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Over Latte
“MEET THE SLOANS”
But anyway, the phone call I got from mom didn’t sound too urgent or dire; which, of course, is a plus. Considering my family and how weird they are, it’s actually kind of surprising. I mean, it’s not that we’re the Addams Family or anything like that – though, in an odd way, dad does remind me of Gomez Addams. Or he did when he still had his mustache. No, more like we’re not what you could call the wholesome, suburban American family. Far from it, in fact. A stuck up prick of an older brother who thinks people like me shouldn’t be allowed out in the public, an adopted little sister who couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be a skater-girl or a carbon-copy of that bastard I just mentioned, another sister who is so much like I used to be that I’m already expecting to hear a phone call from mom telling me she’s OD’d on some drug or is just plain dead, a mother who believes in letting us learn from our own mistakes and a father who likes to think of himself as a conspiracy theorist of all things. Like I said, not exactly the family that Martha Stewart would come over and cook Thanksgiving Day dinner for. But hey, it could be worse…right?
o O o
Nat diligently guided the beat up, old, blue ’91 Honda Civic Hatchback west down Skillman Avenue toward the intersection that connected with 41st Street. The mid-morning haze that had been present when she left her and Becca’s apartment was long since burned off and the less than impressive sight of Long Island City – a neighborhood in Queens, New York – dominated her drive along the lengthy stretch of road. Not that Nat hated the place that had become her home after her father’s contract with U.S. Government had run its course and they had returned from Japan. No, it was more like the entire landscape that greeted her was…well, flat. Flat and boring, to be exact. No high-rises. No skyscrapers. Just dull, tediously uninspiring brownstone buildings that looked like they had been there since the early 1900s; like the one she shared with Becca. Of course, that really shouldn’t have come as a big surprise to her, considering that the place had once been the industrial center of New York City. But all in all, the place really had a very rundown look to it; a look that just screamed ‘poor people please settle here’. At least, in her mind, the neighborhood that she and Becca had settled down in – Hunter’s Point – did. Sunnyside, where her parents lived, was another story all together. Suburban hell would be a good place to start with the description.
Thoughts slowly switching away from the less-than-interesting scenery that wasn’t passing by her open car window nearly fast enough, Nat’s brown eyes narrowed mildly when her thoughts fell upon her girlfriend. Just what had been on Becca’s mind? Not that it seemed anything to worry about, but the Texas-born blonde looked to be…distracted. Of course, it could have been about the situation with Ashe and what she’d said to him on that night a couple days ago. But for some odd reason, Nat didn’t think so. Just a hunch she had. And after spending a little over two years with that loud-mouthed Texan, more than enough time should have passed for her hunches to start paying off. Plus, it was something that she had come to notice about her lover; the times when Becca would become a bit distant and hesitant, almost to the point of seeming depressed. Yet, the blonde never really elaborated on whatever it was that was bothering her and always insisted that nothing was wrong, no matter how obvious the lie was to Nat’s eyes. She had just known Becca too long for her not to know when something was gnawing at her usually – to the point of annoying – charismatic and overly chipper girlfriend. And from that conversation earlier in the morning, just for a moment or two, Nat had noticed it again. Only this time…it seemed like she wanted to say something but decided not to at the last minute.
Man, Nat thought worriedly as she pulled the blue Civic into the right-hand lane and flipped on her turn signal. What’s she so afraid of telling me? Could it really be that bad? Come on, South Texas! You know that whatever it is, we can work through it. Dammit Becca, you’ve gotta trust me! You’ve gotta learn to let me in, gotta learn to let me help you with your problems! Pausing in her thoughts to concentrate on her driving, Nat brought the battered old car to a halt at the intersection before making the turn. The surrounding scenery had changed; no longer full of broken down and abandoned industrial leftovers. Now the view that assaulted Nat’s eyes was that of nicely aligned brick-edition homes with well-kept lawns full of those stupid gnomes and other assorted yard junk that she and Becca had spent many a night pilfering just for the hell of it. In fact, the unofficial mascot for her and Becca’s coffee shop was one of the very few that hadn’t been treated to a one-way trip to ‘bat alley’. Of course, that wasn’t to say that the chubby, little porcelain figure hadn’t been altered to some degree. Afterall, he was the mascot for the coffee shop, and what kind of mascot would Mr. Muggles be without a crazed, too-much-caffeine-in-my-system stare and a large mug of the good stuff held in his pudgy hands? Pretty damn ineffective, that’s what kind.
Nat allowed herself a brief smile as she took her thoughts away from her worries over Becca and refocused them on some of the stupid things they had done since they had began their relationship. Yard junk thefts. A city-wide scavenger hunt that had landed the both of them in jail over the attempted removal of the Hunter’s Point Avenue Station sign. A trip to the local Denny’s after they had gone to see the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show – in costume of course, with her as a rather hot Columbia and Becca as a very sexy Magenta – with Thomas and his boyfriend Ian which ended in an argument with several of the restaurant’s more conservative-minded patrons that led to them being thrown out. Attempted pet-napping. A really stupid stunt where they tried their hand at hanging up all the surviving garden/yard gnomes they had stolen all over Hunter’s Point, and the other surrounding neighborhoods, with the words ‘NYPD: Doughnut Lovers!’ painted on their bellies. That one hadn’t gone over too well with the local law enforcement, obviously. Talk about no sense of humor! Cranky New York City cops anyone? It was after that incident – after they got out of jail a few days later, actually – that she and Becca had decided it would be better not to mix pot-smoking, insomnia and coffee-drinking with an all-night marathon of Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Seriously, what had they been thinking when they decided to do that?! And of course, how could she forget about the first and last Thanksgiving dinner they had decided to have at their apartment? It had been nearly a year ago and she was still finding holdovers from the food fight they’d had! But at that last thought, Nat had to laugh out loud.
