Everything (23 page)

“So you guys want some food?” I joked.

“We have food to last us until the apocalypse,” agreed Aria.

“Now girls, most of this stuff can be frozen until ready to eat, especially the casseroles,” Mrs. D interjected.

Tina shot me a look.

“’Cause nothing says yummy like frozen tuna casserole for dinner,
mami
.”

“Especially the way Ida makes it.” Opal peeled back the plastic wrap and stuck her finger in the dish, making a face. “You girls are betta off without this one.”

“Auntie, no,” I shook my head. “No sticking fingers in casseroles.” So much for that casserole, not that I was fond of tuna anyway.

“I’ll take it. I can eat just about anything.” Riley held out his hand.

“Gross, Ri-Ri,” Aria said, making a face.

“You look familiar.” Opal narrowed her eyes at him. Riley’s eyes lit up momentarily.

“Well, I’ve grown up with your nieces and lived in town all my life.”
 

Opal tilted her head to the side as if she was studying him. “No, no. That’s not it. Wait! I got it.” She snapped her fingers. “You’re Maureen’s boy!”

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

“How is the old gal doin’?”

“She’s fine, ma’am,” he answered politely.

“I haven’t seen her around town since she was with that fella.”
 

This made Riley stand at attention, like a fat kid who spotted cake. “Fella?”

“She means a man, guy, dude, you know?” joked Tina.
 

Riley shot her an annoyed look but turned back to Opal. “Could this man be my dad? Do you know his name?”

“Whoa, young boy, slow down. M’brain foggy. I don’t quite ’member all that.”

“Please, it’s really important to me to find my father,” he pleaded.

“Riley, maybe it’s not the time for you to pursue that. Here, right now,” Tina stressed.
 

Riley looked around at the eyes staring at him and quickly bowed his head in apology.

“I’m so sorry. Here I am babbling on about trying to find the scum that walked out on me, and you guys just lost your dad.”

“It’s okay. It takes my mind off our drama,” I said dismissively.

“Yeah, really.” Aria nodded.

Riley turned back to Opal. “Still, maybe I can talk to you after everything has settled down?”
 

“I don’t know what good that’ll do you, but sure. What were we talkin’ ’bout again?”

The room erupted in laughter, all except for Aria, Tina, and me.

“I’ll tell you later, Auntie,” I whispered in her ear.

We could fit only about seven casserole dishes in the freezer and four in the fridge to hold us over for the next few weeks. The rest we either trashed because Aunt Opal stuck her hand in it or it smelled bad and looked questionable.

Around eight o’clock, I received a call from Officer Parks to talk to me about the accident.

“Hello?” I yelled a little into the phone, as I was in the kitchen and there was a debate going on as to what kind of casserole was on the table: corn, squash, or throw-up. My guess was throw-up.

“Hello, Miss Harper? This is Officer Parks from the highway patrol. Do you remember me?”
 

The knot that I had gotten in my stomach the first time I spoke to him was back. “Yes, Officer Parks. Hi.”

Aria tensed as she heard the name. Mick, who was actually not being an ass for a change, stood more at attention.

“I was just letting you know my report won’t be done for at least three weeks. We still have some evidence we need to go through from the accident.”

“Okay?” I said, not really understanding what he was trying to say. He said some other stuff that I didn’t really understand, and I had to stop him. “I’m sorry. You’re speaking French to me right now. Can you tell me in stupid people terms what this means?”

He chuckled. “I apologize. I’m not used to talking to family members about this kind of thing. Although my official report won’t be done until three weeks from now, it’s looking like it will be ruled an accident due to weather conditions. You would have to contact the medical examiner to get the exact cause of deaths if you so wish.”

Cause of death? Medical examiners? I didn’t feel so good.

“Dacey, you look green,” I heard someone say. The phone was being taken from my hand, and Mick was talking to Officer Parks now. Aria was asking me what he had said. Trevor came over and was rubbing my back worriedly.

“Dac, what did he say? Did he say who was driving?” Her eyes searched mine. “Dacey! Who was driving? What did he say?” she asked more forcefully.

Why was she so concerned with who was driving? Why was he talking about Mom and Wally like they were just
things
and not once people who had been loved?
 

