JOINED (The Joined Series) (6 page)

“Good morning, mom.” I wiped my face, trying to look refreshed.

She titled her head to the side, her hands perfectly still on each side of her body.

“
Morning, grad!
”
She
sat down
, shaking her head as she looked at the sheets and the comforter. “How are you?”

“I am alright. How
are
you?”

Her light blue eyes widened, looking paler than I remembered and her black irises seemed smaller. “I am always well when I am in the company of my children.”

Sounds of
chatter c
ame
in
from the kitchen. Brayden didn’t sound groggy or tired at all. He
came home late last night
. I was up until two in the morning, doing his laundry and cleaning up the apartment.

“We were going to visit yesterday.
” She pursed her lips at me and shook her head.
“
Brayden insisted that we gave you time to settle in. We t
ried to convince him otherwise. Now
that you
’re home, we know you’ll
want our
company.” An awkward moment of silence passed as she stared at me, unblinking. “Are you sure you want to live with him?” She said in a monotone. Then, she whispered. “This apartment is a closet.” She was exaggerating. Brayden’s apartment wasn’t huge by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn’t a closet, either. My room was
, though
. “I think that Sarah and him are having some problems.”

“Oh, really?”

She twisted her thin lips. “I called Sarah and-“

“Wait—how’d you get her phone number in the first place?” I asked plainly.

“Why haven’t you answered my question?” She quietly challenged. It took everything in her to keep her face
as
expressionless
as possible
; she had very faint wrinkles and feared deepening them. “
At any rate, she didn’t answer the phone.
I worry about Brayden. If it weren’t for
Sarah
, he’d be right at home like he should be! I could’ve found him a lady more suitable for him.”
I highly doubted that.
Despite Sarah’s best efforts to establish a rapport with my mo
m
, she was unsuccessful. Sarah gave up trying to be overly civil with her years ago
.

“How are my favorite women doing?” Dad came over to me and his eye
s gleamed as he looked at my mom
. His gaze travelled towards me.
“Tasha, are you giving Becca a hard time?” Brayden leaned against the door, watching us
.

Mom
shook
her s
houlder length dirty blonde
hair
. “I am just having a chat with Rebecca,” she replied innocently, taking her hairpin from her purse.
She eyed me.
“I thought maybe you’d like to go for a jog. You need it.”

Brayden stepped into the room. “Leave her alone, Tasha. Recruit someone else for your workout routines,” dad told her playfully, while the subtext was clear: drop the weight topic. I
gave mom a once-over and smiled
at her. I went on a jog with her once and
didn’t go again
. I needed a stress reliever, not a stress inducer. Brayden signaled me to follow him.

Loudly enough for her to hear, I turned to
my dad
. “Good to see you mom and dad. I hope you bro
ught some bagels or a croissant.
I am definitely going to get my fill of starch today.”
Brayden wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “And I
am gonna join you.”

I sat by the small table, while Brayden opened the fridge. Mom and dad conversed in controlled and
hushed
tones, no doubt in my mind that it was abou
t me. I was happy to see them.
I did miss them. I just wanted more time before I saw them.

“Do you want anything?” he asked softly, still standing. “Listen, I know it’s too early for this shit.” He sighed heavily. “Mom constantly called me last night, wanting to talk to you
because your phone went straight to voicemail
. When she asked me how much I thought you
weighed—“

“It’s fine, really.
She can’t help herself
.
” I
cleared
my throat. “
I appreciate it but you don’t have to
get worked up
on my behalf.
”

Brayden’s eyebrows
wrinkled
. “It’s like, you’re calm.” He was obviously surprised.

“You know what? I am.”

“I have
tea. You must be parched,” he offered.

“Would you happen to have ginger tea?”

“Ginger tea coming right up!” His deep baritone voice echoed.

Mom and dad came into the kitchen. “Is there anything you need?”
dad
asked me. Brayden removed the ginger from
his plastic
bag and p
oured
scolding h
ot water into the mug, his gaze
focused on mo
m
drolly. I reached for my tea.

I had a few interviews lined up,
which eased a lot of my worries.
One company had me on their payroll for on-call clerical work. The manager admitted, though, that work was very slow and that it would probably take months before I was called in for any work. I had some offers in Greensburg, PA, but I promised my family I’d return home after I graduated.