Dammit, she thought jovially, guiding her car up 41st Street. As much as I hated to help clean that shit up, it was worth it just to see Gib and Becca covered in mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy! That’s just something that I think I’ll ever forget!
Bringing the car to another stop at an intersection, Nat leaned forward in her seat and looked quickly both ways before accelerating across the street. She was less than two blocks down from her parent’s house now and her former good-humored thoughts were slowly replaced with questioning ones; thoughts centering on why the matriarch of her family had called her this morning and asked her to come over. Just what was it that her mother wanted to talk with everyone about? What could be so important that she even had to call that miserable asshole Jake in from his Upper Eastside, high-society life? When she was talking to her mother on the phone, she didn’t sound upset or anything. So whatever it was couldn’t have been that bad. But still, gathering up the entire Sloan clan for some kind of announcement? It had to be something important. But what?
So caught up in her thoughts, Nat almost didn’t notice the flash of bright, nearly day-glo clothing that suddenly ran out in front of her car. Immediately forgetting what she had been thinking about, Nat pulled her foot off the gas and slammed it down on the brake; bringing the Civic to a jarring halt that almost put her head through the dashboard. Probably would have been if not for that wide piece of woven fabric that constricted across her chest. She could feel the seatbelt tighten to prevent just that from happening. Nat was sure that there would be a bruise tomorrow where the damn thing had cut into her clavicle. Taking a quick, shuddering breath in an attempt to calm herself, Nat’s now-jumbled thoughts began to coalesce into a slowly building anger. Just what in the hell was that little shit thinking, running out in front of my car like that?! Not bothering to turn off the vehicle, she undid her seatbelt as quickly as she could and roughly threw it aside while grabbing the latch to open up her car door. She had some very rude words ready for whatever stupid kid had just ran into the middle of the road, and if their parent’s happened to be lingering about she had more than enough for them as well. But the moment she put her foot on the pavement and raised herself from the car, Nat’s ears where subjected to a number of the same colorful metaphors that she had been planning to use.
“Jesus Christ bitch,” a rather loud and annoyingly familiar voice screamed out. “Don’t you even fucking know how to drive that piece of shi – ...Nat?!”
Stopping all her forward momentum in an instant, Nat sighed huffily to herself and instead leaned against the open car door, throwing a hard, brown-eyed glare at the dark-skinned face of her younger sister.
“Of all the stupid, goddamned idiotic things you could’ve done! You fucking moron! I could’ve killed you! You stupid shit! Why in the hell did you just run in front my car like that, Lil?!”
The bronze-skinned girl with bleach-blonde hair narrowed her eyes menacingly at Nat, raised an equally as tanned arm that was adorned with numerous, multi-colored bead bracelets and jabbed an accusatory finger at her older sister.
“Why the hell didn’t you watch where you were fucking driving?!” she returned angrily. “What? You think that just ‘cause you know how to fucking drive that you own the goddamned road?!”
Nat’s face lowered into that authoritive-older-sister-look that she always seemed to be using with Lilly; it was a look that she was also beginning to realize just how much she hated.
“That’s right,” she retorted through the bitter grin that had just formed on her lips. “Have license, will drive. Right over you, if necessary! And watch your mouth, kiddo or I’ll shove a fucking bar of soap down your throat! What, that school you’re going to not teaching the class on manners anymore?!”
Lilly Sloan’s dark face glowered indignantly at Nat, heavy black and white eyeliner making her look like some otherworldly raccoon that didn’t belong on Earth, let alone a prim and proper neighborhood in Queens, New York like Sunnyside.
“Like you fucking know anything about school, dropout!”
Nat’s half-grin melted off her face like a fresh coat of paint being splashed with turpentine. Why that little fuck, she thought out angrily. Like she’s got any right to say that to me considering her less than stellar attendance record! Looking down for a moment at her watch, she returned her eyes to her sister. They were lowered in unhidden suspicion.
“Speaking of which,” Nat began, quickly sidestepping the comment about how she didn’t finish highschool. “Why isn’t your ass there right now, Rainbow Brite?! It’s not even noon yet, so don’t try to use that ‘lunch break’ card with me.”
The bleached-blond girl’s face faltered for a moment, then she shrugged her arms nonchalantly and gave a sheepish smile as she began to walk toward the Civic. Stopping when she reached the passenger’s side, Lilly reached down and grabbed hold of the handle, pausing to speak before opening up the door to get in.
“Tell you what. You give me a fucking ride the rest of the way home and maybe I’ll tell you all about it. Deal?”
