Page 53 of Games We Play
Leah sighed. After bumping into Daryl, all she wanted was to run home and hole herself away in her room. Read her book. Watch some Hulu. Take a bath and go to bed early so she could deal with work the next day. Her mother would inevitably ask what her problem was, and maybe she would tell her… God knew this was a rare moment where Janet knew more about what was going on than anyone else.
How sad was that?
I’ve never told Melissa about Daryl…Had Daryl ever told anyone about her? Probably not. The man never had to live with the consequences of their actions like she had.Because it was my responsibility. I had to take care of it. I had to own up to what I had done. I had the most to lose.
“Earth to Leah,” Melissa said with a trill to her voice. “I was asking what book you got there. Something naughty?”
Leah pretended it was no big deal. After all, she only had a book about keeping kinky relationships healthy and happy. This was Portland. Everyone had a book like that! “Depends on your definition of naughty.”
“Let me see that.” Melissa grabbed the book before Leah could take it out of her reach. The book was soon flipped open to a damning page.I haven’t seen that chapter, yet she immediately finds a page about indulging in bondage for ultimate intimacy?“Oh my God. Are you really into this kind of stuff?”
Melissa slapped her hand over her mouth when she realized what she said. Leah fingered the fake buttons on her handbag.I can pretend I’m writing out my responses on this fake keyboard.Her response to Melissa right now?“Fuck you.”
“I don’t know about that. It’s intriguing.”
“I mean… it’s cool.” Melissa turned to a later chapter. It was the one about Doms and Dommes taking care of their lovers in the afterglow of their scenes. Melissa’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything.
“Can I have my book back now, please?”
Leah had to wait another half hour before Melissa was ready to take her home. The fact Leah could have walked home in that time may have crossed her mind – but she tried not to think about it.
Chapter 18
Leah did not expect to walk into a completely different kind of scene when she crossed the family’s threshold later that evening, yet that’s what she got when she found Janet and Karlie having an altercation in the middle of the living room.
“But I need it!” Karlie shook a piece of paper in her mother’s face. Janet, who was never a paragon of patience, shook in mounting irritation. “Simply say you can’t remember the combination to the safe! Otherwise, it sounds like I’m not allowed to ever look at it!”
Leah attempted to sneak past them and head upstairs to her room. Karlie rounded on her immediately.
“You’ve gotta tell mom to give me my birth certificate!”
Leah froze on the bottom step. The bookstore bag containing her recent purchase bumped against her knee.I would rather die than ever let Karlie see this.“What?”
“I need a copy of my birth certificate to apply to some of my colleges, okay?” Karlie’s exasperation must have grown worse long before Leah returned home, because she rarely heard this level of anxiety in her sister’s voice. “Some of them are due at the end of this week, but Mom won’t get it out of the safe for me.”
“There’s noneed,” Janet said. “We can request copies.”
“I’ve never seen it before. Why can’t I see it?”
Leah intervened as much as she dared. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen mine before, either.” That was a lie. She certainly had… when she applied for culinary school, for example. And when she acquired her driver’s license, which Karlie had yet to get. “Listen to Mom. She can get you copies to send. It would be silly to mail them your real copy. You wouldn’t get it back, and they’re not going to accept a Xeroxed copy.”
“So you’re on her side?”
Leah turned back around again. “I’m not on anyone’sside.What are you going on about? There are no sides to take here.”
“I can’t believe it.” Karlie threw her arms into the air. “You’re both ridiculous. What if I need my birth certificate for some reason? Besides, what am I supposed to do while I wait for the copies to come in? These places want two forms of identity, and I’ve only got my social security card! By the way…” she turned to Janet. “Why is it cool for me to have my own social security card, but it’s wrong for me to see my stupid birth certificate?”
“Those two things are completely different,” Janet insisted. “For one thing, it’s much easier to get a new social security card if you need it. They make you jump through serious hoops if you lose your birth certificate. Why do you think it’s in the fire proof safe upstairs? Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t need to see it.” Janet locked her fiery gaze upon Leah. “Right?”
Leah was compelled to nod. “She’s right, Karlie. It would be a nuisance to get it out for this. Everyone’s documents are in there, okay? If we need them for some reason, we’ll get them out.”
“Are we not legal or something?”
Janet gasped. Leah could only manage widened eyes at this point in her already overwhelming day. “What was that?” Janet asked. “How dare you ask such a thing. Do you not think you were born in this country, or something? What are people telling you at school now?”
“Come on, Karlie, don’t be silly. I was there when you were born. You’re as much of a citizen as I am. Besides… it was Grandma who came here from Honduras, not Mom. C’mon, Karlie. You’re too excited to be thinking clearly right now.”
“Unbelievable.” She pushed her sister aside and bounded halfway up the stairs. “You two aresounbelievable. If being an adult means having a rotted brain like you two, then I hope I never make it that far!” Her feet pounded against the rest of the stairs.
