“I still don’t understand how she’s fifteen and doesn’t know her own sister,” Zac said to his older brothers an hour later, his voice quiet so as not for Missy to hear them.
Ike gave his brother a soft slug in the arm. “Will you stop asking about that? I don’t know if you see it, but she doesn’t seem comfortable talking about her,” he said.
Zac sighed. “But, Ike. Doesn’t it seem weird to you that -”
“No more, Zachary,” Ike snapped. “Leave it alone. Don’t you agree, Tay - ?”
But Taylor wasn’t paying any attention. He was staring at the bathroom door that Missy was behind as if concentrating hard on something.
Isaac snapped his fingers in front of his brother’s face. “Stop fantasizing about our guest, will you?” he teased.
“I’m not,” Taylor defended. “I’m just thinking.”
Isaac smiled and poked Zac in an all-knowing way. “I know what he’s thinking,” he told his little brother.
Taylor socked Ike in the shoulder. “Not that, you hormone,” he insisted. “It’s just . . . I don’t know. She reminds me of someone is all.”
“Oh,” Ike said with a small nod. Then, cupping his hands over his mouth, he added, “Will the mystery guest please come out from behind Door Number Two?”
Rolling his eyes, Tay said, “I can’t believe you’re older than me.”
Ike grinned. “Believe it, Small Fry. Three years, three months -”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Tay said.
Feeling left out of the conversation, Zac asked, “Who does she remind you of, Tay?”
Taylor looked at his younger brother and shook his head. “I . . . No one. She just . . . seems familiar somehow, that’s all,” he said simply.
Zac grinned. “Does she remind you of a girl?” he prodded.
Tay rolled his eyes. However, he didn’t reply.
Tracy rubbed her body down with soap. She hadn’t bathed since she’d left Wichita and the hot water pouring over her tired body felt good.
Oh, what am I doing? she thought with a sigh. I have to call my sister. Soon. She’s probably worried. Or . . . Tracy thought, her muscles tightening, she might think I’m not going to show.
That idea was too horrible for Tracy’s mind to register. She couldn’t - couldn’t - disappoint her sister. Not now. Not ever.
After rinsing the soap off her body, Tracy turned the water off and slid out of the bath tub. She dried herself and looked doubtfully at the clothes laid out on the toilet lid. A black shirt with vertical white stripes on the sleeves and a pair of jeans. Taylor had given them to her to wear, seeing how she hadn’t brought any clothes of her own. She had been planning, though she hadn’t told this to Taylor, on borrowing clothes from her sister when she arrived.
With a small sigh, she slipped into the clothes. It was nice to be wearing something that wasn’t hardened with dirt and perspiration. However, she found that she wasn’t quite comfortable in Taylor’s clothing. Sure, they fit fine, she just couldn’t believe how incredibly nice he and his brothers were being. To think, she’d had them pegged as spoiled brats . . .
“I’m clean,” she announced, walking back into the living room. However, there was nobody in the room. She walked into it and looked around slowly. No Taylor, no Isaac, no Zac. Where were they?
Tracy was silent for a moment, straining her ears. Finally, she heard something. An acoustic guitar. And then a voice singing. Tracy smiled to herself. How perfect was this?
She snuck over to the telephone and picked up the receiver. After listening momentarily for a dial tone, Tracy poked a few dozen digits on the number pad. Finally, a ringing came over the line and she held her breath.
“Yo! You have five seconds to speak before I hang up on you,” greeted a voice.
Tracy’s heart pounded. “Um, hello. This is Tracy Dennis - or, um, rather, Tracy Sh-”
“Where are you!” the voice of Tracy’s sister demanded. “I was so worried! You were supposed to be here at noon. When you didn’t show, I -”
“Don’t worry,” Tracy insisted. “I’m here in Tulsa. But, there’s been a slight development. I’m, uh, kinda at their house right now.”
“What?” cried the voice on the other line; the one oh, so reminiscent of her own. “You’re where?”
“I’m at their house. I was trying to kind of mentally map out the layout of the place and the middle one caught me. I almost got out, but I . . . I think I passed out. I can’t remember.” Tracy sighed. “They brought me inside and I’ve been here ever since.”
“Tracy!” her sister screeched. “Have you lost your mind? Do you know what you’re doing to the plan?”
Tracy sighed again. “I know, I know. I just -”
“You know how important this is, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Tracy whispered. “I know how important this is to you -”
“To you too,” her sister insisted. “Right, Tracy? To you too.”
Tracy faltered. “I . . . Um . . . I mean -”
“Missy, who are you talking to?”
She spun around to see Taylor standing in the doorway, an inquisitive look crossing his face. “No one,” Tracy said quickly, regretting the words as they passed her lips. Then, into the receiver, she said, “Good bye,” and hung the phone up. She looked up at Taylor, knowing she wore a guilty look. “I used a calling card to call . . . And it wasn’t even long distance . . .” she said quickly.
However, Taylor didn’t seem upset that she had used the phone. He just looked at her, blue eyes probing once more. “Missy? Who was that?”
“I . . . I . . .” Tracy stuttered. “No one. I told you.”
“Was it your mom? Or your dad?” Taylor pressed. “Your sister?”
She stared at the floor. “Tay . . .” she managed to say. “I . . .” Her breath caught and slipped out in a shudder. She sat down on the couch and pulled her legs in toward her body, resting her head on her knees.
“Oh,” Taylor whispered. He shifted uncomfortably before crossing the room and sitting down next to Missy. He rested an awkward arm on her shoulders and whispered, “Don’t . . . Don’t cry.”
Tracy hugged her legs closer to her body. “I’m not crying,” she told him stubbornly. “I’m . . .” She couldn’t think of how to finish the sentence. Instead, she put her legs down and folded herself into Taylor’s arms. She rested her head on his shoulder and said, “Everything is just very confused right now.”
Even this, she added mentally. Sitting here, taking comfort in the arms of someone I couldn’t stand yesterday.
Abandoning my sister.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Taylor said quietly, breaking into her thoughts, “I’m kinda confused right now, too.”
Part of Tracy’s mind groaned. Is this the part where we join hands and tell each other our problems? it criticized. However, Tracy ignored this thought and whispered, “Really?”
Tracy could feel his head nod. “Yeah,” Tay said. After a beat, he swallowed hard and added, “I’m kinda confused about you.”
Red alerts went on all over in Tracy’s mind. She could feel her muscles tense.
But Taylor didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he swallowed hard once more. “I . . . I know your name isn’t ‘Missy Sheffield’,” he whispered.
Her heart pounded. He knew? “Oh, really?” Tracy managed to whisper. “Who am I then?”
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