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“I don’t know what to say,” Maxine said. “That’s beyond mean.”
“It’s, like, serial-killer-levelpsychois what it is.” Jin looked horrified and outraged, a gratifying combination. “What did your parents do?”
I shrugged, feeling the old wounds ripping open. “I was grounded from the computer for a month. My mom felt my stories reflected badly on the entire family. She was pretty embarrassed, which I suppose I can understand.”
Maxine set her wine glass down with such force that wine sloshed up the sides of it, coming perilously close to the rim.
“Yougot punished? What the actual fuck, Sutton? Please tell me that your troll of a sister also got punished.”
I shook my head. “She denied that she was responsible, and I didn’t have any proof.”
“The files were on your home computer! What more proof did they need?” Jin threw his hands up incredulously. “Seems pretty obvious to me.”
“The files were password protected. My parents thought this was textbook attention-seeking behavior.”
“And let me guess, your password was something super sophisticated, like your name and birth year?” Jin rolled his eyes when I winced. “I’m going to destroy your sister’s credit as soon as I get home.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m pretty confident she’s ruined her credit herself.” I was oddly touched that Jin would offer to launch a cyberattack on my behalf. “I’ve managed to avoid being home at the same time as Sissy since college. Now I have to stay in the same house with her and do a bunch of wedding things.”
“Wow, you haven’t seen your sister in over a decade?” Maxine asked. I nodded. “Have you spoken to her at all?”
“No. Sometimes I break down and stalk her social media, but that’s been the entirety of our contact. She moved to LA after college, so it wasn’t really that difficult.”
“And you had no idea that she was even engaged to this guy until you talked to your mom this morning?” Jin followed up.
“No. I knew that she was back in town, but I had no idea that she was dating Macon. I have no clue how any of this happened.”
“I kind of thought you were being a drama llama this morning, or finally having that mental breakdown that’s been brewing for years — ”
“Rude!” I cut Maxine off.
She just ignored my interjection “ — but after getting the entire story, I feel like a freak-out was definitely called for. What are you going to do?”
“I have to go home; I don’t have a choice. My dad’s injured and they need the help.”
“This is probably a stupid question,” Jin began, “but can’t Sissy help since she’s home?”
“Yeah, altruism isn’t a word in Sissy’s vocabulary. Any act of kindness from her is strictly PR-related.”
“Helping your parents is one thing, but you don’t have to be involved in this wedding,” Maxine pointed out. “I wouldn’t evengoto the wedding if I were in your position.”
“I couldn’t do that. My mom would be devastated if I didn’t go to Sissy’s wedding.”
“Yeah, remind me why we care about what your parents want?” Jin asked. “Because, and I’m sorry but I’m just being honest here, they seem pretty terrible, too.”
The joy I felt at their outrage on my behalf almost overwhelmed my need to defend my parents. But I didn’t want their opinion of my parents to be based entirely on our collective worst moments.
“They’re not terrible. Yes, my mom is completely blind when it comes to Sissy, but she wasn’t a bad mom. She just didn’t always know what to do with a daughter like me. My daddy was always great, though. He’s the one who convinced my mom to stop putting me in pageants. Mama thought I should try again, that I could get over my stage fright, but Daddy knew my heart wasn’t in it. And I think he understands that Sissy can be really manipulative.”
“Looks like you’re going home, then.” Maxine twirled the stem of her glass between her fingers.
I sighed, resigned to my fate. “I’m going to go home and face my demons. Literally.”
With that, I picked up my wine glass and drained it. This felt like the perfect time to develop some drinking skills.
4
Whoever said you can’t go home again was a big fat liar, because inevitably, your daddy will fall through a rotted floor and bust his leg. Next thing you know, you’re headed down back-country roads late on a Friday afternoon on your way to help out, since your good-for-nothing, selfish sister, who just so happens to be engaged to your unrequited crush from childhood, can’t be bothered to help anyone.
