Dead Apples

8- Familiar Faces

"What if we sell the orchard?" I ask my dad. I've been trying to figure out ways to get Robby a good lawyer. At first, I wanted bail money but that's only a short-term solution because sure, he'll be home, but then after his trial, he'll be locked up for two decades. Maybe if we can get him a good lawyer, though, he might stand a chance.

"What?" My dad looks at me like I've just grown a second head. "Sell the orchard? For Robby?"

"Why not?" I wonder. "You haven't been out there in years, it's all dead. It's a wasteland out there, Dad, but I'm sure that somebody would pay money for it. It's a lot of land."

"That's your mother's orchard," He reminds me as if I didn't already know that.

"Nobody has touched it in five years, Dad," I inform him slowly. I knew that he wouldn't like this idea but I had to bring it to his attention because I think that there's maybe just a little possibility that it might work. It is a lot of land and I guess the soil is probably in good condition so some aspiring farmer would love to have a go at it and grow whatever it is that farmers want to grow around here. Maybe just try to revive the orchard or something.

"It's your mother's," He repeats because that's his only argument but it's a stupid argument.

"Well, she's not here anymore so she doesn't need it," I respond. "Mom is dead so it's useless to be doing her any favors. But Robby is still here, we can help him. He's still in our reach and we can save him. He's your son and I know that he's an idiot but we can't just abandon him just because you can't let go of some dead trees."

"Don't you have to get to work?" My dad tries to push the conversation away.

"It's not like if you sell the land, her memory will vanish. What is Mom going to do with that land now? You really just want it to sit there and rot while Robby is doing the same thing in prison? Mom would want you to sell the land for Robby."

"Don't you dare tell me what your mother would want," He snaps at me, now losing his patience for me. I'm surprised that it took him so long into the conversation to start getting angry because usually, he'll start yelling immediately whenever anybody brings up my mother.

I know that they were soul mates and that my dad loved her more than anything in this world. It's been five years but he still hurts so badly and he misses her so much. I can't imagine what that must feel like, to have your soul mate ripped away from you like that. She really was a wonderful woman but I know that if she was alive today, she would sell the land if it was the only thing that could save Robby. Even though sometimes, it seemed like she loved the apples more than she loved us.

"You know that I'm right," I persist but I'm stepping away from him. He's never gotten violent before but when he gets mad, it's pretty scary so I don't want to take my chances. "I'm going to work but seriously, Dad. Think about it. I'm taking the car."

"Yasmin, no."

"You've been drinking," I motion toward the whiskey bottle on the table beside the couch that he's sitting on. "And you already have two DUIs. You'll be in jail with Robby if you get another one, you know."

After that, he doesn't argue again about me taking the car so I grab the keys from the counter and I start heading for the front door. I don't forget to pat Zero on the head a little bit to say goodbye to him as I head out.

"Don't end up like us, Yaz," I hear my dad mumbling from the couch. I don't even think that he intends me to hear that because he says it so quietly.

"Just think about the orchard idea, alright? I want Robby to come home," I plead one last time with my dad before I leave and hop into the car to drive through the neighborhood to the empty gas station.