I looked at her school records and smiled. “Smart girl.” She’s like the female version of me, I guess, all As and A+s. I went back years since her extracurriculars were shabby and saw where she’d given up dance and gymnastics, which seemed to be her thing when she was younger. Maybe she outgrew them; heaven knows the twins pick up and drop shit like a hot potato.
But surely she knows that most colleges pay close attention not only to grades but also to extra curriculum. I didn’t come here for this, either, so went ahead and made the changes I wanted. I didn’t tell the twins what I was up to though they will be needed for this, but since they made it clear that they were down for anything, I don’t see them having a problem with my plans.
I vaguely questioned why I was getting involved but squashed it because my mind was already made up. This won’t interfere with my plans in the long run, either way, and my gut was screaming at me to stick my nose in. Or maybe I needed a distraction since I was getting so close to D-day. Something about her fucking face keeps haunting me. There’s some pull there that I cannot describe; I just know I can’t ignore it.
That night she stayed on my mind until I woke restless the next day. First order of business after showering and getting ready for school was hunting down my sisters to let them in on the plan. I’d already done the hard part now they were up at-bat. “Anna, where’s Rosa?”
“She’s grabbing her stuff; why?”
“I need you both on this.” She gave me a strange look, maybe because I never ask them to do anything and, as they like to say, am always on my own. I’m that way in part because these two are nosy as heck and also because, well, they can have no part in my life’s plan, which is what I’m most often preoccupied with.
Planning the demise of a whole family takes work, especially when that family is an ocean away. It takes all of my free time and then some to get my ducks in a row and still keep my family from learning what it is that I’m up to. I don’t want my sisters, or any of my family for that matter, caught in the middle, so while they think I don’t have time for them, it’s more like I’m protecting them from myself. It’ll be easier to let me go if they don’t get too close.
I walked into their room with Anna close on my heels. “Close the door.” Her eyes lit up, and I felt guilty because of her excitement. She had the look of a little sister who’s been starving for her older brother’s attention; broke my fucking heart. See, this shit is already making me soft, and I haven’t even started.
We found Rosa in the belly of their walk-in closet that’s the size of a bedroom. Another sign of Pop’s indulgence. Since these two refuse to be separated, they’d talked him into knocking down the wall between rooms and turning the other bedroom into their closet. Believe it or not, they need it. “Anna, I can’t find my Fendi case. Oh, hi Gabe.” She had her head buried in hanging clothes, half with the tags still on them while digging through drawers that were built into the wall.
She came out with the case, which was one of many they own for their MacBooks. They change those shits like other people change shoes. I won’t complain since Ma and Pop and all the elders keep buying us shit even though our allowance is more than some people make in a year. I guess that comes with being the only kids and grandkids in the family.
The thing is, I don’t need half the shit the girls seem to, but Pop would have a conniption if he thought I was being left out, so I get to be laden down with shit. I give half of it to Lancelot, who bitches about it though deep down, I know he loves that shit. He used to feel guilty for taking stuff from me, which I can never understand. To me, the friendship is worth more than the thousand-dollar shoes or whatever. Plus, he’s a fussy bitch who likes fashion almost as much as the twins do.
“You done?” I had to stand there for the last two minutes listening to these two synchronizing their shit. Heaven forbid they be individuals for a day. Rosa’s using Fendi, then the Louis case Anna was carrying, was no longer doable. She had to find her shit too.
“Yes-yes, I’m done. So, tell me, what did you come up with?” They’d hounded me the evening before up until dinner time when I told them I’d think of something.