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Trey looks up at me with a nod before standing up. “Yeah. I need something to help pass my time before my mind goes crazy.” His voice lowers. “I don’t have a little sister to look after anymore, so it’s all I think about in my downtime.”
I’ve debated on reaching out to Trey after the funeral. I told them my door is open, so when they’re ready, I’m ready.
I give him a hopeful look. “I’m sorry, buddy. My door is always open if you want to talk or hang out,” I offer again.
He smiles and plays with the collar of his red work shirt. “I’m sorry for what I said when I eavesdropped on the conversation about your parents wanting custody of me. I was pissed. It was nothing against you.”
I smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
He kicks his feet against the ground. “But I’m down for whatever. I got a new number.”
He fishes his phone from his pocket. I grab mine, and we recite our numbers to each other.
“You know,” he starts with hesitation, “I’ve always wanted a big brother.”
I wink. “You have one now.”
He grins wider before pointing to my cart. “That’s a lot of food.”
“My parents are having a dinner on Christmas. You’re more than welcome to come with me if you’d like.”
“Maybe. Aunt Chloe is making dinner on Christmas.”
“That’s scary,” I joke.
He laughs. “I know, right? She wants us to have a traditional Christmas dinner.” He pauses, and all friendliness on his face has disappeared and is replaced with sadness. “I’m worried about her. Gloria and I always spent the day with her, and now …”
I nod in response. “You be there for her, okay?”
“I’m trying my hardest to.”
* * *
Trey textsme the next day.
He asked Chloe if it was okay for him to hang out with me, and she approved.
We go out for pizza, and I take him to the arcade. We have a blast. He says Melanie has been hanging out at the house to keep Chloe’s spirits up. He’s still worried about her, and he knows she’s hiding her sadness.
We brainstorm, coming up with ideas to help her through her pain.
32
Chloe
Christmas has never been exciting for me.
The holidays were never bright and cheery, growing up. When I was younger, I didn’t know how I always managed to be on the naughty list. No matter how good I acted, Santa never visited our house. I never received coal either, so it was a confusing time for me. I promised myself that Trey and Gloria would never doubt where they stood with Santa. I worked my ass off to give them a decent Christmas every year.
This year, I’ve made an entire Christmas dinner with more food than Trey and I could eat in a month.
“I wish she were here with us,” Trey mutters when I hand him his first gift. He frowns at the box, as if it’s wrong for him to open it.
My brows scrunch together when he drops the box and grabs his phone after it beeps with a text message.
“Oh, yeah,” he says. “I forgot to tell you that Mr. Garfield said they had extra pies at the market that are close to expiring, so they’re dropping them off.”
Trey brought up getting a job to me three days after Gloria’s funeral. He needed a hobby to take his mind off his mother going to prison and his sister’s death. I agreed and was surprised when he told me he’d been hired at Garfield’s Grocery.
