Red Sun (35 page)

“Hey, I’m meeting Christina at the nail shop in about an hour.  You’re welcome to come along if you want to. 
For old time’s sake.”

I looked her in her eyes, seeing past what she was tr
ying to be to what she really is – a snake in the grass.  “No, thanks.  I’ve got plans.”  That wasn’t entirely a lie.  After taking my braids down on the ride up from Conway, I still hadn’t relaxed my roots and fixed myself up yet.  So, I had a real excuse for ditching her this time. 

Alicia didn’t even have it in her to pretend that she was disappointed that I’d turned her down.  Deep down she didn’t really want me to go – this was all a front for my father.  She shrugged nonchalantly and then left out.  I wanted to throw something at her, but nothing was close enough to grab. 

Aside from doing my hair, I stayed in bed all day, quickly feeling that same old depression setting in.  Tarik had called a couple times, but other than that my phone was silent all day – no Kaya, no Elan.  I think that bothered me a little.  I understood that Kaya might have been a little pissy with me because I was maybe putting my nose a little too far in her business the night before.  But what was Elan’s excuse?  He knew I left yesterday and he didn’t even call to check on me.  But I suppose the phone works both ways, doesn’t it.  I reached over to my nightstand without looking in that direction, and grabbed my cell.  His number was on speed dial so I pushed three and waited for it to ring.  Nothing.  It went to voicemail pretty quickly and I didn’t bother leaving a message.  I let the phone fall from my weak grasp to the floor and then turned to stare out the window again.

Just as I felt myse
lf drifting, I heard my father come in.

“You up?”  He asked.

“No,” I replied groggily.

He sighed and sat behind me on the bed.  “We need to talk, Solei.”

I rolled my eyes.  “About what now?  Made more major life decisions for me?”

“
A little less sarcasm would be nice.”

I took a deep breath and turned to face him, “Better?”  I asked snidely.

“Better,” he replied.  “Now I want you to listen to what I’m about to say and don’t instantly cop an attitude like you usually do.”  I knew just from that introduction that I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

“What happened now?”

“Nothing happened.  I just wanna run something past you.”  He situated himself on my bed.  “Alicia told me she invited you to get your nails done with her and Christina this afternoon.”

“Yeah……”

“So, why are you still here in bed instead of out enjoying yourself?”  He stared down at me, waiting for me to respond. 

I shrugged.  “I had things to do.”

He raised a curious eyebrow.  “Like what?  This?  Lying around like a sloth?  Keep it up and moss is gonna start growing on your back,” he joked.

I smiled a little.  “
Actually I had a date with a relaxer.”  I ran my fingers through my hair.  “See?”

“Yes,
it’s lovely, Solei, but why did that keep you from being sociable.  Can’t you see Alicia’s trying?  She keeps putting herself out there and you aren’t meeting her half way.”

I sighed.  “Dad, I hear you but….”

“No, Solei.  You’re out of excuses.  I need to see you making more of an effort to work this thing out.  Tonight at dinner you need to thank Alicia for the generous check that she wrote for you to get your car.  Did you forget about that?”

“No, I didn’t but I don’t need her money.  Ruthann’s giving it to me free of charge. 
So I can thank Alicia, but then I’m handing the check right back to her.”

He seemed shocked by Ruthann’s kind gesture.  “Well, that’s fine
.  I’m glad you’re not fighting me on this.  You should’ve seen how excited she was to be able to do that for you when I told her how well you’ve been doing.  It really meant a lot to her to come through for you.”

His words were going in one ear and out the other.

“So, you’re not gonna disappoint me and skip out on dinner like you did breakfast, right?  I can count on you to be present?”

I sighed again and then nodded.  “You have my word.”

My father smiled and then left the room, closing the door behind him.  I turned back over on my bed and stared at the ceiling.  The silver lining in this situation was that right after telling Alicia how grateful I am that she decided to buy my car, I’d get to turn around and shove it right back in her face and tell her that I didn’t need it – just like I don’t need her.

When it was time for dinner, I didn’t procrastinate getting to the table like I wanted
to.  Instead, I was seated before my father could even get there.  Alicia seemed startled when she walked into the dining room and found me sitting there.

“Oh……I wasn’t expecting you to be joining us tonight.”  She smiled the fakest smile I’d ever seen and then went to get another place setting for me – the guest.
  My father wasn’t expecting me to be so prompt either.  He smiled a little as he took his seat across from me at the table.  When Alicia returned, she brought my plate and then came back with a platter of spaghetti. 

I stared at my plate and tried to think of somethin
g polite to say; my dad would like that.

“The food smells great,” I finally blurted.  Alicia stopped what she was doing and stared, almost as if she was trying to determine whether I was talking to her.

“Um…..thanks!  Enjoy.”

“Yeah, Solei and
me haven’t exactly been eating gourmet these past few months.  I guess I should’ve taken you up on that offer to teach me how to cook a couple years back,” my father added.

“Well, once the two of you move back in
in a couple weeks, you won’t have to worry about that, now will you.”  She dropped a heap of spaghetti on her plate and glared at me from the corner of her eye.

I sighed just at the thought of this being my life again – seeing her and Christina every
day, living by her rules, under her roof.  All of a sudden I wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Solei?”  My father asked.

I looked at the food.  “Actually, my stomach’s a little upset.  I’m really just down here to.....be sociable as you say.”  I smiled sweetly and he shot me a warning look.  I leaned back in my chair and took a small sip from my cup.  I daydreamed while listening to the sound of his and Alicia’s forks clanking against their plates.

