The Pull of Destiny (18 page)

“I don’t have
the right books,” I said, clenching and unclenching my hands nervously.

Nate gave me a
scornful look. “You think you’re above us all, doncha?” he sneered. “
‘I
don’t have the right books!’
Just coz you go to a private school doesn’t
mean you don’t live in the ghetto, kiddo. You ain’t never gonna make it out of
here, so quit acting like you so special.”

I gulped, tears
springing to my eyes at his hurtful words. “I never said I was better than
anyone,” I started.

“My momma works
her ass off so you can get the education she thinks you deserve. I don’t know
why, you’re just a crack teen’s baby,” Nate continued, each word he spoke
hitting me hard. The sad thing was that he was right. I
was
just a crack
teen’s baby. And he wouldn’t let me forget that. “But she obviously sees
something in you that I don’t. So if you’re going to meet boys, you can just
head right back into your room.”

He smirked at
me, truly enjoying making me feel terrible.

“I’m not going
to meet boys,” I lied, my voice wobbling.

He shook his
head. “I see you going the same way as your mom,” he said, giving me a
disgusted look as he scratched his hair. “Let me hold thirty bucks.”

“I don’t have
money, Nate. I haven’t gotten paid yet.”

Even though
Nate had a job, he always took a certain sadistic pleasure in taking money from
me.

“You so
ungrateful! My momma feeds you, buys you all the things you ask her for and you
can’t even let your own cousin hold some cash? When we gave you a place to stay
and took you in like you were our own?” Nate asked incredulously, bearing down
on me. I backed up against the wall, trying to control my breathing.

“I get paid
today. I’ll give you the money when I get off work,” I said hastily, trying not
to breath in the alcohol fumes emanating from him.

“You better,”
he sneered, just as Aunt Kelly shuffled in from the living room.

Taking in the
scene at a glance, she asked, “What’s going on here?”

Nate took a
step back from me and gave his mother a fake wide smile that she didn’t respond
to. “Just a little cousin to cousin talk,” he said, sending me a warning
glance.

“Yeah, we were
just chatting,” I lied, giving Aunt Kelly a watery smile.
Damn Nate!
I
couldn’t understand his animosity towards me. It was almost like he was jealous
of me, despite our 9 year age difference!

“You weren’t
asking her for money, were you?” Aunt Kelly asked Nate, a knowing look on her
face.

Shaking his
head, Nate said “I don’t need money from her! She was just telling me she
wanted to go to the library, that’s it.”

“Is that true,
Celsi?” Aunt Kelly asked tenderly. I nodded.

“Yes, auntie, I
want to go study, then I’m going to work,” I told her.

“Have fun. Take
care,” Aunt Kelly said, smiling at me. I smiled back.

“Thanks,
auntie. Bye,” I said and scurried out of the apartment, just as Nate raised his
voice.

Let the
arguments begin afresh.
I was just glad I was away from Nate and his hatefulness. I loved him, he was
pretty much my older brother and the only family I had, but I found it hard to
like him.

CHAPTER 9

what happens in
little italy...

Celsi’s
Point of View

My path to the
Astor penthouse was unhindered this time around. Dracula was nowhere to be seen
as I walked into the lobby and met the Astor’s doorman, who rode up to the
penthouse with me, chatting about the New York Met’s. Dracula was probably
sleeping in his coffin, waiting for dusk so he could fly around Manhattan,
bringing terror and doom to the city. Call me paranoid, but I strongly
suspected the bat which had been hanging outside my window lately wasn’t really
a bat, if you know what I’m saying.

Mr. Smith, the
butler, met me at the front door like last time. His face brightened in
recognition.

“Good
afternoon, ma’am,” he said gravely, stepping aside to let me in.

“Hey, Mr.
Smith. How’s it going?” I asked, sniffing at the air discreetly. It smelt
amazing! Whatever air freshener the Astor’s used, I wanted in. Just one spray
of that would probably have the power to turn Nate into a saint! Well, okay,
maybe that was wishful thinking, but I was the biggest wishful thinker out
there.

“It’s going as
well as can be expected, ma’am,” Mr. Smith answered in his clipped accent. I
bit back a smile.

“I’m here to
see Luke. Is he in?” I asked.

Mr. Smith
nodded slightly, closing the door behind me. “As a matter of fact, he is,
ma’am. I’ll announce your arrival right away.”

I shook my head
before he even finished his sentence, my earrings jangling.

“No, please
don’t announce my arrival.” I nervously pulled on the hem of my top as Mr.
Smith gave me a slightly puzzled look. “I get self-conscious,’ I explained,
feeling like an idiot. Yes, it’s true, I hate being in the spotlight.

“As you wish,
ma’am,” Mr. Smith said, inclining his head towards me.
He’s probably
thinking, ‘this chick is loco’
. “Follow me, please. I’ll take you to Master
Astor.”

“You know, if
you’re not going to call me Celsi, at least call me Miss Sawyer,” I told him as
I trotted along beside him. “Ma’am makes me feel so old.”

Not like
anyone actually ever calls you ma’am, Celsi.

He nodded, a
faint smile touching his lips. “Very well, ma’am- Miss Sawyer.”

He led the way
to a different part of the penthouse than I was in last time as I tagged along,
whipping my head from right to left like a metronome, trying to look at all the
paintings and portraits on the wall. The penthouse was huge! I wondered how
many rooms it had. Our apartment had 6 bitterly small rooms but I felt a bit
stupid comparing it to this. I mean, you could actually get lost in here!

The wide hall
opened out into a large, airy room which was infinitely more welcoming than the
parlor. That could have been because of the cheerful fire burning in the
fireplace, or it could have been because of the laughter coming from Luke, who
was lying on his back, and the little girl he was tickling mercilessly.

