Diamond
Dinner is awkward.
My dads and I sit in a leather booth, putting our acting skills to the test as we pretend we’re not sharing a meal with a stranger. The worst part is, Jesse doesn’t only feel like a stranger.
He looks like one, too.
He’s changed since I last saw him.
He got a buzz cut, new tattoos, new secrets. He’s also pale, exhaustion sucking the life out of his eyes. I don’t know where he ran off to these past six months, but it sure wasn’t a five-star resort.
“I’ll be right back with the dessert menu,” our waiter says before walking away.
Dinner was filled with meaningless chitchat and desperate attempts to avoid confronting our real issues. I’m afraid I won’t make it through dessert unless I say something.
“Are we seriously not going to acknowledge him disappearing for six months?” I address the elephant in the room.
I thought it was awkward before.
I was wrong.
Thisis what awkward looks like.
Gaten clears his throat, shifting in the banquette and resting his forearms on the table to join his hands.
“Your brother needed some time to himself.”
Here we go again.
“What does that even mean?” I confront Jesse directly.
Dave cuts in. “It’s complicated.”
It would be nice if they let him speak.
“Where did you go?” I push my luck.
Gaten opens his mouth to speak as though he’s got rehearsed answers lined up, but Jesse gestures for my dad to let him speak.
“Redwater. I have some friends there,” Jesse says.
His explanation triggers my memory, making way for a dark and distant story tucked in the deepest corner of my mind. I remember my dads telling me Redwater is where our foster home was. Where they found Jesse and me when we were kids.
Why would Jesse want to go back? All this town has ever brought him was misery. He spent his entire childhood bouncing from foster home to foster home there.
I’m about to speak again, but Jesse beats me to it.
“What about you, sis? How was that summer job? Anything we should know?” He flashes a knowing smile.
“Kids, please, can we enjoy a nice dinner?” Dave swoops in.
They’re lying to me.
They didn’t even blink when Jesse mentioned last summer, which begs the question: Why don’t they find his comment suspicious? They wouldn’t have missed that unless they were wrapped up in trying to conceal their own sins.
“I have to go to the bathroom.” I make up an excuse to get away before it gets ugly.
I hide in a bathroom stall for five minutes, contemplating the clusterfuck my life is sure to become if Jesse decides to snitch on me. I almost wish he hadn’t come back. Finn and I are happy.