Cam Cameron // Summer Again

2

"Connie?" I say shocked as he stands in the doorway.

"What are you doing here man? Isn't school still in for you?" Liam presses.

"Don't worry about it. Can I come in?" He asks dismissing all of our concern. We simply nod and let him in.

We gather at the kitchen island waiting for Conrad to explain.

"The house is under my aunt Julia..."

"Julia..." I whisper furrowing my brows. "Aunt Julia as in Susannah's sister?" I assume.

"Yeah. The house was under their names but since mom is gone... it's under her name now. My dad knew but he didn't say anything. I'm here to figure out how— how we can keep it," he explains sounding a bit unsure at the end.

"Well what's the plan?" Liam asks.

"Yeah what should we do?" I chip in.

"No this isn't your problem," he shoots us down.

"Conrad—" Liam is cut off

"No! I just came here to tell you what I'm doing. This isn't your battle," he declares walking out. Before he can reach the door I pull him back.

"Bullshit, Connie!" He turns to me surprised. "You came to us! You need us. Now get over yourself and let us help. We loved her too and we're not losing her house." He simply stares at me. He looks at Liam and then back at me. He sighs and says "okay." We nod and he goes home to rest so we can come up with a plan tomorrow.

~

I walk up to the door with Belly. Her mom lets us in and we see Susannah lying on the bed. She tries to sit up and gets smothered by Laurel.

"My beautiful girls!" she beams. If it weren't for how pale she was, you almost couldn't tell she was sick. We get closer and Laurel smothers her some more until she snaps. We've never seen that before. Belly and I are honestly taken aback. Laurel leaves and Susannah smiles like it never happened. Like she didn't want to admit she was sick. We sit on either side of her on the bed. I want to cry seeing her like this but I want to be strong. We talk to her about the summer and her boys. How Jeremiah basically hates us and how we hate that we could let Conrad suffer alone like that. Belly especially feels responsible. Susannah makes us promise though. To always stick together and to always take care of her boys. We promise it. Of course we do. Not just because she's sick. Because we mean it. Without Belly i'd be lost. Susannah's boys are like the last part of her that we have now. Her magic lives through them. We promise to take care of that magic and never let it die. We promise to be the magic.

—

Conrad invites Liam and I over the next day to brainstorm and honestly keep him company. We knock at the door and a moody Conrad lets us in. The minute we step foot into the house it's almost like nothings changed. Only everything has. Memories flood my mind like a tsunami and I don't know if I can handle it. I swim up for air because we're here for Conrad. If he can do it, so can we. My brother throws me a rope and puts his arm around me reminding me that he's right there with me. Probably drowning too.

We sit at the dining table and think.

"Why doesn't your dad just buy the house?" Liam asks.

"He wouldn't go for that. He doesn't care."

"What about any savings? Or asking Aunt Julia to sell it for cheaper?" I try.

"She'll be here in a few days. She won't reason with me."

"There's gotta be something," I almost beg the universe. We sit and we throw out ideas and Conrad is more stubborn than ever. We decide to just take him out to eat for today and keep him company and hope we can figure things out more when he's ready to call Aunt Julia or his dad again.

We go to Romanos, a pizza and Italian place, where we split a pepperoni and ricotta pizza.

"I don't know Con, maybe we should ask our parents or at least tell your dad you're here," I suggest. He immediately shoots me down and makes us swear not to tell anyone he's not at school. Liam and I are skeptical but his exam date is further out so we just hope this all gets sorted before then. So we promise not to tell.

The next day looks the same only he actually calls Aunt Julia. The conversation doesn't go great. She essentially tells Conrad no and turns down any compromise or offer he can think of. She's almost as stubborn as he is. I don't appreciate how she talks to him. It's almost as if she doesn't even care that they're family. She treats him like a stranger. Come to think of it, I don't know if I saw her at the funeral. There were a lot of people there I didn't know but still... wouldn't I have recognized Susannah's sister? The next day looks the same. We chill in the kitchen and hear the front door. That must be Aunt Julia. We all freeze and brace ourselves for what's to happen. Conrad walks into the living room and we hear another voice. The voice isn't a woman though. It's masculine and familiar. Suddenly, Conrad walks back into the kitchen yelling at the blonde curls that follow him. His piercing blue eyes land on me and my brother and I can't speak. The boys have at it and Belly slowly emerges into the room. Her eyes land on Conrad and I watch as time stops for them. He stares back and tries to gather himself to continue yelling at Jere but I can tell he's weakened.

"You guys knew he's been here? You know he's missing class right?!" Jeremiah yells at us.

"Hey don't yell at them!" Conrad defends us.

"So what? This is your plan? Going AWOL and ditching school?" Jeremiah shouts back at him.

"Fuck school!" Conrad yells with attitude. "I don't care!"

"How are you gonna become a doctor if you fail Conrad?" Belly finally speaks up. Conrad just stares at her.

"Let's maybe just take a breath and we can explain our plan," Liam chimes in.

"Oh yeah? What plan?" Jeremiah awaits sassily. Liam and I stare at them. "That's what I thought, you guys don't even have a plan!" I've really never seen him so angry before.

"Just go back home," Conrad says done. He heads upstairs leaving the rest of us down here.

"Conrads exam isn't for another week. He still has time if we get this done as soon as we can," I speak softly. Belly nods and walks over to me. I stand up and we immediately hug. "I'm so glad you're here my Belly Bells," I whisper into her shoulder.

"Thank you for taking care of him, Gracie," she whispers back. "At least we're together."

"Always."