And Just A Touch of Death

Part VI

4:03 pm

They quickly finished up their food and walked away from the clearing towards the main sidewalk.

"Where to next?" Winter asked.

Robin shrugged. "I don't know. You invited me to hang, remember?"

They both had the ghost of a smile on their lips. Winter rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Wanna go see a movie? My little sister works at the theatre on Beechwood Ave and she can sneak us in through the back door."

Robin turns to gaze at Winter with a surprised expression. "You have a sister?"

Winter nodded. "Yeah. You didn't know that?"

Robin shook his head. "You never talk about her."

Winter furrowed her brow. "I must have mentioned Spring at least once to you. She's only two years younger than me, but she's-"

"You're sister's name is Spring?" Robin snorted.

"Yeah, it is." Winter said in mock defense. "My mother named us after the season we were born in. I think it's cool."

"It is, it is." Robin said, his hands up in surrender. "I just...honestly, I get it." He nudged Winter with his elbow. "My sister's name is Raven."

Winter's eyebrows flew off her forehead. "Robin and Raven? I love that! It's got a nice ring to it." She laughs. "Our mothers could be best friends, with their love of matching names and all."

The smile on Robin's face slowly began to fade at the mention of his mother. "My mother loved it when things would match. She would dress me and Raven up in matching Halloween costumes and every time we went out or visited family, our outfits were always matching. The baby pictures we have are so cringe." He had a small, sad smile on his face, as if recalling a painful yet joyous memory.

Winter picked up on the usage of past tense immediately. She debated whether or not ask about it, but finally decided since Robin was talking about it, it was okay to ask. "What happened to her?"

Robin took a deep breath and was silent until they reached the end of the block. "She died two years ago from breast cancer." Robin sighed. "I swear the stress from the divorce is what triggered it."

Winter kicked a rock with her shoe. "Didn't she get treatment? Breast cancer is one of the most treatable cancers-"

"She couldn't afford treatment." Robin said. He curled his bottom lip. "She reached out to my father to maybe get insured, but...well, the divorce was nasty and they didn't end on good terms."

Winter gazed up at Robin in shock. "So, your dad just let your mom die?"

Robin didn't answer. His hands were balled up into fists by his sides, his lips pressed tightly in a firm line.

There was a heavy silence between the two of them.

"You've never mentioned Raven before." Winter said, changing the topic. "What's she like?"

A small smile found its way onto Robin's face. "Raven's awesome. Dad wanted her to become a lawyer, but she basically told him to fuck off and majored in photography instead." Robin laughed. "Right now she goes to NYU. And she's an amazing photographer. She's won like, competitions and stuff."

Winter smiled, both at Robin's words and his change in demeanor. "That's great! NYU though? That's pretty far."

Winter wished she didn't say that. Robin's face fell. "Yeah. I only see her for a couple days during Christmas and that's it. She hates our father more than me, so she refuses to come home during the summers and doesn't stay any longer than is absolutely necessary."

Winter didn't quite know what to say.

"I miss her a lot." Robin added.

Winter gave Robin a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Robin."

He shrugged. "It's okay. We still call and FaceTime a bunch, but it's just not the same."

Winter nudged him with her elbow. "You've got good grades; I bet you could get into NYU. Then, you'd be with Raven and away from your dad. Win win."

Robin smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I could, yeah. But, Raven's got her own life now. She's got friends that are practically her family. I doubt she'd want her little brother around." Robin dryly chuckled. "I'm not cool enough, probably."

Winter shrugged. "Well, for what its worth, I think you're pretty cool."

Robin grinned. "You're not too bad yourself, Winter."

They walked across the street and down another block, until they passed by the mall. Winter got an idea.

"Hey, let's go in." Winter said, gesturing towards the front entrance of the mall.

Robin scoffed. "Thanks, but no thanks. If I wanted to follow a woman around as she shopped, I'd just go with my step-mother."

Winter rolled her eyes. "We're not going to go shopping."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Then...?"

Winter gathered her long, dark hair into a ponytail, as if she was about to do hard labor. "There's an arcade in there, remember? When was the last time you played laser tag?"

Robin's face morphed into a huge smile. "Oh, you're so on."