Page 7 of Melbourne
About the time she began telling her sister no was when she’d won a jackpot from the lottery.She’d been the only winner, and not only that, but it had been so big that even without all her investments, she would have been able to live a very comfortable life without having to work a single day since then.But she had, it was work or go crazy, so that’s what her sister thought she did.Was working as staff for the restaurant when, in actuality, she owned it.Justine knew nothing about her winnings, nor the fact that she owned the restaurant, and she wanted to keep it that way.
“What do you want?”Justine pouted at her and told her she should be nice to her because it was her birthday month.“I’ve said this to you before, but you’re a little too old to be having birthdays for the entire month and expecting me to purchase you something after all this time.”
“Why do you have to be so mean to me?”She shrugged her shoulders and said that she made it easy.“I’m coming in, and then we’re going to go out to dinner when you change.You’re paying.”
“No.First off, I’m too tired to want to have to entertain you, and secondly, I have to work in the morning, so going out with you means that I’ll be late coming home, and I don’t want to do that.Go out and have dinner yourself.Lots of people do that.”She said that she never went out to eat on her own.“Well, you’re missing out on a great time with yourself, and that’s all I have to say about that.Other than again, no, I’m not going out to dinner with you.”
“It’s the least that you can do since you wouldn’t allow me to buy myself something nice from you.I got my deposit back from your last gift, but they were very testy about it with me.”She said she didn’t care.“Come on, Sammy.Take me out to dinner.I promise not to beg you for money to get me something.And if you do, I’ll allow you to pick out the place we go, so long as it has cloth napkins.I know you’re more comfortable with napkins out of a dispenser as well as your food coming out of aStyrofoam box, but I want something nice.It’s my birthday today, and I want you to take me out.”
“I can pick.”She promised her that she wouldn’t complain and that it really had to have cloth napkins.“All right.But we leave when we’re done eating and not lingering around after until the place closes.I really do have to work tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep.”
“Deal.”Opening her door, she remembered that she’d not cleaned up after herself this morning when she’d left, as she’d overslept.As her sister chatted on about where she was going to get to go, Sammy went into her bedroom to shower and change.She smelled of food and didn’t want the lingering smells to put her off any more than she had to.As soon as she was finished, she met her sister in the living room, where she was watching television.
“You should get yourself a bigger television.This one is smaller than mine, and while I like the fact that you have something not as nice as I do, I know this thing is from when we were kids and used to watch it in our rooms so that we’d have something to do when we were locked up.”Sammy told her sister that it still worked.“Of course it does, it weighs about fifty pounds too.Did you know that they make televisions as thin as a cell phone?What am I talking to you about a cell phone for?You don’t have one of those either.You must be the only person in the world who has a house phone to use.”
“I doubt that.And besides, I really don’t need to be bothered by the phone when I’m home.It makes it so that I can get a good night’s sleep for a change.”Justine huffed at her, and she had to laugh.It would be like her to think that she doesn’t have anything to do with the twentieth century.“Are you ready to go?I am.Remember the rules, Justine, or I’ll leave you with the bill when I walk out.”
The restaurant was nice, and the food was good and solid.She ordered what she wanted, not worrying about the calories, while Justine fussed about everything being full of carbs.After clearing her throat for the second time, she ordered and gave her menu to the waiter.Then she glared at her.
“I should have known that you’d take me to a place like this.”She asked her what was wrong with it.“Everything is so Italian.Next time that I make a bargain like this with you, I’m going to insist on it being a place that has no pasta.”
“Make too many stipulations and I’ll pass on taking you out.I love it here.It’s a calming place, the staff is really good, and you can get all the salad you want.If you wanted no carbs, I know that the salad here is good for you.It’s why I love this place so much.”She huffed again, and Sammy decided to ignore her for the people sitting around them.
She loved places where people were.She didn’t care for dealing with them all the time, but she did enjoy listening to them as they talked around their table.Sometimes she’d get a bit of gossip, other times she would figure out why she didn’t like dealing with people.Sammy thought that all men and women were selfish and rude to others.Just like her parents were.
“I saw Dad the other day.He’s looking old.”She turned to look at Justine.“He was coming out of the hardware store.It looked more like he was being thrown out, but I didn’t hang around to see what that was about.”
“You need to be more careful.What if he’d had seen you?Or Mom?What would you have done then?”She said that she was forever careful not to be around them, that’s why she saw him.She’d been making sure he wasn’t around her.“They’re dangerous, you know.And won’t hesitate to hurt you if they can get to you.”
“I know that better than you do.”She nodded and asked her if she’d seen their mom.“No.Not to say that she wasn’t hanging around him, too, but I saw him and left the area.I was terrified that he was going to see me.I thought for sure that he’d be dead by now.”
“One can only hope, Justine.”She filled her plate with salad when it arrived at their table.She noticed that Justine had done the same to her plate.“What are you doing hanging around a hardware store anyway?I thought that you had a handyman at your place who does all the repairs.”