Nat just gaped at her second youngest – and most like her – sister for minute, shook her head and then lowered herself into the car. Arguing with Lilly was like yelling at her reflection in the mirror. There was no obvious way to win unless you just walked away.
“Whatever,” she groaned, pulling her door shut after she had settled herself into the driver’s seat and reluctantly reconnected her seatbelt. “Just get your ass in and let’s go.”
Saying nothing else, Lilly opened the passenger side door and dropped herself heavily into the blue Civic as she tossed her purse onto the mat-covered floorboard.
“Could you try not to put yourself through my goddamned seat,” Nat muttered angrily under her breath as she threw the car into the gear and pressed down hastily on the accelerator.
Her sister smiled smugly, smart-ass remark forming in her mind and teasing on her lips. But at the last second she held it in, seemingly not wanting to push her luck with Nat while she was in the mood she was in. And it made the woman driving the car all the more happy. Just what is Lil doing out of school, Nat question to herself as she concentrated on her driving. Hell, she’s probably just skipping again. Damned girl just isn’t gonna learn until something bad happens to her. Not that I want anything bad to happen, but maybe that’s just the lesson she needs to straighten herself up. Sighing lightly to herself, Nat turned her head to take in the odd visage of her younger sister. Lord knows that’s how I fucking learned.
Dark face contorting into a frown when she realized that Nat was staring at her, Lilly gave a vexing groan. Leaning back in the seat, the brightly-attired girl made a grab for the seatbelt and slid it over her arm just enough to make it look like she was wearing it. Nat didn’t say anything as she returned her attention to her driving and guided the beat up old car to the next intersection.
“Guess you wanna know why I’m not at school,” Lilly stated flatly as she reached down into her moderately-sized, bright green purse and fished around in it until she pulled out her cellphone.
Nat never took her brown eyes off gray asphalt of the road.
“Could care less, kiddo. It’s your life, live it how you want.”
Raising the cell, Lilly sniffed out a bitter grunt of a laugh as she opened it and began to scroll through her message inbox.
“That’s a fucking lie and you know it, Nat,” the bleached-haired girl returned in an annoyed voice. “But whatever. Not like anything you said would fucking matter to me anyways. Love ya, sis…but don’t need or want your advice.”
“Which is why I don’t give it,” Nat retorted. “Why waste words on you when I know that they’ll just go in one ear and out the other? Besides, if I had to learn the hard way, why should you get off so easy?”
Lilly rolled her light-brown eyes in obvious irritation before she looked up from the cellphone with a bothered scowl.
“Hey, don’t try to push that guilt-trip shit on me! You were the one who was all wild and uncontrollable! It’s not my fault that you let Gib talk you into taking those drugs and it’s not my fault that you OD’d on them and almost fucking died! I’m so sick of you bring that crap up! It’s really getting fucking old, Nat!”
To her credit, Nat resisted an incredible urge to stop the car, reach over and slap the taste out of her sister’s mouth. But only barely.
“Maybe the reason I keep bringing it up,” she began heatedly. “Is because you remind me of myself at that age, dumbass! Skipping school? Doing Ecstasy? Out all night? Smoking? Drinking? Just being an all-around, care-free party girl wanting to have fun? Been there, done that! Could write a book about all the shit I did too! A book about surviving it! Yeah, I know I made a lot of mistakes in my past – most of which I don’t really care to remember – but every last one of them made me who I am today, kiddo! They taught me that there’s more to life than just partying, Lil. A lot more.”
For a moment, Lilly could only stare at Nat with a vacant expression scribbled all over her face. Then she did the one thing that the woman driving the car couldn’t even begin to expect. The younger, tanned-skinned girl started to laugh. A very deep and throaty laugh. Nat’s look darkened considerably.
“Why in the fuck are you laughing, you little shit,” she almost screamed, slowing the car to pull into the wide driveway of their parent’s home.
Lilly paused long enough to catch her breath and respond.
“Be…Because you’re lec…lecturing me like that…dumbass Jake…would! It’s so…so NOT you! Be…Being serious like…that! God! It’s just…so…so fucking priceless!!!”
Nat could feel the vein in her temple pulsing dangerously as her eye began to twitch unconscionably. That was really the last thing she wanted to hear, the last person she wanted to be compared to. She was nothing like Jake Sloan! Nothing at all!
“You’re wrong Lil,” she hissed, stopping the car and shutting it off after she had entered the driveway. “I’m nothing like that bastard! You wanna sit there and laugh at me? Whatever. You wanna throw away your fucking life? Fine. Do it! Be my fucking guest! I’m tired of giving a damn about keeping you from killing yourself! And I’m tired of looking like an ass every time I try to make you understand what’ll happen if you keep this kind of shit up! I’ve been where you are now and I’m getting sick of telling your dumb ass the same damned thing! This partying bullshit? There’s no future in it, Lil. None at all! Keep at it and you’ll end up an addict, knocked up or worse! Believe me if you want! Or don’t and keep on doing the same shit you are now! I just don’t fucking care anymore!”
With that, Nat angrily undid her seatbelt and tossed it aside. Yanking her keys from the ignition, she threw open the door, stepped out of the car and slammed it shut so hard that it made Lilly cringe. Taking one last look at her little sister, Nat gave the girl a hard scowl and headed for the front porch of the house.
