Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
What did surprise me was the notable lack of any other staff. If Sue didn’t nurse, she for damn sure didn’t cook, clean, garden, or mow, so where were the housekeepers, cooks, and groundspeople that we grew up depending on?
I passed through the dimly lit hall, straining to see thanks to the many burnt-out bulbs. Not that I needed more light shone on the dingy walls, dusty furniture, and dirty carpets. Every room I wandered into the day before was in desperate need of a good dust-sweep-mop combo, and the kitchen didn’t have anything in it other than a few dusty old cans in the pantry, and a mountain of takeout containers in the trash.
Did Omma and Sue fire all the staff?
My mother didn’t like to be seen in any way other than her best, so it was possible she dismissed the staff when she fell ill.
It was also possible that they all straight up quit and left when Sue bought Omma out of the house.
Sue wasn’t kind or respectful to the staff when we were kids. I very much doubt that changed when she became their boss.
Stepping out onto the landing, I gazed down on the bottom floor—listening to voices filtering out of the dining room.
“—gotta hurry, baby girl, or you’ll be late for school.”
“Daddy, I did all my homework,” Nari proudly announced. “It was so easy.”
“Well, naturally, it was easy for you—the smartest, most talented Lilybug in the whole world.” Even after all these years, I knew Micah’s voice when I heard it. And I knew there wasn’t a trace of disdain in it when he talked to Lily.
Not like there was when he spoke to the woman he thought was her mother.
“I bet you could do Daddy’s homework too, right? How does that sound?” I heard the strange plasticky squeak of Styrofoam. “Want to go to Daddy’s work and boss everyone around for me?”
“Yes,” she cried, giggling away.
“You got it, but first, school.”
“Is Mommy picking me up today?”
I straightened, ears perking up.
“Mom can’t pick you up today, sweetie. Remember, she’s not feeling well. That’s why she couldn’t tuck you in last night or have breakfast with you.”
I choked, indignation welling up in me fast. I would’ve happily done all of those things! He only had to ask!
As fast as that fury flared up, that’s how quickly it dissipated.
It wasn’t me he didn’t invite to bedtime or breakfast, it was Sue. And she probably gave him good reason.
I shook my head, turning away and continuing on.
I couldn’t imagine Sue as a mother. We hated each other’s fucking guts, so growing up, there weren’t any late nights spent giggling under the covers as we talked about our dreams and wishes for the future. Meaning that I genuinely never knew her stance on children or if she wanted them, but I know that I’d never witnessed Sue care for a single being on this planet that wasn’t herself.
Every pet she was gifted she neglected. Every friend she made she gaslit and tormented with her stupid drama and mind games. And every member of her family she played, lied to, or tortured.
You didn’t tend to find those actions listed on the résumé of a good future mother.
Which makes me wonder what past experiences were on Omma’s life résumé before she had us. My steps slowed carrying me to my mother’s door. Was she cold, rigid, and exacting with everyone in her life? Or did she save those qualities for her only daughters?
“Hello?” I knocked, then pushed in. “Omma, are you awake—? Oh!”
Click.
A blur crossed the carpet—moving from the head of the bed to the foot so fast, they made my still concussed brain dizzy.
“Alex?”
The thirty-two-year-old man spun on me, lips curling and eyes flashing like I was a swarm of dung beetles that stormed the room. “What are you doing in here!?”
I jerked back. “Excuse me? What do you think I’m doing in here? I’m here for my sick mother? What are you doing in here? And why are you yelling at me?”
“I—I didn’t—” Alex tossed his head, his cheeks reddening. “I... apologize for raising my voice. You just startled me.”
I cocked a brow, no less confused by that explanation. I called from the other side of the door and knocked before entering. What was he doing that he didn’t realize I was coming in until I jump-scared him?
Stepping further in, I noted the corner nook where Reynard set up his chair, books, and medical items was vacant. “Where’s Mr. Agassi?”
“I know you long for the days of slave labor, Sue, but he’s on his breakfast break. Where the fuck else would he be?”
Wow, is that what I sounded like whenever I talked to Sue?
Like a moody bitch.
“Fair enough.” I slowly closed the distance between us, even though his entire demeanor screamed, fuck off! so loudly, it was deafening.