Knowing Jude

6. We Can Do It At My Place

6. We Can Do It At My Place

"Mum? I might have a friend over to study, maybe starting next week," I say in the evening, during dinner. Which I immediately realise is a mistake, since everyone is now paying attention to me.

"What friend?" Maria asks, nose turned up.

"None of your business," I mutter and keep my eyes at mum. I should have asked her when nobody was around. "He was assigned to me by Ms. Fernandez, to tutor."

"He?" Lilly sputters, covering her mouth that's full of food. She appeared at home earlier on in the evening, saying there's something she needed to talk to mum and dad about. She goes to a university some four hours away, in her second year.

Maria tosses her blonde hair back and leans forward. Nobody in our family has blonde hair, - Dad has dark hair, and there's nothing like blonde hair in Mum's entire ancestry. Or race. She just dyed it on her fifteenth birthday, shortly after she got her first boyfriend. A fact I always scoffed at, but then I'm seventeen and I've never ventured into that territory, so I thought it a bit ridiculous. Then again, I'm a social dwarf and she's a social butterfly.

Mum waves her hand dismissively. "Of course, whatever you want."

"Thanks mum." I smile and pick up my fork once again.

"Don't you want to know who he is?" Maria asks mum, as if she's overlooking her motherly duties by not grilling me about it.

"Because you want to know?" Trey breaks his silence from beside me. I look at him, pleased. I however lift an eyebrow at the phone he has beneath the table, texting. Wait until mum catches him with a phone at the dinner table, he's going to be in a dilemma similar to Simon's.

Maria scoffs and turns back to her dinner.

"Who is he, Jo?" Lilly asks, apparently still hung up on the subject.

I shrug. "Just some random guy at school, you wouldn't know him," I dismiss.

She makes a face and shrugs.

The door bell rings and Sam jumps down from his seat.

"Sam, don't..." Mum starts, but stops because he has already disappeared into the other room, heading for the front door.

"He's going to let in burglars some day," Trey mutters.

Mum rises and is about to go after Sam when he comes back, tugging dad behind. He lets go of him and rushes back to his chair. Dad is in his work clothes, a briefcase in hand.

"Sorry I'm late. I was held up at work, then I forgot my house keys," he apologises, wrapping an arm around my mum and kissing her on the cheek. His eyes land on Lilly and he frowns. "Lilly? Why are you here?"

I look at Lilly and she fidgets, visibly nervous. "This is home, dad. Should I have a reason?"

Dad just lifts his eyebrows, loosening his tie.

"Lilian wants to talk to us, how about you join us for dinner now that you are here?" Mum suggests, taking his coat and case.

"Thanks, dear," he says, taking the seat at the head of the table.

I'm almost asleep when the door to my room opens and Lilly steps in. Before she went off to school, she had a room of her own while me and Maria shared the one I'm using now. Maria moved into hers when she moved away, thankfully putting some distance between us. Whenever she came home for breaks however she would coop up in my room.

After dinner when everybody else went to sleep, she stayed back to talk to our parents, and since I'm curious about what it was all about, I shift so that I'm lying on my back and wait for her to slide in beside me.