Page 22 of Legacy of Smoke
Oh,fuck. Sprout.
I stepped in front of him and spilled out my sins before Jackson or Wolf could rat on me. I ended with, “I’m sorry man, and I’mnotsorry. I will do right by her, I promise.”
For as long as I’ve known Sprout, I never quite knew exactly how tall he was until that day. He towered over me. And I was staring up into my best friend’s face, and it wasn’t his face there. It was the ghost of his father staring down at me with murder in his eyes. “You better. If you don’t, Pinner won’t have to put a hit on you. I’ll kill you myself.”
7
I CALLED DIBS
POPPY
There was no way I could have known. I replayed all the conversations in my brain and tried to figure out whether I missed a hint or a clue. I realized that Austin had avoided the topic of Lily at dinner with Wolf and Tits. Was that guilt? Meanwhile, I had an out-of-control sister to make peace with. “I didn’t plan to sleep with your boyfriend. Honest. Please forgive me?”
“I’m not listening to you.” Lily grabbed one of my grocery totes and started filling the bag with food from the cupboards.
“I really am sorry. I didn’t know.” How was I supposed to? She was gone. I barely had time to talk with her before she passed out.
She stopped mid-pack and pinned me with her glare. “Oh, bullshit. He was right there at the construction site. I called dibs. You weren’t even interested in him for fuck’s sake. But you had to take him. I suppose that was easy, too. You always get the best stuff and fuck me over!”
“I—” Whatever I was going to say cut off because I suddenly realized she was right. I had the mom who cared. I had the dad who loved me first. I had this house, and a job, and shehad nothing. And that was proven when she started rummaging through her dresser. There were about four t-shirts in there. The sole pair of jeans folded next to them was kid-sized. She threw those to the floor.
When she saw me in the doorway, she whipped me the bird. “I’m going home.”
“This is your home.”
“No, it’s not. It’s yours. Dad gave it to you. I got nothing. Not even a fucking car that works.”
“Where is your car?”
She muttered, “Broke down piece of shit.”
That didn’t answer my question. “Where is it? Maybe I can get it towed.”
“Fuck you.” She shoved me as she exited her room and grabbed my favorite leather coat. “I’m outta here. Good luck with yourboyfriend. I hope he gave you crabs!”
I was done taking this shit. “If he gave me crabs, they’re from you!”
She whirled around, holding the doorknob to fire off a parting shot. “Say how you really feel. Tell me. I’m a slut, right? Lily, the slut. The evil sister. Well, fuck you. How does it feel to get nine inches up your cooch? Good? I hope you enjoyed my sloppy seconds. Ihateyou.”
Her exiting slammed door knocked a picture loose from the wall. It hit the floor, and the glass cracked into a million little shards. Like my heart.
The photo, one of Dad, Lily and I, was one of my favorites. We were a family. Well, Dad and Lily were. I was odd out. Back then, they both had honey-kissed fair hair. Their eyes were blue-green. They had freckles, for crying out loud. I wanted freckles. But instead, I looked like Mom. That made me the one that got singled out either as “new mistress” or best friend, but never daughter or sister. I threw out the frame and put the photo in mydesk so it wouldn’t get ruined. Then, I vacuumed the floor twice before I ate a pint of ice cream.
My phone rang, and I checked the number. It wasn’t Lily so I silenced it. Then I fiddled with the settings so the only call I would get was from her number. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I wanted my sister back.
Twenty minutes later, two bikes pulled into my driveway. The rumble of their motors cut off and a few seconds later, someone pounded on my front door.
“Go away.”
“Popsicle, open the door. You don’t want me testing my new boots. They say the composite toe in them is stronger than steel. And fair warning, your door ain’t steel.” Sprout’s tone was jovial, but there was an underlying thread of urgency and anger in it. Usually, I only heard that when he got pissed off at a party. Having it aimed at me made me feel guilty.
Well, guiltier.
I opened the door and promptly shut it on Sprout’s boot. Austin was with him.
“Ow.” Sprout pushed the door back open. “Warn a guy before you smash his foot in the door.”
“It wouldn’t have gotten smashed if you left that asshole at home.” I sent Austin a non-verbal fuck you with my middle finger.