As she did, Lilly stared at her older sister’s retreating back for only a moment before returning her attention to the cellphone gripped tightly in her hands. Shrugging her shoulders indifferently and loosening her fingers, she backed out of her inbox and brought up the small phone’s contact list. Scrolling down with a small smile suddenly playing across her glossy lips, she hit the ‘talk’ button and raised the cell, while using the opposite hand to brush the strands of bleached blond hair that covered it, to her ear.
“Yeah,” she said calmly into the cell’s tiny receiver as her eyes watched Nat step up onto the porch, raise her keys to unlock the door and disappear into the house. “Are we still on for tonight? Sweet…”
o O o
Man! It was just like screaming at a younger, dumber version of myself! God! Was I really that aggravating when I was Lilly’s age?! Jeez! Why couldn’t the little bimbo listen to me?! Just once?! Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t already gone through half the shit that she’s about to! Just what is it with teenaged girls? I mean, back when I was young and stupid it was all about rebelling against authority and driving your parents up the wall with worry. Not that my parents were really worried about me…until I OD’d, that is. That sure got their attention. But that was a different me, a different time. And it’s something that I never intend on repeating. Not now that I have Becca at my side. Oh great, I’m getting sidetracked; time to get back to the original point. So anyways, in my time it was all about making a statement and standing up for the things you believed in; even if they were all the wrong things. But now, that’s not even close to the case.
For Lilly, and the rest of the idiot teenagers like her, it’s not about any of that. It’s all about having as much fun as possible before they get old – which for them is around the mid twenties and early thirties. Guess that makes me nearly ancient in their eyes. Fucking morons. And because they’re teens, they think that they are indestructible; they think they can do anything. Hell, I thought like that once…before I OD’d. Shit, who am I kidding? Let’s just get right to the point…I’m scared for Lilly. I’m afraid that one day I’m gonna wake up and she won’t be around anymore. Dead before she even turned twenty because she just couldn’t let herself slow down and think things through. It almost happened to me. I was one of the lucky ones. Most of the people I knew back then weren’t.
And I’m afraid that Lilly will turn out like them if she isn’t careful. But if she won’t even listen to me, what the hell can I do to stop her?
o O o
Still fuming over her conversation with Lilly when she entered the house, Nat’s mood hadn’t changed by the time she closed the front door behind her. For a long moment, she just stood there leaning against it, back first. Thoughts whirled darkly in her head, thoughts about her past and Lilly’s possible, extremely brief future. Why couldn’t the stupid girl understand things? Why did Lilly Sloan have to be so annoyingly hardheaded? And why in the hell did she have to remind Nat of herself at that exact same age? This was her karmic payback, wasn’t it? This was the price that she had to pay for being brought back from the brink of death by whatever gods existed. That’s what it was! One, huge cosmic joke. How else could something like this be explained?
Sighing as she pulled herself away from the door, Nat gazed around the empty foyer of her parent’s two-story home. To her direct right was a banistered staircase that turned at a sharp ninety degree angle to the right about halfway up which led to the second floor bedrooms and bathrooms. And about a foot or two from the wall it was connected to lay a wide, cherry wood doorway, which led into the large formal dining room that her parents usually only used for holidays and special occasions – like her last birthday party that had gone oh so wrong. As usual, inviting Jake to anything that involved her and Becca was incredibly bad idea.
Moving deeper into the foyer, Nat gazed to her left at the wide set of double doors that blocked off the view into her father’s study. Walking over to them causally, she placed a hand on one of the latches and tried to push it in a downward motion to open the left side door. It didn’t budge. As expected, the doors had both been locked by her father. Raising her hand, she slowly clenched the moderately-sized padlock in her fingers and gave it a gentle tug. Jeez Dad, she voiced out exasperatingly in her head. Locking the door and having the only key to the study wasn’t enough?! What the hell do you have in there? Jimmy Hoffa? God, my parents are so fucking weird!
Releasing the lock with a low groan, Nat turned away from the double doors of the study and made her way toward the hallway that connected the foyer and the family room; passing the guest bathroom as she did. Where was everyone? For all the emphasis that her mother had placed on her being there as soon as she could manage, no one else seemed to have really taken her seriously enough to make the same amount of haste that she did. Then again, it wasn’t like she was doing anything else this morning. Afterall, it was Becca’s turn to open up the coffee shop and work the register – especially since Cecily, their cashier, was now on maternity leave and expecting any day now. Neither herself nor Becca knew when the girl would return, so they really had no other choice but to alternate the roll of cashier and manager between them until they received word from her if she would be coming back on a regular basis or not.
We can’t just fire her, Nat thought as she reached the family room’s wide threshold. Not when she doesn’t have any other source of income to depend on. Well, we told her not to date that fucking prick; but she did and look what happened. She got knocked up, he ran off and me and Nat got left with the bill. Then again, we can’t just keep doing her job either. Maybe we can hire on someone to work part-time and then –
“Wow,” a lightly accented, childish tone mocked, interrupting Nat’s last thought. “Big sis lost in deep thought? Is that even possible for someone who didn’t finish highschool? Huh?”
