AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A week passed, and no words were spoken between us. However, each time I glanced at her, she always seemed to be watching me in silence. Her wide eyes narrowed, as if measuring the competition. Measuring me. Perhaps, she saw me as a threat for Artynom’s attention, which was laughable to me, if that’s what it was. He certainly doted on her like a precious doll, and I saw how easy it was for her to carry on a conversation with him.
Yet, I didn’t feel threatened. If anything, I was the one who should be skeptical of her. Maybe I would’ve been, if I gave a shit, and I damn sure wouldn’t show it even if I did. Besides, the old man had a soft spot for strays. I knew that all too well. Hooking my keys around my finger, I took off out the door and headed to football practice.
When I returned hours later, I grabbed a bottle of water out of the kitchen and stalked up the stairs to my room.
Again, she was standing by her door, watching me like a little creeper.
Again, I ignored her as I passed through the door.
“You don’t like me being here, do you?”
I wasn’t in the mood to talk to this brat about whether I liked the living arrangements. And I wouldn’t appease her now.
“Does he not speak?” she asked, with a tinge of humor, and I heard her feet pad against the floor as she stepped closer. “Was that question too difficult for you to understand?” When she landed directly in front of me, she added, “Should I have Arty translate for you? Although, I heard you speak English the other day. Maybe you can only answer with selective phrases.”
“I understood perfectly what you said.” I glared down at her petite frame, and it irked me how she wasirkingme. “I haveselectivehearing, and I don’t waste my words on foolish conversations with bratty children.”
“Bratty children?” She quirked a delicate brow, obviously finding this whole situation amusing. “I am fifteen and hardly a child.”
“No?” I deliberately studied her heart-shaped face and pale skin. My eyes dipped lower to see the curve of her tits pushed up under her thin tank top as she crossed her arms. I’d never noticed before. Why did I now? My voice hardened. “You could’ve fooled me. Nor do I have a soft spot for so-called little orphans who materialize out of nowhere to try and scam my family.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you might think you have Artynom wrapped around your finger, but I’m not so easy to impress.”
“Ahh, you do see me as a threat.” Her eyes lit up as though she’d figured out some big mystery.
“A threat?” I laughed. “No. More like a grubby street urchin who somehow got her hands on the keys to the castle and is looking for a big payday.”
Instead of being offended, she answered serenely. “Birds of a feather.”
I tilted my head. “Come again?”
“Your situation and mine. Arty told me. He took you off the streets and gave you a home. You were a…what did you say? A grubby street urchin, too. How are our circumstances so different? You obviously see something in me that you see in yourself.”
“We have nothing in common.”
She smiled, apparently enjoying this conversation, while I had the overwhelming urge to toss her ass out the nearest window. Had since the day she stepped inside our foyer with that heavy-ass trunk. “We shall see, won’t we?” she retorted. Leaning up on her toes, she said in my ear, “If my intention was to rob you blind, make no mistake, it would not be difficult.” Her black hair cascaded over her shoulder like silk as I watched her spin around and flounce toward her room with a confidence that was both equally inspiring and grating on the nerves. Until she paused, and I had the wherewithal to spot something flying through the air at my face. Automatically, my hand shot up and caught it.
“Oops,” Sorina said with eyes raised and hand over her mouth. “Old habits are hard to break. You must be going soft after all these years of living like a prince, because that was far too easy.”
Realization struck me, and a red haze formed over my eyes as she entered her room, closing the door behind her. I glanced down at the wallet in my hand, half-filled with shock and half with embarrassment. She picked my pocket.
Sorina
—Age 15
Happy 15thbirthday. I can’t believe you’re almost grown up. I still remember the day you were born. I knew then you would be a shining star and make your mark on the world. Your mother would be so proud of you if she could see you now.
I swiped at my cheek, reading the tearstained birthday card my aunt had given me before her health took a turn for the worse, and she lost her battle to ovarian cancer. I probably read her words at least once or twice daily since her death. Desperately, I traced over the bold, beautiful handwriting as if touching the ink would make her words come to life. I inhaled the faint scent of lilac that she always wore.
I set the card aside, desperate for more happy memories, and pulled out the worn photo of my aunt, my mother, and me. I was only a baby when my mother died in a car accident. Aunt Adriana was my only known living relative, and she took me in. I only had a few pictures of my mom that my aunt had given me. The only other keepsakes of my mother were a gold cross necklace of hers and a scrapbook that my mom had started when I was born, and my aunt kept up it with after Mom died.
I flipped through the pages of the scrap book; there were more photos of my aunt and I over the years. School pictures, birthday celebrations, me posing in a pink leotard on a balance beam, and so many more pictures of me from gymnastics, since I’d been in the sport most of my life. I also had every birthday card she’d given me over the years. Again, I picked up my latest birthday card from her and slid it into a blank page, swiping another errant tear.
I never knew who my father was, and Adriana never spoke about him. The one time I did ask about him, my aunt scoffed and said he was a deadbeat druggie and abuser.
Sighing heavily, I rubbed my eyes. “I miss you so much,matusa,” I whispered softly, and closed the book before setting it inside my keepsake box that held all my cherished items that she had given me over the years, which weren’t many, but anything I received I cherished.
