Page 35 of A Lesson in Deceit
I hadn’t thought about coming home fully, until I’d read her text and saw that she’d asked. Her response came quicker than I thought it would.
MOM
Perfect, I haven’t touched your room, so it’s all ready for you.
Okay, I lied. I washed your sheets, but that’s because Beau left dog hair everywhere.
He misses you.
I miss you too. I’ll also get your favorite little gummy bears from that convenience store that looks unsafe, but you always say it’s fine.
I chuckled to myself, remembering that the only reason why I loved those gummy bears was because of my dad. I made him take me back to that place after I’d run out and my mom had a field day when she found out what this place looked like and that my dad had taken their seven-year-old daughter there.
My vision started to get hazy when the tears began to take hold, but Corrin’s name on my screen stopped them. I clicked to open her text.
CORRIN
You need to get over to my house. I’m sending you the address.
18
Riley
Traffic was worse than I thought, so instead of an easy thirty minute ride, I’d spent the last forty to fifty minutes in the backseat of my rideshare trying not to fidget. Corrin couldn’t have all the answers, but she hadsomething,which made me both nervous and giddy all at the same time. The fact that she’d said so little about this “lab” that she had at her house had me a little on edge, but I had decided to trust her, so I had to deal with what came with that trust.
Corrin lived in a neighborhood in one of the smaller towns called Seiros, closer to the water. We passed more condos than full blown homes as we drove by but regardless, they were nice, many of them with gardens planted out front or wrap around fences. We pulled up to her concrete driveway, just as her front door was opening.
Her house was the color of the ocean with shingle roofing and way too many wind chimes out front. The breeze that the water blew in had them all moving musically. She was clothed in jean overall shorts and a bralette when she ran over to me barefoot. Her tight curls were in a multitude of twists on her head, pushed away from her face with a silk headband.
“Finally!” she yelped, grabbing my hand and rushing back inside.
The door slammed behind us and I looked at the shoes next to the front door, taking that as my cue to remove my own.
“What did I tell you about tracking dirt into this house?” A stern voice that made me want to stand up even straighter asked.
“Sorry, sorry, I know, geez.” Corrin turned around and slipped on her flip flops that were sitting by the door. “It’s like she knows everything,” my roommate whispered.
The woman whose voice I’d heard stepped out from around a corner, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “I do know everything or really it’s that you are oh, so predictable.” She took the towel and lightly smacked Corrin with it.
“Riley, this is my mom.” Corrin pointed her thumb towards the woman, who was beautiful and tall. Her mom mirrored her dark skin and texture of hair. Her hair was also in twists, but they were much longer than her daughters. She had one stud in each nostril and an eyebrow piercing.
I smiled at the woman, who reciprocated. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Corrin! Get this damn cat out of here! He’s trying to eat the food!” A man yelled from what I could only assume was the kitchen.
Corrin rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh. “Jax! Stop bothering daddy and come here!” The sound of small paws rounding the corner sounded. An orange tabby circled around Corrin’s feet, rubbing up against her ankles and purring. His little nose leaned in to sniff me. He looked up at Corrin and gave the cat version of a shrug then went to inspect my shoes.
“He says you’re okay to stay and he trusts you,” Corrin explained.
“Who?”
“The little heathen over there.” Her mom wagged a finger at Jax. The cat turned its head up at us and trotted out of the room.
“Go to my room, Jax!” Corrin yelled, shaking her head. “He doesn’t love being told what to do, so I’ll likely find a tiny pile of shit on my bed.”
Footsteps sounded and a dark-skinned man appeared with the kindest eyes I’d ever seen. His curls were cut close to his head, but you could still see where they made tiny spirals. “I need to go get some basil from out back and the food should be ready soon. Ah, this must be Riley.”
The stunned look on my face at their familiar knowledge of me must have been funny. Corrin’s mom grabbed her daughter’s shoulder and shook it. “This one collects friends like umm, what was that one show, that monster collector thing…”