Nat’s brown eyes quickly locked on the room’s only other occupant besides herself. They found a long-haired Asian girl, wearing a gray and blue, beanie with long, tasseled ear-flaps of all things, leaning lazily over the back of the couch with her sleeve-covered arms dangling out in front. As always, May Sloan's skater-girl image conflicted greatly with just about everything around her. A Treehorn Beanie? In the middle of Spring? In her own way, May was just as odd as Lilly. A frown suddenly creased Nat’s slender face. And what was it with everyone bringing up her status as a highschool drop-out today? First that little airhead still sitting out in her car and now this annoying bundle of adopted gloom draped before her! They were acting like it was something that they didn’t know about!
“Shutup May,” Nat uttered darkly to the thirteen year old leaning over the sofa. “I’ve already been down that road with Lil and I’m not in mood to joke around right now. So just drop it.”
A look of dejection appearing on her young face, May slumped heavily across the back of the couch.
“Well, that sucks,” she grunted out. “Figures that she would…wait, where is she and why isn’t she in school?”
Folding her arms across her chest, Nat leaned against the cherry wood doorway and gave her other sister a wry glance.
“I can ask the same thing about you, May. What are you doing home?”
May gave Nat an innocent shrug and replied with, “Beats me. Mom came to school this morning and gave the principal some lame excuse about me having a doctor’s appointment or something.”
Nat’s expression scrunched up quizzically.
“Okay, that’s weird. What the hell is so important that she’ll pull you out of school and call down that ass Jake?”
The look on May’s round face brightened at the mention of her older brother, much to Nat’s utter disgust.
“Jake’s coming down?!”
Nat wished that she could take back those words almost immediately. Lord knew that the gushing sound riding the edge of her sister’s voice after she had mentioned that insufferable son of a bitch was enough to make her want to strangle the oh so happy little Japanese girl. Whereas there wasn’t really much of a bond between May and her, and even less of one between May and Lilly; her youngest sister and her older brother shared a really close tie to one another. Unlike herself or Lil, Jake had always treated May like a full member of the family, never once calling her adopted or telling her that she was unwanted. Other than her mother and father, there was no one else that May Sloan was closer to. And from the day that she had first been brought to their home in Okinawa while living in Japan, those two had been nearly inseparable. It had been quite a blow to May when Jake decided to move to Manhattan to attend college.
“Yeah,” Nat muttered with a hint of anger on her voice. “He’s coming down. Mom called him just like she called me. Apparently, she has something to tell the whole family. Hopefully he won’t be bringing little Mary Sunshine with him. By the way, where’s Mom? Or Dad for that matter?”
May didn’t answer Nat’s question, she just leaned there with an offended look on her wide face for a moment, and then said, “Why do you hate him so much, Nat? What’d he ever do to you?”
Nat pulled herself away from the doorframe and walked all the way into the family room. She tried hard not to scowl at May and failed…miserably.
“It’s not what he did May,” she began hotly. “It’s never been about what he did. It’s about what he’s doing, how he’s acting. It’s about how he treats me like I’m something to be hidden in a closet whenever he talks about the rest of you! He’ll mention his oddball parents, his weirdo, outcast sister and the adopted one from Japan; but what he always leaves out is his oldest sibling! You know, the one who’s a goddamned lesbian! The one who doesn’t exist in his precious, fucking social circle of snobs and rich pricks! That’s what he did to me, May! He cut me from his life like I was nothing! Just because I’m a lesbian and because I’m in love with Becca! That’s why I hate him so much! That’s why I can’t stand him now!”
The expression on May’s face never changed, even as she raised her head and folded her arms under her chin. Not that Nat had expected it to. This wasn’t the first time May had questioned her reasons for hating their older brother. And it sure wasn’t the first time the girl had heard Nat speak about Jake in that manner. Obviously, it wouldn’t be the last time either. Not by a long shot.
“Well,” May responded in an abrasive tone. “What you’re doing is disgusting! Jake’s right! It’s not right for you two to be together! You should’ve just stayed with Gib! He may’ve been a total dork but at least he was a man!”
It was Nat’s turn to be offended.
“Why,” she practically shouted, countenance flushing with anger. “Because that high and mighty asshole says so; because all those conservative-minded dipshits out there who’s asses he’s kissing say so?! You’re supposed to be so damned smart, you tell me why?!”
About that time, the front door opened and closed, then a few seconds later Lilly breezed into the family room with a mischievous smile more than evident on her dark face.
“Ooh,” she called out happily, plopping down hard on the recliner adjacent to the couch. “A fight between Nat and the Banana! Oh…don’t let me get in the way! Come on, come on! I wanna see some blood this time! Come on Nat, peel that Banana! I so wanna see her cry!”
Immediately forgetting all about Nat, May turned her nearly black eyes upon Lilly. They were as piercing as daggers. And her voice was just as sharp.
“Shutup you ganguro wannabe,” she yelled at the teenager sitting in the recliner with one leg cocked up over the arm of it. “This isn’t any of your business! So why don’t you just butt out!”
Lilly’s smile only broadened, even as her eyes narrowed darkly.
“Because Banana,” she taunted rudely. “Anything that gets you all pissy and emo makes me really happy. And that makes it my business. Simple as that. Don’t like it? Feel free to leave and go back where you came from anytime. I know I won’t be missing you.”
