Page 19 of Illicit

He’s spread eagle on his back other than his bandaged arm. It’s resting over his face blocking the sun from his eyes. He’s wearing ripped jeans and a faded black T-shirt that’s almost as abused as his denim. It’s the same thing he wore yesterday when Uncle Brax dropped him off.

I bet he slept in it. He only has a small duffle bag to his name.

“Where are his parents?” I ask without looking away from our guest.

Mom busies herself with a stack of mixing bowls. “They’re not in his life. He’s starting over, just like us.”

“They’re dead,” Sammie announces.

I jerk at my sister’s words and gasp. “Dead?”

I don’t know anyone with dead parents. That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.

“Sammie!” Mom raises her voice.

“Well, they are,” Sammie drawls. “I heard Dad talking to Micah about it when they were doing something for his financial aid. He might’ve said something about being as good as dead, but whatever. I hope he’s smart enough to stay in college, otherwise he’ll never leave.”

I finally speak up and shove my sister in the process. “You’re so mean.”

She tries to slap me back. I’m too fast and shift out of the way, and she accidentally bumps into Mom.

“Enough!” Mom puts her foot down and doesn’t care that my sister wants to create a new identity. “Sammie, go to your room. Unpack and clean up the boxes. Don’t come back until you drop the attitude. Teagan, why don’t you go outside and ask Rocco if he’s hungry?”

Sammie pushes past me. “Oh, sure, perfect Teagan. I have to clean boxes and all she has to do is play waitress to the orphaned houseguest. Why did we have to move here? My life is ruined!”

She runs out of the kitchen and stomps up the stairs.

Mom turns to her open box, and this time, her order isn’t a suggestion. “Go, Teag. Check on Rocco. I’ll help you unpack your room later.”

I don’t move as I stare out the back of the house toward the boy who has nothing to unpack.

Mom stops what she’s doing and turns to me with a sigh that’s different from the one she reserves for Sammie. She places a gentle hand on my cheek and forces me to look up at her. “I know we’re starting over with school and friends. That’s never easy. But this is a good move for your dad, and we can be closer to Grandma and Grandpa. That boy won’t be here forever. This is a transition for him. Your Uncle Brax wouldn’t bring him here if he didn’t trust him completely.”

Uncle Brax isn’t really my uncle. Not the way my other aunts and uncles are that we hardly ever see. Brax has worked for Dad for as long as I can remember, but he moved away for two years. We didn’t even see him at Christmas, and we used to see him all the time.

It seemed like he was gone forever for work. Mom and Dad think they hide things from us, but I could tell they were worried.

Now Brax is married. His wife’s name is Landyn. She’s young and funny and pretty. She’s also friends with Rocco.

At least that’s what Dad told us yesterday when Brax dropped him off.

Mom pulls me in for a hug and presses her lips to the top of my head. “I’ll make this easy on you and order pizza. Ask Rocco what he likes. We’ll start on your room as soon as I find the dishes. Rocco will be here with us until he goes to college in August. No time like the present to start talking to him. Sammie will come around.”

I doubt Sammie will come around. Even so, I don’t like it when people are sad.

Other than Sammie. She’s never sad. She’s just grumpy.

But the boy sprawled by our pool looks sad. He has ever since he got here yesterday. But who wouldn’t be sad if they didn’t have parents, their arm is bandaged, and everything they own fits into a duffle bag.

We could barely fit everything we own into two gigantic moving trucks.

Mom goes back to her box, and I force myself to go outside. Rocco doesn’t move a muscle when the sliding door shuts behind me. The sun blazes so hot, I feel it through my flip flops as I walk slowly across the patio to where he’s sprawled.

“Hi.”

He doesn’t budge.

His brown hair is almost golden, and he’s tan in a way that comes from the sun—not like Sammie and me. My dad is a mix of everything, and my mom was born in Miami, but my grandparents are from Puerto Rico. Sammie is fairer than me, but our eyes are as dark as our hair.

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