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Zachary continues, ‘Jasper, between jogs, spends most of his time avoiding Katherine, who, may or may not have, shagged Caleb. Instead, he spends most nights alone, drinking, and pining irritatingly about Ariella over the phone to me. Sorry, mate, she needs to know. Now, Scraps, who started this whole thing off, because she wanted to “go and find herself” or whatever—’
‘That’s enough now, Zachary,’ my mother interrupts, giving him a stern look.
‘Mom, we need to stop pretending. It’s ridiculous. I love these lunches, but this one really sucks. We’re all sitting here being nice to each other, but we all know Margaret wants to kill Aari, Daddy wants Jasper back, and Phil and I just wish Jasper would grow some balls and either talk to Aari or leave her the hell alone. Though making her come back might no longer be an option, because a few things are off.
‘Caleb, for some strange reason, isn’t his usual self, and hasn’t cracked on to anyone or flirted with Mommy yet. In fact, he’s pretty much running away from Katherine’s advances under the table. He could be having an off-day, but he hasn’t looked at Aari once during lunch. Aari, by the way, just happens to be wearing her hair down like she never does, ever, and is covering up what look like bruises on the side of her neck with a scarf. Seriously, Scraps? A flashing neon sign pointing to your neck would’ve been less obvious. If I were to take an educated man’s guess on how they got there—’
‘That’s enough!’ Mommy gets up, banging her hand on the table.
I can’t remember the last time I saw Mommy so upset. Everyone looks at me. I look at my plate. I cannot look at Daddy. Yup. They all seem to have come to the same educated guess Zachary was about to share. Jasper gets up.
‘A word outside please, Caleb,’ he demands, walking into the garden without waiting for a reply.
Caleb gets up and sighs. ‘Well done, Zachary. You just threw your dad, your sister and your best friend under the bus. I hope you’re thrilled. For the record, nothing happened with Katherine. Anyone wants me, I’ll be outside, being Jasper’s punchbag.’
He follows Jasper, closing the sliding door behind him. There is silence at the table.
Zachary says, ‘I just thought we—’
Mommy holds her hand up. She is livid.
‘Aari, Katherine, would you help clear the table please? I suspect we’ve all lost our appetites.’ She starts stacking plates of half-eaten food.
‘We’d better go home,’ Phil announces as he and Margaret stand.
‘I’m so sorry. I forget these kids can be so young and soexceptionallystupid,’ she says, staring at Zachary.
Daddy gets up next, silently heading into the living room to turn on the TV, leaving Zachary and Isszy at the dining table, talking. Well, Zachary is talking to Isszy. An infuriated Isszy has her back turned to him and is shoving Zachary’s hands off whenever he touches her. When I finish ferrying our plates and bowls to the kitchen, I join Daddy to face his disappointment. It is safest there.
I sit on the sofa and lay my head on his shoulder.
‘Aari, do you want to come back home for a while?’ he asks quietly, stroking my hair. Big, fat tears start uncontrollably rolling down my face.
‘No, Daddy, I’m okay.’
‘I love you, chicken, whatever happens. Your mom and I will always be here for you; even if I never see the light of day again, thanks to Zachary.’ He laughs softly.
I laugh too. ‘I love you, Daddy.’
After a while, Isszy comes into the room. Her eyes are red and angry.
‘Aari, have you had much to drink? Would you mind running me to the station?’
‘Of course, Isszy. Are you okay?’
‘Yes. I just need to head back.’
‘Where’s Zachary?’
‘It’s just me.’
‘Oh, okay. I’ll grab the keys.’
As I am leaving with Isszy, Caleb comes back in.
‘Hey, I’m just running Isszy to the station. Want to come?’
Caleb walks straight to the front door and grabs his coat without looking at me.