From where Nat was standing, she could see the expression on May’s face alter dramatically. Where it had once been full of defiance, full of defense for her older brother; it was now full of that look one would expect from a girl trying to hard to find acceptance in a family that wasn’t truly her own. It was a look that Nat had seen one time too many. A look that came about every time May and Lilly started picking at each other. And it was something that Nat was getting tired of. Very tired.
“Dammit Lil,” Nat hollered as she rushed over and grabbed the grinning dark-skinned teen by the arm. “Why don’t you just shut the fuck up and leave her alone! Stop blaming her for everything bad in your life! It isn’t her fault! Whether you like it or not, she’s your fucking sister and a member of our family! You really need to get over this shit, Lil. You need to get over it now!”
Yanking her arm away from Nat’s grip, Lilly glowered up at Nat with angry eyes.
“Like you fucking know what I’m going through, Nat! Like you fucking know anything that goes on around this house! You and that bastard Jake don’t even live here anymore! So what gives you the goddamned right to lecture me about anything?! Huh?! What makes you so fucking high and mighty that I should even give a damn about what you tell me?!”
Nat was about to answer Lilly when another voice broke in to interrupt her. A man's voice.
“Because Lilly, she’s your sister. Your older sister and you should listen to her what she has to say.”
Nat didn’t even have to turn around to know who was standing in the doorway to the family room. The voice and May practically leaping off the couch to run in that direction told her everything she needed to know.
“Jake!” she heard May call out in a teary, emotional tone. “J-Jake! I…I’m s-so glad…so glad you’re h-h-here!”
“May…shhhh…May, it’s okay. You don’t need to cry. I’m here now. Everything’s going to be fine."
Nat could feel her back teeth grinding against one another in irritation. Just hearing his soothing, brotherly tone of voice was making her want to turn around, walk over to him and sock him right in the mouth! She could feel her hand balling into a fist unconscionably. It took a lot of effort to relax it enough for her to reopen it. Too bad she couldn’t relax the anger that was coming to a boil within her.
“So,” she began coldly, slowly turning to face the man holding her adopted sister in a comforting embrace while stroking the back of her head to calm and sooth her. “I see that the great Jake has finally come down into the squalors to grace us with his presence. I guess that now that you’re here, everything is right in the fucking world. Isn’t it?”
Jake Sloan gave Nat a chastising glance and just shook his head.
“No Nat, it isn’t. It’s the same as it was before I got here. Me coming home never changes anything; you of all people should know that by now.”
Folding her long arms across her chest in undisguised agitation, Nat gave her brother the dirtiest look she could muster. Not that it was really that hard of a thing to do.
“Oh, I was wondering when you were gonna bring that up, you jackass! Still can’t get over the fact that your little sister likes pussy and not dick?! Does it really fucking bother you that much, asshole?!”
At that moment, May pulled away from Jake and turned a teary-eyed, hateful glare on Nat.
“JUST SHUTUP, NAT!!! JUST SHUTUP AND LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!!”
Firmly wrapping his hands around May’s slim shoulders, Jake pulled her back toward him and calmly said, “It’s okay May. Calm down. It’s all going to be okay. And Nat, I don’t really think that this is the time for us to be talking about our...differences of opinions.”
Her dark eyes widened. He didn’t think that this was a good time to talk? She could feel the anger inside of her grow even hotter. And, Nat focused inwardly, glaring stonily in her brother and sister’s direction. Just when would be a good time to talk about this shit, dickhead?
She watched in disgust as May tightened her lips to keep her mouth closed and hastily reached up with a hand to wipe away the tears running slowly down her cheeks. The sight of her youngest sister showing so much devotion a man that she fully and wholly hated with every fiber of her being was making her sick to her stomach. Just what was it that May saw in Jake to make her such a puppet to him? And why was he so dedicated to a girl who wasn’t even his real sister? Suddenly realizing what she was thinking and the feelings it was bringing up, Nat quickly buried those emotions down deep. Hardening her stare, she readied the next set of words that had just rudely entered her mind and prepared to deliver them. But before she could lay into Jake again, Lilly’s voice erupted from beside her.
“Hey, don’t you know?! Bananas ain’t got no rights in this house! So why don’t you just shut your own mouth, shit-for brains and let the real siblings butt heads!!!”
Building anger and emotion finally getting the better of her, Nat whirled on Lilly and yelled “Lil, shut your fucking mouth!!! You’re not making things any better!!! Or are you just too stupid to realize that??!!”
Lilly pushed herself up from the chair to come face to face with Nat.
“I don’t remember asking for permission to say what I wanna say, Nat!!!”
Nat didn’t back away from the bleach-blonde girl who stood just inches from her.
“And I don’t remember giving a shit whether you cared or not, Lil!!!”
Still holding a now crying May against him, Jake glanced resentfully at his two, younger siblings; scowling.
“Will you two just please –”
At exactly the same time, both Nat and Lilly swung livid glares at him and screamed, “SHUTUP JAKE!!!”
