Sister Mother

Chapter 12

Leo

I was sound asleep, woke up from the sound of my phone ringing, and heard Addie's voice. She ranted about a notebook (that I will read one day), me forgetting my penis and how she loves that I exist. Next time she called me, I was going to record her.

Are you sure you want to clear your call history?

I stared at the message on my phone. My thumb hovered over the "yes" button. I am honest. I have principles. I said I'd delete it, so I have to.

"I hate being a good person," I said before my thumb touched the screen. Chucking my phone across the room, I got out of bed and paced.

Things weren't better for her. They were worse. What did that mean? Why the fuck did I get rid of her number? Is Beatrice telling me everything she knows, or is she still keeping me at bay just 'cause I got a seventy on her last "Addie and Leo compatibility quiz?"

I stared at my truck keys on my desk. Addie made me promise that wouldn't see her until she called me. She just called me. I could drive to Worcester and knock on her front door without breaking any promises.

I was over having no way to reach my girlfriend other than her kid sister, who kept quizzing me on Addie's likes and dislikes and getting on my case whenever I failed one of her tests. How was I supposed to know what Addie's favorite movie was when we'd never watched one together?

"Fuck this shit." I got dressed, grabbed my keys and bolted out of my room. My hand was on the apartment doorknob when my conscience got the better of me.

She doesn't want you there right now, Leo. She's going through hell you don't have a way to help her out of it.

I stepped away from the door.

"Dude, where's the fire?" Brennan asked from behind me.

I turned around and saw him lying on the sofa. He must have fallen asleep there after he got back from work the night before.

"Nowhere. I'm just-never mind." I walked into the closet that Brennan and Vance called a kitchen and started my cappuccino machine.

"You ran out of your room like it was about to explode, then turned around. What's up with that?"

"I thought I was late for work. I just remembered I don't go in until this afternoon." I lied as I blinked a couple of times. I got a job as an entry level graphic designer a few weeks prior. It was a learn-as-you-go-position that paid more than journalism.

"You have never once rushed to work like that."

"Are you keeping tabs on me?" I snapped as I started collecting coffee grounds.

"Someone's cranky."

I flipped Brennan off. "Hey, did you get my Venmo request the other day?"

"Yeah, I thought that was a joke. What do you need eight hundred bucks for?"

"I put a message in there, didn't I?" I asked as I inserted the arm of the coffee machine into the head. I pressed the power button and watched it brew before I turned.

Brennan stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm going to need more than for Addie to go on."

I shifted my feet nervously. Brennan and Vance had been on my case a lot about this whole Addie thing. Vance still thought Addie was pulling a prank on me by making up a depressing story to keep me away. Brennan knew that Addie wouldn't lie about something like that, but he still thought I was going overboard by sending Addie and her family meals every now and then, and underboard by not seeing her.