“Dacey, talk to me!” Her eyes started to fill with tears now, breaking me from my trance.

“I’m sorry, A. He didn’t say who was driving. He just said it was an accident. That’s all.”
 

“Why were you looking like that? You scared me.” She let the tears fall.
 

I went to her and hugged her. “I’m sorry. He just kinda caught me off guard, and it brought it all back. That’s all.”
 

Aria put her arms around me and hugged me back. “Don’t do that, you jerk,” she sniffled.

“You’re right. I’m a jerk.”

Mick had walked out of the kitchen to talk to Officer Parks but was walking back in now that he was done and handed me my phone back.

“What did he say?” Aria demanded.

“He said the car crash was an accident due to weather conditions and that his report won’t be ready until about three weeks from today.”

“Oh, he didn’t say who was driving?” There was that question again. I pulled out of our hug and looked sideways at her. She hid behind her hair.

“No, he didn’t say. I’m sure it will be in his report. Why do you ask?”

“No reason.” She started playing with the end of her shirt.

“That’s why I suggested I handle it. The kinds of things being discussed are things you shouldn’t have to deal with.” He focused his attention on me.

“Thanks, I guess,” I said.

Mick announced he was heading back to Mr. Eugene’s and would see us in the morning for breakfast, if that was okay.

“Of course, Mick,” Mrs. D said happily, causing Tina to roll her eyes.

He bid his good-byes and left, prompting Riley to do the same. Aunt Opal and Mr. Eugene left as well, while Tina and Mrs. D started cleaning the kitchen. Aria stayed behind to help, while Trevor and I went into the living room.

I turned to Trevor as we sat on the couch.

“Are you staying the night again?” I hated the idea of him sleeping on the sofa, but I also hated not falling asleep in his arms at night. I was being selfish, but I didn’t care at the moment.

“I can, but I have to go back to work tomorrow. I was going to wait until later to tell you.” He noticed my face falling as he delivered the news.

“They have two people already on vacation. If I could, babe, I would stay until all of this was over. You know I want to be here with you,” he said, a pained look on his face.

“I know. I’m just being selfish.”

“You can be selfish with me anytime you want.”

“Apparently not.” I crossed my arms over my chest resentfully.

He pulled my arms slowly to unlock them. “Don’t be like that. You know it pains me that I can’t be by your side when I know you need me the most right now.”

I cut my eyes at him sideways. As much as I wanted to be mad at him, I knew I couldn’t be. I knew his life didn’t stop just because mine had. He still had a job and responsibilities he had to take care of, and for me to ask him to stop because my world had stopped was spoiled girlfriend shit. “I know. I’m sorry. I guess I just wanted you there in case things got too intense for me. You’re my island, and I know that you can always take me away,” I said.

He gave me a sideways hug, saying softly, “I’ll always take you away, babe, just tell me when.”

“Is now too soon?” I joked, not really joking.

“No,” he said seriously.

“As tempting as that is, I couldn’t do that to—”

“Your sister, I know.”

“I was going to say my mom and Wally, but her too, yes.” I frowned at the frown on his face.

“How are you doing with that?”

“With what?”

“Well, you keep referring to your mom, but your dad died too. I know that he and you didn’t get along too well, but he was still your dad. How are you dealing with that?”
 

What was he, Dr. Phil? If I wanted to be honest with myself, I tried not to think about it. I didn’t want to think about how it really made me feel, which was guilty.

“I’m fine. He was a dick to me, but I still loved him and I knew he loved me. End of story.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Can we not talk about this?” I pleaded.

“Sure, I’m sorry,” he said, although he seemed like he wanted to push it more.

“So when are you leaving then, since you’re not staying the night?” I said, changing the subject.

“You’re kicking me out already?”

“No, but I just assumed you wouldn’t be staying the night since you are going back to work in the morning.”

“I have my things with me, baby. I can stay with you tonight and leave from here. Besides, it’s closer.”

“I’m sorry you have to sleep on the couch.”

“I don’t mind, as long as I’m close to you.” He hugged me closer.

