Page 16 of Pit Stop

Twelve

Odette

Lyle stumbles through the door and I jolt awake. Internally, I groan as I glance at the clock. Four in the morning… again. This is getting ridiculous. Not that I can say anything because if I do, I’ll seem ungrateful for everything Lyle has helped me and Odin with. It’s not that I’m ungrateful, I’m just so over Lyle’s lifestyle. As I sit up, I turn on the lamp from the bedside table. Lyle stops and looks like a child caught sneaking in after curfew. “Did I wake you?” he bellows.

I roll my eyes. “Yes, and if you keep yelling like that, you’ll wake up Odin too.” Based on the look on Lyle’s face he didn’t hear anything I said. Climbing out of bed I make my way to him. He reeks of smoke, both cigarette and marijuana, cheap booze and sweat. He’s clearly been partying all night. If I say anything about it there will be an argument and it’s the last thing I want right now. Besides, it’ll be the same excuse as always... it’s part of my job. We both know no matter what I’m not going anywhere. I can’t. I have nowhere to go. Once I make it through nursing school then I can get Odin and I set up somewhere else. “Let’s get you to bed,” I try to soothe Lyle into it. He stumbles a few more times before I manage to get him into bed where he falls back with a muted thud against the pillow and passes out. Snores fill the quiet room.

I make my way back around to the other side of the bed and sink down onto the mattress. My head begins to pound against my skull. Reaching over, I open the nightstand drawer and pull out a picture of my older sister Onyx, myself, and our younger brother, Odin. We all had a place before, but then everything fell apart. Our parents were killed, then our uncle and his wife took us in, but he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away about a year later. Our aunt kicked us out without a second thought. Onyx found us a place to go, and all was fine until she landed in trouble... big trouble. She’s been in the local jail for months now. Everything is falling apart and all I’m trying to do is keep it together.

My eyes wander over to Lyle. Lyle with his floppy dirty blonde hair, ocean blue eyes and perfectly tanned skin seemed like the answer to a prayer, but I was wrong. Yes, he let Odin and I move into his mansion and paid my tuition for college, but he’s just a spoiled, rich kid. He has nothing better to do than smoke, drink, party, and hook up. I think he only keeps me around to look good on his arm.

Turning the light off, I lie back in bed and send out a different prayer; but I’m almost afraid to. What if the answer just makes things worse? My alarm goes off a few hours later. I feel like I barely got any sleep. A large part of me just wants to bury myself under the comforter and forget the outside world exists, but Odin has school and I have some classes today and work in between. Unfortunately, I have to get up. After a few more moments I get up and stretch before heading through the house to wake up Odin. However, when I open the door, I’m met with him singing, loudly, in the shower. I smile to myself and head downstairs to make him some breakfast. Admittedly, I’m not much of a cook but I can cook a frozen waffle as good as the next person.

Just as the chocolate chip waffle pops up Odin appears around the corner. “Morning, Sis,” he greets me as he drops his backpack next to the stool at the island.

“Good morning,” I tell him in return. I spread peanut butter and slice up a banana to go on top before sliding the plate in front of him. “Juice?”

He shakes his head. Odin’s wavy, dark brown hair bounces in front of his eyes and he shakes his head to move it. I make a mental note to take him for a haircut later. “No thanks. I think I’d rather just have water.”

My eyes nearly fall from the socket at his words. This kid never drinks water. I have to force it down his throat. “Are you feeling okay?”

He gives me his lopsided smile, the blue from his braces catches the kitchen light. “Yeah, I’m just not in the mood for juice today.”

“Okay…” I place a bottle of water next to his plate. “Do you want one of those fancy coffees on the way to school?” Fancy coffee is our term for Starbucks or any other coffee house.

“Sure.” He nods his head and goes back to eating.

I move his hair from his eyes. “We’ll get a haircut soon too. Probably, tomorrow. I’m going to run back upstairs and get dressed. We’ll leave shortly.”

When I reach the bedroom, I head into the walk-in closet and grab a simple salmon colored sundress and a pair of white Converse. Once I’m dressed, I pull my wavy, dark brown, shoulder length hair up into a ponytail and swipe on a coat of mascara. Grabbing my backpack and purse I head back downstairs. “Are you ready?” I ask Odin.

Odin nods his head. “Here’s your breakfast, now let’s go get coffee.”

My heart warms at the fact that Odin, a sixteen-year-old, who should be rebellious and broody, thinks enough about me to make sure I eat. Wrapped in foil is a tortilla with cheese and bacon, my favorite. I guess it shouldn’t shock me because it’s always been the three of us against the world. When Onyx got put into jail the whole world changed. I wasn’t sure how we were going to manage, but we have. It’s not ideal but we’re still here. “Thanks,” I tell him, as I pat him on the back. He’s grown six inches in the last few months. He towers over me now. His chestnut brown eyes sparkle at the praise.

We head out to my car but stop in our tracks as a familiar face comes into view. Leaning against my car is the last person I expected. Odin takes off and pulls her into his arms, swinging her around. I stand, rooted in place, unable to formulate words or make my body move. She turns to me, her blue eyes meet mine, “Hey, Stranger.” Onyx’s voice pulls me from my frozen state and I rush forward pulling her into my arms. The three of us are together again.

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