The clean-cut, dark-haired man’s eyes narrowed, mouth tightening and compressing into a thin line that was working very hard to hold back a growing irritation. In the meantime, Nat had returned her attention to Lilly just as the dark-skinned teen did the same. She opened her mouth to yell at her younger sibling again, only to have what she was about to say blocked by a loud, piercing whistle. Apparently, all the bickering and arguing had finally gotten the attention of her father, Raymond Sloan. And from the tone of his voice, he was less than pleased.
“I don’t want to know who started it,” the heavy-set man with a full head of graying hair began as he maneuvered past Jake and took up a position in the center of the family room. “I don’t even want to know why it started. In fact, I don’t really give a damn what it is!”
Raymond took a moment to glance first at May and Lilly, then at Nat and Jake. Afterward, he shook his head. It made Nat’s jaw clench knowing that her father had lumped her in with everyone else.
“Though,” he continued with a low, mirthful groan. “I have a pretty good idea now that I see all of you standing here. Either way it goes guy and gals, I want it to end…now. The last thing we need is for those snobby neighbors of ours to get involved and do something stupid like call the cops. Then we’d all be up shit creek without a paddle.”
As usual, her father had an interesting way with words. It had always been a bit hard to handle the fact that Raymond Sloan acted more like a big brother more than he did a father and parent; especially when Nat had needed the latter more than the former on occasions. He had never really been about the direct handling of his children or their discipline when they did something bad, always preferring to pass that unsavory task into the hands of his wife, Mary. Raymond Sloan was much more content to be all of his kid’s best friend rather than their disciplinarian, happily sticking his nose into their problems when they didn’t need him to and spending the remainder of his time locked up in that study of his. ‘Deciphering the truth’ was the line he had always used when Nat pressed him about what he did in there. Being a paranoid freak trying to stir up trouble and attention was the ‘truth’ she had finally decided on. But surprisingly, her father’s self-published magazine, Ray of Truth, actually had a pretty good-sized following – including the love of her life, Becca, who usually only had her nose stuck in Japanese manga, fantasy novels or American comics. Of course, Nat couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before some government officials began to take an unhealthy interest in the conspiracy theory magazine that they sold in their little coffee shop.
Huffing out a mild sigh of resignation, she prepared to address her father – no, the Ray-Man, as he liked everyone to call him – about the very small part she had played in the verbal mess that had gotten his attention. But before Nat could speak out in complaint about her so-called involvement, she heard the stern voice of her mother coming from the family room’s doorway.
“Well, while your father might be content to just sweep this under the rug and not be wondering who started it, I certainly am. Anyone want to give me an answer? Or do I need to put every last one of you out of my house before you’re ready to talk?”
Nat didn’t need to look around the room to know that everyone else was doing their best to seem as innocent of any wrongdoing as possible. Even the usually ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn-about-the-consequences’ Lilly Sloan wasn’t immune to her mother when she turned the thumb screws a few notches. No one was. She herself had suddenly become very interested in the pair of worn Sketchers covering her feet. When Mary Sloan came into the room to settle an issue between her children, there was never any screaming or yelling from her mouth. Just a strong, authoritive tone that she supposedly despised using but seemed to wield more often than not; a tone that always made all of her kids – adopted or not – very aware that they were no longer the adults they thought they were. It was something that had always struck Nat as odd, considering that her mother usually liked to think of herself as progressive in that she let her children learn about life on their own and didn’t use such forceful methods of coercion and control.
“The clock’s ticking everyone,” the lanky woman with her long, auburn hair pulled into a messy ponytail voiced impatiently, folding her arms across her small bosom and standing in the family room’s wide doorway like a prison guard. “And I still haven’t heard what I wanted to hear. Just a few minutes ago, you were all screaming and hollering at the top of your lungs. Now, all of a sudden, you’ve come down with a case of laryngitis? Don’t buy that for a second. So someone had better start talking, and they had better start talking real soon.”
Nat groaned inwardly. This was the reason she didn’t like coming back home. This was the reason why she was very content to remain in Hunter’s Point and call her parents on the phone to talk to them. Because even with the best of intentions in mind, everything always ended up just like this when she came back! One big mess!
“Nat,” she heard her mother call out curiously. “You got something to say, something you want to get off your chest, maybe?”
And just like that, every eye in the room was on her. From Lilly standing right next to her to May beside that prick Jake over near the doorway; they were all staring at her expectantly - perhaps, except, for Jake who was busier trying to comfort May; hoping that she would bail them out of the situation they had gotten themselves in. Just like always. Besides, this had been the norm when she lived at the house; put everything on the less than burly shoulders of Natalie Anne Sloan, after her dickheaded brother had left for Manhattan, so everyone else could come out smelling like a rose. God, was it any wonder that she went downhill so quickly after she met and starting to date Gib? Not having to be the responsible older sibling taking the blame for every little thing that the younger ones had done and being able to cut free had been so intoxicating that she lost herself to it. And it had almost killed her in the end.
So, now that she had gone through all that and shirked her duties as role model and mature elder sibling to be a general public nuisance, then the conscience of the ultimate in irresponsibility, one Rebecca Moore; Nat found herself right back in the same goddamned square where this stupid little game called life had first began! Seriously, just how bad was her luck?!
“Well,” her mother pressed again, voice and tone like two vice trying to squeeze an answer out of her. “I’m waiting, Natalie.”