From the corner
of my eye, I saw Mr. Smith open his mouth (presumably to announce my arrival,
even though I
asked
him not to. Force of habit, I guess) and I waved a hand
to stop him. I didn’t want to ruin Luke’s good time. And he looked like he was
having a good time, even though he had laughed at me when I said I worked at a
daycare.

Luke must’ve
seen the motion or heard us come into the room because he pulled himself up to
a sitting position, yanking the giggling girl on his lap and grinned at me.

“Hey, CiCi, you
made it!” he exclaimed, sounding delighted.

Was it just me
or did he sound way too happy to see me?
It’s just you.

Mr. Smith bowed
slightly and backed out of the room as I inched closer to Luke.

“Hey, Luke.
Sorry I’m a little late. The subway was running off schedule today and I
totally forgot it was a Saturday and...”

My voice
trailed off as I pinched my arm to stop myself from rambling.

Luckily, Luke
didn’t notice that I hadn’t said anything of substance.
Or maybe he noticed
and was just acting like he didn’t to be polite.

He glanced down
at his silver wristwatch then looked up at me. “That’s okay. I didn’t even
notice the time,” he admitted, biting his bottom lip as he smiled. “Faith was
keeping me busy, weren’t you?”

He tickled the
little girl again and she giggled hard, wriggling on his lap.
So this is
Faith!
I’d had no idea that Luke had a little sister. Their hair was the
same shade of brown (even though Faith’s was way neater) and they had
identically adorable grins on their faces. Anyway, I was sure that Luke wasn’t
the babysitting type.
I would have known he had a sister if I was a member
of his fan club.

“Luke, stop,”
Faith giggled, twisting her body away from Luke’s fingers. She eyed me
curiously and smiled shyly. “Hi.”

I smiled back
at her. I loved kids; they always made me feel happy. “Hey, there. What’s your
name?”

“I’m Faith. I’m
six years old,” she told me, resting her chin in her palm as she looked at me.
“What’s your name?”

“My name is
Celsi.”

Luke snorted
with laughter. “Wow, she handles introductions better than I do,” he said,
smoothing her hair, a proud look on his face. “She’s my baby sister. And she’s
five, not six.”

Pouting at
Luke, Faith said, “I’ll be six soon!”

“She looks like
you,” I said.

“Really?” Luke
looked down at Faith, hugging her shoulders. “I always thought she was way
better looking than me, though.”

Faith smiled
adoringly at her brother, reaching up to pat his cheeks with her chubby hands.
“You’re a cutie,” she assured him, saying the words I barely even dared to
think. She looked up at me again, a serious look on her cute face as she
creased her forehead. “Luke doesn’t bring girls who aren’t his girlfriend’s
home.”

“Oh,” I said
slowly, as Luke laughed louder. I noticed that he wasn’t disproving anything
that his sister was saying. So if the only girls he brought home were his
girlfriend’s then did that mean-
no way, Celsi! That’s stupid.
I mentally
shook my head to clear the cobwebs.
Stupid. Don’t even think about that,
Celsi.

“You’re
pretty,” Faith said, rubbing her nose.

I smiled.
How
sweet.
That was something I didn’t hear every day. “Thank you, Faith.”

A small,
heavyset woman in blue bustled in. “Time for your nap, Faith,” she said in
accented English.

“Aw!” Luke and
Faith said in unison, Luke managing to sound even more petulant than the five
year old.

“Five more
minutes!” Faith pleaded, hiding her face in Luke’s blue and black t-shirt.

Winking at me
over Faith’s head, Luke echoed, “Yeah, Liv, five more minutes.” Obviously, this
was something they went through a lot.

“This is the
third five more minutes you’ve had,” Liv scolded them, her hands on her portly
hips. “It’s time for Faith to take a nap.”

Faith looked up
at Liv. “But-,” she started, a crafty expression on her face.

Liv wagged a
finger in Faith’s face, reaching down to take her hand as I stood and watched.
“No buts, young lady,” she said good-naturedly.

Faith pointed
at me. “But I’m talking to her! She’s gonna be Luke’s girlfriend!”

Say what?

My eyes widened
with shock as Faith said that and I glanced immediately at Luke and caught him
glancing at me. He shrugged and grinned as I shuffled my feet, feeling my
cheeks burn.
Kids
do
say the darndest things
.

 “Yeah, Liv,
let her stay up for a little bit longer. Missing her nap won’t kill her,” Luke
put in, cradling Faith in his lap.

Liv turned on
him, a mock-fierce expression on her face. “You do remember how cranky she gets
if she doesn’t sleep in the afternoon, don’t you?”

Luke grimaced.
“Yikes, you’re right,” he said, getting to his feet, Faith still in his arms. I
noticed that he was still wearing his pajama bottoms and smiled to myself as he
kissed his little sisters forehead. “Okay, princess, time for your nap.”

Faith pouted.
“Luke!” she said huffily.

“If you go with
Liv, I’ll read you a story when you wake up,” he told her softly, rubbing his
nose against hers, seal like.

Faith sighed.
“Okay. But it better be The Little Mermaid,” she said firmly.

Luke hugged her
before handing her over to Liv. “Okay, you got a deal,” he agreed.

“Humph.” Faith
didn’t seem too happy with being carted off to take a nap. She waved at me over
Liv’s shoulder. “Bye, Celsi.”

“Sleep tight,
Faith,” I said with a smile, waving back.

Luke turned to
me, his eyes shining with laughter. “You see what I have to deal with? My
friends would roast me if they knew I read The Little Mermaid to my sister.”