“So, your dad tells me that you’re really taking a liking to Conway.  What is it about the town that you like so much?”

That it’s far, far away from you…..
”Mmmm…..it just sort of grows on you after awhile.  The people there are really amazing too.”

She nodded and sipped her water.  “That’s n
ice.  Have you made any friends?”  She laughed a little.  “We all know that’s not your strong suit.”

I stared at her with a blank expression.  My father didn’t even seem to notice that she’d taken a dig at me as he shoveled food into his mouth like he’d never eat again. 

“A few,” I replied dryly.

She raised her eyebrows and nodded.  “That’s good.  I think Tarik misses you being here though.”

“We talk from time to time.”

“
Hm…”

I watched h
er from the corner of my eye and waited.

“Good thing is, when you
do
come back home, you’ll practically have the room to yourself.  Christina’s hardly home much these days.”

I looked at the empty seat to my left and only then realized that she was even missing from the table. 
“She taking summer classes or something?”  I asked.

Alicia had a slight grin on her face. 
“Girl, no.”  There was a pause while she sipped her water again.  “Christina’s got herself a boyfriend.”

“Really?”
  Christina had never taken her face far enough out of a book to even notice that there
was
an opposite sex.  I tried not to show how shocked I was.

“Yeah, been seeing this guy for about two months now.
  He’s really good to her – takes her to nice restaurants, takes her shopping, even decided to go to the same university so he can keep her close.”

“Well…….good for her,” I replied.  The second I looked back down at my plate, Alicia cleared her throat.

“Actually…..it’s kinda cute how they hooked up.”  My father finally looked up from his plate to hear this part of the story.  He appeared to be just as interested as I was.  “One evening the phone rang while the two of us were watching a movie.  Funny thing is…..the call was for
you
.”

I narrowed my eyes and
felt a lump in my throat.  “For
me
?”

She nodded. 
“Mmm hmm…..
Vince
.”  I wanted to strangle her – Christina too, maybe even Vince.

“
That’s
her new boyfriend?”  My father asked, finding it impossible to hide the surprise in his tone.

Alicia looked back and forth between the two of us.  “
Is that a problem?  I mean, Solei you two broke up nearly a year ago right?”

“Nine
months,” I hissed.

“Well, that’s plenty of time to get over someone.”  There was silence as my father and I both stared at her.  “I mean…..if I thought it would’ve been a problem I wouldn’t have encouraged it.”

“
You
encouraged it?”  My father was speaking the questions that I wanted to, but didn’t have enough air to even get the words out.

Alicia seemed surprised that my father was questioning her.  “Yes, Mike.  I did.  He’s a nice guy!  Just because
him and Solei couldn’t make it work doesn’t mean he’s damaged goods for everybody else too.  Does it?”

My father shook his head. 
“No, but…..within a family that’s
exactly
what it should mean.” 
Score
!  I was so glad he said it; however, both Alicia’s and Christina’s actions proved that neither viewed me as such. 

“I think I’m going back to my room,” I said quietly.  If I said anything more it wouldn’t be good for anyone.  I left my dishes right there on the table and
nearly ran from the dining room.  When I shut my door, I stared at Christina’s bed.  Of all the people in the world for Vince to be screwing, he decided to pick the girl I share a bedroom with.  I closed my eyes and sighed as a revelation hit me like a ton of bricks.  Poetic justice?  Possibly.  Here I was hurt that my ex was sleeping with my step sister…..while I was living with a much bigger, much darker secret of my own.  At least Christina and me don’t share the same blood and at least Vince waited until our relationship ended to get with her.  The only reason I even had a right to be upset was because of the part Alicia played in this whole thing.  I’m pretty sure that she was only for the two of them hooking up because she thought it’d hurt me.  She seems to live for that sort of thing. 

I sat on the edge of my bed in the dark and counted the minutes.  That of course made time pass more slowly, but there was nothing else for me to do.  I checked my phone and no one had called – not Kaya, not even Elan.  I took a deep breath.  It seemed that Alicia’s stunt had even caught my father’s attention this time.  Maybe, just maybe he was starting to see what I’d tried to tell him about her all along.  She has never
liked me, not even when I was little.  Back then she tolerated me because she knew that our visits would be short and after while, we’d be out of her hair again.  But once I moved in permanently, everything changed. 

“Knock, knock…..”

“Come in,” I said softly.

When my father entered the room, he had a look on his face that I don’t
remember seeing there before.  His eyes were apologetic, although he himself had committed no offense.

“You alright?”
  He asked caringly.

I nodded and then looked down at my hands folded in my lap. 

“Look, I’ll be the first to admit that what Alicia did was insensitive in the least.  Sometimes she thinks that everyone should be just as thick skinned as she is so she doesn’t really take people’s feelings into consideration all the time.  You get what I’m trying to say, don’t you?”

I nodded again. 
“Yup.  You’re still making excuses for her.  I definitely get what you’re trying to say.”

He sighed.  “Solei, that’s not what I mean.  I’m just trying to help you see her side of it.”

“Did you go try to help her see
my
side of it?”  I asked coldly.

My father lowered his head.  “I think she knows that she may have crossed the line.”

“But I suppose she’s too old for the same lecture you’re giving me, huh?”

“Solei, I’m not in here to tell you to get over this or how you should feel.  All I’m trying to do is help you see it from a different point of view.  Now, answer this; do you really believe that Alicia’s intentions were to hurt you in all this?  Or is it poss
ible that it’s just like I said, she didn’t think her actions all the way through?”