Raising her eyes to look at the ordinarily, kind-faced woman, Nat was about to just give in and do what she had always done when she was the oldest child in the house; take in the jaw and try to roll with the punch. That is, until she noticed something…odd about her mother. Something that looked wrong on her stern, authoritive countenance. Was her mom…glowing?
Oh God, Nat thought sickingly. Is that why they weren’t down here when I came in? Because…Because they…man, I think I’m gonna be sick…
Mary noticed her daughter’s hesitation and the questioning expression etched all over her paling face.
“What?”
Nat shifted about uneasily.
“N-Nothing.”
Her mother wasn’t about to accept that as an answer.
“Oh don’t go and try to feed me that bull, Natalie. It’s all over your face. Something’s on your mind? Now, what is it?”
With everyone’s eyes still glued to her, radiating a sickening hope; Nat sighed loudly. The only thing she wanted now was get this entire visit over with and go back Hunter’s Point and her life there.
“Uh,” she began with a low tone, steadying her body. “It’s just…well, er…”
Mary’s patience was beginning to reach its end.
“Come on Natalie! Just spit it out! You’ve never had a problem speaking your mind before! Now spill it!”
Nat swallowed hard.
“Well, it’s just that…that you’re, uh…glowing…Mom. That’s all. And honestly, it makes me kinda queasy when I think of why.”
Mary’s expression remained firm for a moment longer before it broke down into a wide smile that surprised just about everyone else in the room. Except for her father, that is.
“Oh,” the older woman began, taking in all of her children with now-merry, hazel eyes. “So, you think that I’m glowing, huh? Hmmm. What do you think, Ray? Should I just go ahead and tell them? Get it out of the way before I kick them out of my house for screaming at each other?”
Raymond just shrugged his wide shoulders, a slight grin playing across his lips.
“It’s your show, hon. Do what you want. But as the resident expert on conspiracies, I can tell that they’re all getting suspicious now. So, you’d better go ahead and let them know about what’s going on. Before you boot them out of the house, that is.”
Everyone else’s eyes, like Nat’s, were now on their mother who was standing in the doorway with a large, expecting smile plastered on her face that seemed to genuine to be real. It was beginning to make Nat uneasy.
“Okay,” she stated when no one else said anything. “Glowing and then smiling like that? What’s going on Mom? And is this the reason why you called me earlier?”
Mary nodded her head quickly.
“Yes, that’s why I called both you and Jake and pulled May out of school today. Lilly, well, I figured that she’d skip anyway and come home for a bit before leaving again. So, I decided to make today the day.”
Many quizzical expressions and looks were returned to her words.
“What,” Lilly spoke out abruptly. “Did you win the lottery or something?”
Mary’s smile would have grown even larger, if it were possible.
“Well, not exactly.”
It was Jake’s turn to speak up.
“Then what is it?”
“Yeah Mom,” May asked, wiping at her eyes with the back of a hand. “What’s going on?”
Mary quickly cast a glance at Raymond, and then spared one for each of her children; the last of which came to rest on Nat.
“I’m pregnant,” she gushed excitedly, pulling her arms apart and placing a lone hand on her abdomen. “I’m having a baby!”
Nat was very sure of one thing after the announcement. If there were a sound to indicate when someone’s jaw was dropping, she was more than positive that she would have been hearing it right about then.
About this chapter. It may have dragged a bit more than I wanted, but I think that the reason for this was because I wanted everyone to get a good feel for Nat and her relationship with her family. For those of you (and you know who you are) with whom I share spoilers and get minor beta reads from, the ending really came as no surprise. It’s not something that was just thrown in there for randomness or shock value. I have every intent on making Mary Sloan’s revelation a major plot device and possible story arc that will serve to advance the conflicts, internal struggles and overall connections with her family – among other, more interesting events that I have planned. Believe me; some of the things I have planned will hit you from left field.
On some lesser notes, I’ve changed the musical theme for Over Latte from Asian Kung-Fu Generation’s Kimi no Machi Made to Beat Crusader’s E.C.D.T. The reason being that I think Kimi no Machi Made sounds a bit too mature for this stage of the Over Latte storyline and that E.C.D.T. is a much better fit for the start of new friendships and introductions. As you might have imagined, I’m planning on using a different song to be the theme for new story arcs. E.C.D.T. and Kimi no Machi Made aren’t the only ones I have planned.
Also, for those not knowledgeable about Japanese fashion, ganguro was a fashion trend that was popular in Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo in the late nineties and peaked in 2000. Lilly Sloan has incorporated it’s physical appearance (deep tan, blonde (sometimes multi-colored) hair, black/white eyeliner, etc.) into her candy-raver fashion style for a totally different look that makes her stand out from the rest of her family.
As usual, sorry about the lateness. But I can’t promise that that’ll change in the future. Work, among other things, keeps me from devoting as much time as I’d like to writing. With that said, I hope everyone who reads it will enjoy this chapter of Over Latte and look very forward to the next!
A SPECIAL THANKS GOES OUT TO VIRAGE FOR THE BETA WORK ON THIS CHAPTER’S FIRST SECTION!!!
Thanks for reading!
Terryll Preston
Owner and Proprietor of StudioTWISTED!
