Page 28 of Vipers & Roses

“I’m Rae,” I return.

“I know.”

Dad pipes up to cool the intensity, “C’mon, Rae, you know I have no problem consuming both.”

There are no chairs, so I step back inside to grab a chair from the dining table. Glancing at the time on my phone, I count down to when I announce it’s time to leave. Unfortunately, Gavin, the prick, shifts his chair over to give me a space, and if no one were watching me, I would’ve rejected him. But because I don’t want to make a scene, I move my chair next to him and avoid his eye.

“This is Gavin,” Max states, “Hannah’s brother.”

Now I know the connection between The Pig and Max’s new GF. “We’ve already met,” I snap, and Max frowns in confusion and opens his mouth to scold me when Gavin butts in and says in a slimy voice, “I don’t remember meeting you before.”

Anger boils beneath my skin, and I have to use every ounce of strength not to punch him in the face. I clench my jaw to stop speaking out and turn my attention towards Dad, who’s now back at the barbeque cooking the corn on the cob.

Gavin adds quietly, “You must’ve confused me with someone else.”

Okay, so this is the game we’re going to play? Fine. I have no problem ignoring him for the entire day.

“We knew you’d be late, Rae,” Mom yells down the table, “because you have to travel so far, so we told you 1 pm and everyone else 2 pm.”

“And she still turned up late,” Max points out, and his girlfriend smirks. I feel so out of place in my childhood home, as if outsiders are replacing me. Wait. Aren’t I supposed to be happy about this? Isn’t this what I always wanted?

“Can I get you a drink, Rae?” Gavin asks politely, and I glance at the faces of Max and Hannah opposite me. I see smirks and mischievousness in their eyes as if they’re plotting my demise. Yuck. They’re hoping Gavin and I might hit it off. My stomach turns. I’d rather die than let that man touch me.

“No, thanks,” I answer without looking at him and turning my body away from him towards Dad at the barbeque. I would never drink a beverage he made me for fear it was spiked.

“Rae!” Rory bellows my name from down on the beach, sitting on his brand-new bike. This is my escape from the shithead next to me.

“Rory!” I call back, rising from my seat to run down the wooden steps to the small fenced garden and the gate that opens onto the beach.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Mom calls after me as I run down the stairs, feeling my heart open up to freedom the further away from Gavin and my family I go. “Have something to eat first.”

“I’ll come back,” I assure her. I fly through the gate onto the sand and immediately flick my flip-flops off, burying my toes in the warm, soft sand.

I can feel Gavin watching me, so I lure Rory further down the beach past the neighbors’ trees that block his view and begin to plot what excuse I will use to leave early. If I can handle it, I’ll stay for another hour, maybe two, and then leave.

“Let me have a go, Ro,” I tell Rory, and he climbs off the bike. I might be a terrible daughter, but I’m a great big sister, and I’ll spend most of my time here with Rory having fun.

Riding on the sand is difficult, and I keep skidding and lose my balance, almost toppling off. Usually, this would send me into laughter, but a brick of acidy nausea sits in my stomach, pulling me out of the moment with Rory.

“I’m hungry,” he finally says after about twenty minutes.

“I bet you’ve been eating all day,” I tease, giving back his bike and wiping my sweaty brow with the back of my hand. As we walk back to the house, impending doom descends at not wanting to see Gavin again. “How long has Max been dating Hannah?”

“Um, I don’t know. A few months, I guess,” he answers, showing his lack of enthusiasm for the conversation. I can hardly blame him because most adult conversations, even for me, are incredibly dull.

Last time I was here, Rory begged me not to leave, but this time, now he’s older, he seems to accept that I have a life elsewhere if you call squashing aphids and cleaning up a bloody mess left by a hitman and his crew.

As the house comes into view, I spot Gavin leaning over the balcony with a glass of beer, gazing at the ocean. I close one eye and pretend I’m raising my handgun, but it’s probably too far away to strike him. I’d need a long-range rifle for that. Maybe Blake could get one of those on the sly and teach me how to shoot it. Hey, why not become a sniper? Now, that’s unrealistic, but one can fantasize.

Once back on the balcony, I grab a plate and toss potato salad, coleslaw, and sausage. Then, I lean against the railing by the barbeque, away from Gavin, to strike up a conversation with Dad.

“Are you staying over?” Dad asks.

“No, I need to leave before dark as I have an early start tomorrow in my job,” I lie, and I suspect he knows I’m lying but doesn’t pull me up.

He glances back at Mom, chatting with her new daughter, Hannah, and Max, and points his thumb at her. “What don’t you invite your mother down to Torres for a girls’ weekend sometime? She really misses you.”

I sigh. “Maybe when the school term is finished.”

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