She pulls the desk chair out and sits down. “Do you ever want to say ‘f’ it and run away?”
“From my parents?” She nods. “All the time. But life is different there with their unwritten expectations. Disappointing my parents and going against their wishes isn’t high on my priority list.”
“Do you love Roy?”
I shrug and set my cash down beside me. You’d think that I’ve never held money before by the way I’m acting with it. “At one point, yes. I was madly in love with him, but then came college… see that’s why I have to do what my parents want. It was the tradeoff of going to Idaho. Get my degree, become a teacher and marry Roy.”
“Your family is odd.”
I’m nodding right along with her. “My family has deep southern roots. They’re like weeds, they never go away.”
“Right, change of subject. Let’s go out.”
“Tonight? Where?”
“There’s a local hot spot down the street. Be ready in five.” She gets up and goes to the door.
“Wait, what?” I call out. Kellie pauses at the door and looks back at me.
“What?”
“Five minutes? It’s like half past two in the morning.”
“And the nightlife is just coming alive. Get dressed.” She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything and really leaves me no choice but to do as she suggests. I change quickly and put some of my tip money into my pocket along with my driver’s license. I learned early, there’s no need to take a purse with you when you’re clubbing because you can never set it down.
My roommate is waiting for me in the living room when I come out. She tells me she’s called for a ride share and it should be here any second. We walk down to the front of our building, which is deep within the complex, to wait.
“Tell me about the job.”
“Like I said, it was a trial run. He’s going to call me later to let me know if I’m hired. Want to hear something odd?”
“Odd in Cali, you don’t say.” She laughs as soon as she looks over at me. “Shoot.”
“I think I met, well sort of met, Sofia’s brother.”
Now Kellie is really laughing. Not sure what’s so funny though. Did I miss a joke? A car comes around the corner, she pulls her phone out to verify the plate number and we get in. The driver, clearly in a hurry, speeds down our road, hitting each speed bump like it’s in his way, before pulling out in front of traffic. I’m going to freaking die.
“I know you and Sofia are close, but I’ve never bought the brother story.”
“Why not?”
Kellie shrugs. “It’s odd. She has a brother who never visits. Like ever. He doesn’t even call.” She turns in her seat, facing me. “We all have siblings. We’ve met each other’s siblings and cousins, yet not her brother and when her mom came to visit, she never mentioned them.”
“They have different dads.”
“So, does Kizzy and her sister, but her mom talks non-stop about both of them. Any mother would, but Sofia’s mom…” Kellie pauses and shakes her head. “I don’t know. He seems made up.”
“But he exists. I mean, I’m pretty sure I met him. He did the open mic night. His name is Quinn, right? Even though she always called him Q, she said his name’s Quinn.”
The driver pulls up in front of the club, effectively ending our conversation. I see the line and groan. It’s around the block. We’ll be lucky to get in before the sun rises. I follow Kellie right to the door. She says something to the bouncer and we’re let in.
“What? How?” I yell over the music.
“My brother is the bartender. Come on.” She drags me to the bar. As soon as her brother spots her, he leaves the customer he’s with and comes to us.
“Ladies, glad you could make it out. How’s California treating you, Eleanora?” Carson Macauley, one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met, asks as he winks at me. My knees knock together as I try to form a coherent sentence. However, it’s too late. He does this grin combined with laughter, making everything about him scream ‘take me in the back room,’ as he places two glasses on the bar. I’m not even paying attention to whatever drink he made when Kellie is thrusting it into my hand.
“Get over it,” she says, knowing full well that I’m thinking about her brother.