I inhaled the steam from my ginger tea. “I am alright. Thanks. Brayden’s been
helpful.
”

Dad
took a seat directly across from me. I felt Brayden’s hands on my shoulders. “
We can help you with miscellaneous costs
.
In a few weeks you’ll have access to your half of Larissa’s life insurance.
” I rubbed my chin, feeling overwhelmed. I looked at my
manicured
nails to distract myself from the tears to about to escape eye ducts. “Larissa left
her earnings
and her life insurance to you and Brayden,” he explained.

Tears lightly streamed down my face. I dryly swallowed. I didn’t even think about
Larissa’s life insurance.
It only reinforced her absence for me. Even when she was feeling
at
her worst she thought about her family.

“Thank
s for telling me.” I looked at d
ad.

He
stood up and tucked his arm under my m
om’s. “She did it in the event that...” His maroon eyes held sadness as he thought about his firstborn. “
Larissa
arranged all of this with our family lawyer. She explained it to us over dinner and we supported her decision.”

Larissa was
his favorite without a question
. She played baseball and basketball better than the two of us. It also helped that she looked so much like him, having his beautiful almond shaped maroon eyes and naturally arched eyes, not t
oo thick or too thin
.
In addition, she was
into the hobbies that my mom enjoyed.
They enjoyed shopping together, going to the
Opera
, and exercising together.

Dad smiled at me and I couldn’t help but match his expression even though I was beyond exhausted. “Anyway, what do you have planned this weekend?” His smiled faded away and he gave me a sympathetic expression, one of pity. “Going to the stay home?” I shot my eyebrows at him in mock offense at his assumption, resulting in him opening his arms wide for a hug. I brushed h
im away with the whirl of my wris
t; my parents snickered.
They
always encouraged me
to date.

I shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll
probably
be here.”

Brayden placed his hand on my shoulder. “Becca won’t have time to get lonely.” I appreciated his concern. The idea of hanging out with Brayden was nice, but I felt like a burden. He was young,
in
the model scene, and
he
had a social life.

Brayden patted me on my back. “See,
I have Bray
.”

He
stood up and
gave
Brayden
a hard look, changing into
a look of pride
. “Good. Because we’ll be gone this weekend and first thing Monday we’ll be back.”

They
often went away during the weekends. Mom walked in front of him. “I see you have tons of new clothes. Did you shop while you were in school?” she asked casually, but her face betrayed her interest. “Maybe, you’re spending some of your money. And I must say, it’s a wise choice because those pants…” She snapped her fingers as if she was confused.

“Lounge pants,” dad supplied.

“That’s right. Those lounge pants seem a little tight around your thighs.”

Brayden shook his head in mild
dis
approval
. “Nope. They’re supposed to fit like that. Sarah’s lounge pants fit the same way,” he cheerfully commented and I inwardly
smiled
.

I rubbed
my lips
together
, the flavor of ginger was absorbed in my lips.
“I wen
t shopping with Sarah yesterday.”

“Well,” she
was silent
for a moment
. Dad
looped his hands around mom’s waist,
“that’s lovely.”

“It was
,” I told her. “
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look more wonderful.”
Giving her
a compliment garnered me one of her polite false smiles, the ones that don’t reach one’s eyes. Was I feeding into her pathology? No Doubt. At
forty-eight
years of age
, she was absolutely stunning. Her alabaster skin was smooth, no pores or
blemishes
in sight. Just from looking at her skin, I knew that i
t was
supple to the touch. Compliments were the primary form of acknowledgement that she accepted. I loved her, but I felt
distanced with
her; I wanted to like Natasha Salins, the person.

She placed on her
Chanel
sunglasses. “Thank you.” She brushed her French manicured na
ils lightly on her collarbone, appearing
unsettled with her bare neck.

“Well.” She grimaced. “
T
he
re’s a lot that I
have to
do today.
We’ll see you later.
Is
next week
a good time for you to have dinner at home
?”
S
he asked me
.

“For now, that sounds good,”—I pulled my shirt tighter around my mid-section—“but if something else comes up, I might not be able to come.” Looking at the softness of my lower stomach and th
e width of my hips, mom cringed.
Inwardly, I grinned with delight, anything to get a real expression out of her.

“Try to make it,”
dad
urged
. “You’ve been…away for a while.”

             
             
             
             
***

“That was…special!”

“Yeah, it was,” I agreed.

Brayden prompted me to open the box he placed in front of me. I didn’t even notice when he
did it
because I ruminated about my parents.