auntie Justice needs to travel or wait patiently—only one of those is easy for her—if she wants to spend time with her kids and grandbabies.
That’s the real reason my ma’s got a bug crammed up her ass right now. She worries Oana will talk me into running off to a place where her family won’t interfere.
Ma-Journey might not barf her feelings all over the place with the same flair as her younger sisters, but she’s as emotional as them on the inside.
As we sit down to dinner, I decide to throw my parents a bone by explaining to Oana, “The homestead has assigned lots for each of the kids. Tomorrow, I’ll show you where our house will go.”
The room’s tension deflates immediately. My family join us at the table sized for six. Ma’s to my right. Pa’s to my left. Edith sits in her usual spot across from me.
“Dinner smells great,” Oana says with too much enthusiasm.
Immediately suspicious despite our ma’s notoriously good cooking, Edith mutters, “It’s chicken and rice.”
“And cheese,” Oana replies quickly, defiantly holding my sister’s gaze. “We rarely eat cheese because it gives my father gas.”
Filling his plate, Pa-Donovan shrugs. “Never stopped me.”
Oana smiles at my father as if she isn’t getting antsy in her seat. I notice how she holds on to my hand, even while eating.
“Do you cook?” Ma-Journey asks.
“Nothing this good. Everything we eat is really bland.”
Ma-Journey fights against her grumpy vibes by forcing out the words, “I could show you how to make this and other things Ike likes to eat.”
Oana gives me a delicious smile and finally frees my hand. She makes a big show of enjoying my ma’s food.
Across from me, Edith’s face suffers through a seizure. She desperately wants to bitch-barf at Oana. My sister is the grumpiest member of our immediate family. When she’s anxious, she naturally falls back into utter bitchiness.
However, my sister also wants to be Oana’s friend rather than letting Tuesday take the lead. I noticed my sister’s competitive nature roar to life back at Felix’s house.
“I’ve never seen you protesting at our shop,” Edith says, mentioning the family’s pot-and-moonshine themed store in town. “Are you an out-of-town Trinity fundie weirdo like how Alexis came from the extended Toomey bloodline?”
“What?”
“Oana grew up here,” I answer when I know my sister won’t simplify her question. “She was kept from the Tempting Treats shop because her family sensed she might be seduced by our sinning ways.”
“Are you easily seduced?” Ma-Journey asks.
“By sinning?”
My ma shrugs. “Sure, why not?”
“I like rock music.”
“Not a sin,” Pa-Donovan says.
Ma nods. “That’s just good taste.”
“I also like Ike’s body.”
“Of course,” Edith replies. “He works out a lot.”
“But even if he didn’t, I would think he’s sexy,” Oana says and smiles at me like I’m prancing around naked in her head. “No one is more handsome.”
My parents share a look somewhere between “aw” and “ugh.” Oana doesn’t seem to notice. Her gaze feasts on me until I plant a kiss on her pouty lips.