I sighed. I guess it was better that he worked tomorrow. It had been decided earlier that Mick, Opal, Aria, and I—just the family—would go to the mortuary and make the funeral arrangements tomorrow. Trevor wouldn’t be able to go to that anyway. “I don’t know how tomorrow will be, and I’m a little nervous,” I admitted.

“Just try to get through it the best as you can.” He shrugged.
 

Awesome advice, I thought
.
I leaned into him, about to get comfortable and relax, when Tina walked in the living room, followed by Aria.

“Hey.” Tina flopped down on the two-seater with her legs under her.

“Scooch over, Jussy.”

“All that seat over there?” Tina pointed to the cushion next to me.

“But I’m grieving, and I want to sit here,” Aria pouted.

“Oooh, how long did I say I was giving you?” Tina asked moving over.

“Two weeks.” Aria sat down happily.
 

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, thinking Aria was going to run that into the ground by the end of two weeks.
 

“So what’s going on? You two have a secret meeting in here or what?” Tina said.

“No, just some time alone with my girl,” Trevor specified.

“Oh, well, excuse
us
, Trev and your girl.” Aria rolled her eyes.

“We were actually talking about tomorrow.”

Her face fell a little and was replaced by a scowl. But the scowl wasn’t there for the reason I thought. “Does Uncle Mick have to go?” she asked grumpily. “I can only handle enough of his overbearing assness for so long.”
 

“Assness?” I looked at her with a small smirk.

“What? It’s a word,” she said.

“Yeah, okay,” I chuckled. “And, well, I don’t know. He’s the one who made the arrangements when they called today.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, why can’t I go? They’re my family more than his,” Tina argued.

“Hey, take it up with Mick.” I held my hands up in a defensive pose.

“Mick the Dick,” Aria mumbled.

My eyes went wide. “You too?”

She shrugged. “It’s catchy.”

“I’m going to check on my mom and let you girls...do whatever it is you girls are doing,” Trevor said. He stood up, motioning to his phone, and went into the kitchen.

“So what were you and the lump really talking about?” Tina pounced.

“Tomorrow, and that he’s going back to work.”

“What? He’s not going to be with you until all of this is over?”

“No, Tina. He has a life too. I can’t ask him to stop because mine has. It’s not fair to him or his mom, who does depend on his check, you know.”

“Still,” she mumbled something under her breath that made Aria giggle.

“Don’t start,” I groaned.

“What? I just think that the lump could put some more effort into being a better boyfriend to you, that’s all.”

“I think he’s a great boyfriend. He’s mine, not yours, so please lay off. I have enough shit to deal with. In case you haven’t noticed, my parents just died,” I huffed. I hadn’t realized I had so much pent-up anger in me.

“And you say I have to watch
my
mouth?” Aria scoffed.

“Aria,” I said in a warning tone.

“I got it, heifer, and just so you know, you have a pass too. But, it’s not nearly as long as your sister’s,” Tina said.

She got up and left, and I knew I wouldn’t be seeing her until morning.

“To the outsider, it looks like you two just had a fight.”

“Luckily, you’re not an outsider,” I smirked. It was true Tina and I had been having this kind of tiff since the sandbox, and it was never a big deal. It always blew over by the morning. I focused on Aria. “Are you going to be okay tomorrow?”
 

“Sure. We are just picking out funeral arrangements for our parents, no big,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, no big. You almost pulled it off.” I gave her a knowing look.

“I know I have a knot in my stomach thinking about it. I’m more ‘ugh’ about being around Uncle Mick all day.”

Who wasn’t “ugh” about being around Uncle Mick all day? I was just hoping round three of the Opal-Mick showdown didn’t break out at the mortuary and I’d be forced to act as referee.
 

Trevor came back in, and Aria gave me a hug good-night and went upstairs to bed.

“What happened to Tina?” Trevor asked.

“Do you really care?”
 

“No, no. I don’t,” he smirked.

“Didn’t think so. So how is your mom?”
 

He sat down on the opposite end of the couch, putting my feet in his lap, as I had stretched out when he got up. “She is fine. She sends her condolences and is sorry she couldn’t come by. There is no one to cover her shift at the library, and she couldn’t close it.”