“I wasn’t at the hardware store, but walking by it.I needed to get something for my washer.Did you know that you’re supposed to wash your washer once in a while to keep it in good working order?Dumbest thing I ever saw, but I read up on it yesterday, and they say that’s true.It also keeps your clothing from staining too much or something like that.”Sammy told her that she had nothing todo with the washer and dryer at her apartment complex.“You still share with the others in your place?That’s just gross, Sammy.When I moved this last time, I made sure that I had my own hookup for a washer and dryer.I wanted to be safe when I went to wash my clothing.And it’s nice to have my own set when I think about how many germs are going through the ones there.You should think about moving into my place.They have a lot of rules, but they take care of me when I need it.”
“I have no intentions of moving anytime soon.I’ve lived there for the last ten years and I’m going to be living there for the next ten.”After getting a second bowl of salad, she declined the breadsticks.She thought that they were all right, but she didn’t care for them on the whole.She wasn’t a bread eater to begin with.“What’s going to happen to you this winter, as you no longer have a car?I thought that you liked driving everywhere.”
“I hated having to keep up with the rules all the time.And twice, the condo place that I’m living in said that I was to be fined if I parked my car illegally again.It’s cheaper for me to have someone drive me around than it was for me to keep a car.Without having to pay for insurance, I save myself money for as much as I use the driving service that is part of the place I live.They even go to the grocery store once a month so that I can hitch a ride on one of the buses they use.”She told her that would get old fast.“Not for me.I love not having to worry about things like that.It’s just one more thing to get in the way when I’m trying to do something.I kept forgetting where I parked my car and had to walk home anyway, so this is saving me the heartache.”
Once their dinners were brought to them, it was Justine who suggested they have desserts before they left.Since she never counted calories or bothered with carbs, Sammy said it was fine by her.She could take it home and eat it tomorrow for breakfast if she was too full to enjoy it tonight.However, once they were finished with their dinner, they both had room for some of the cheesecake that they had in store.It was a great ending to a nice evening out with her sister.
“I had fun tonight.”She told Justine that she’d had fun as well and was glad that she’d bullied her into it.“You blackmailed me, but I find that I’m all right with that tonight.Thank you for dinner, little sister.”
“You’re so very welcome, big sister.”They parted ways at the restaurant parking lot and made their way to their homes.Neither one lived far from the place, which was one of the reasons she’d thought of it, and it was a perfect night for walking home.Just as she was leaving the lot, she saw her parents as they were sorting through the dumpster at the place they’d only just eaten at.Looking around for Justine, to make sure she was safe, Sammy hid behind one of the larger trees on the lot and made sure they couldn’t see her.
Sammy had left home one night when she was sixteen years old.Justine had stayed; she couldn’t get her to leave home for any amount of persuasion.To this day, she still didn’t know what had happened to her sister when her parents were released from jail.When the two of them had been put in prison for eight and a half years, later that same year, Justine had stayed at the house like she was still terrified that they’d come home and find her gone.That was when she made a life for herself without them around.It took Justine another five years of never leaving the house—with her bringing her food and water to live off of, before she finally left.The house was torn down the following year because of gentrification going on in the neighborhood.It was the best thing that had ever happened to the street that they’d grown up on, if anyone were to ask her.
When her parents moved on, obviously finding something to eat in the dump, she made her way carefully to her home.She didn’t know what they’d do to her after all this time, but she wasn’t going to take the chance of her having to find out either.Having them out of her life made it so much better than it was even as a child.Sammy didn’t care if they were her parents; she didn’t like them at all and had no respect for them either.
Once she was home, she locked up and began sorting her own laundry.Her sister had never ventured beyond her living room, not even to go into the kitchen when she was over.But Sammy not only had a washer and dryer set of her own, she had also read up on the washing of her washer and did it when it was time.Sammy loved just what her sister said about washing her own clothing, tonot have to share her things, but she also liked being able to know that her things hadn’t been rooted through while she was gone from them.Putting in the last load, she was ready for bed when her house phone rang.
“It’s Storm again.I have a question for you.I’ve asked you this before, but does your sister know that you won the lottery?Or that you own the complex where you live?”She asked her why it should matter to her.“Because I’m trying to make you distracted while my son goes to your door.I’m afraid I can’t wait for the fates to try again.He knows what you are to him and is slightly pissed off at me because I told him.”
Her front doorbell rang, and she was just pissed enough to hang up on the other woman.But she kept her on the line so that she could hear what she had to say to her son.She wasn’t slightly pissed but royally pissed off and didn’t care who knew it.Opening the door for him, she was surprised to see not just him but her parents were on the sidewalk right outside the door.Dragging him in and shutting the door, she looked out the peephole to see if they had noticed her standing in the doorway.They didn’t seem to know she was right there, and now she had to contend with a man that she didn’t want in her life.
“Is everything all right?”She kept watching for her parents when she told him no, everything wasn’t all right.“I’m sorry to barge in like this…Well, that’s not what happened; you dragged me in here.I’m assuming that you don’t want the people to know that you live here.”
“They’re my parents, and you assumed correctly.”She turned and looked at him as he made his way to her couch.“Don’t get too comfy here.I’m tossing you right out as soon as I know that they’re gone.”
