Someone to Love

-3-

"Dad, I'm going. I've already taken off work and there's no way you're going to stop me." I stated blantantly, throwing some more clothes in my suitcase. I headed into my bathroom to get my toiletries while he tried to convince me to stay for the seventeenth time.

"Katrina, I really don't think you should go. You and Olivia and Dee can hang out here in Miami. I don't want you going all the way to New York by yourself."

"Dad, I'm 21 years old. I can take care of myself."

"Then why do you still stay here?" T.J. butted in, leaning against my door frame. I threw a teddy bear at him, but he sidestepped and missed it effortlessly.

"The point is, Dad, that I am an adult now and capable of going on trips with my friends. You never said anything to Daijah when she was in college and she went to Costa Rica."

"That was for education, not partying."

I took a moment to glare at him. He always hated whe I went out. He hated that I wasn't like my perfect older sister. "Well, it's too late to change anything. I'm going." I turned away from him, rolled my eyes and resumed packing.

Dad was silent. I could feel his eyes glaring disapprovingly at my back, but I ignored him. I continued to pack for my trip. We were set to leave the next morning at nine. Me, and my best friends Olivia and Dee.

Olivia and Dee were fraternal twins. I met them my sophomore year of high school. We were all on the same cheerleading team and we just became best friends. They were the proud daughters of some record exec and Molly Walters, a model-turned-actress who left when they were seven. Both of them looked just like their mom, though. Tall, slender, with straight dark hair and pale skin. The last time they heard from her, she had moved to New York.

Later that day, my sister came over with her husband and their kid for dinner. Sal, her husband, was a firefighter and their kid, Suzie was going on three. I really hated children, so we didn't get along much.

"So, Katrina, I heard you were going to New York. Sounds exciting." Daijah mentioned as we sat around the table eating dinner. Already six months pregnant, she had already wolfed down two helpings of spaghetti.

"Yeah," I stated simply, pushing my food around my plate.

"So, Sal," Dad butted in, obviously trying to change the subject. "How's life being a firefighter. Must be exciting."

Sal laughed his hearty laugh. Looking at him, he looked like a lumberjack. The beard, the laugh, the plaid. All he needed was an ax and a tree.

"Yeah," Sal said when he finished his stupid laugh. "The job can be hard sometimes, but it's all worth it."

"Daddy firefighter." Suzie smiled happily. Her voice was annoying.

Daijah, on the other hand, thought it was adorable. "That's right, Suzie. Daddy firefighter."

The sight of their happy family sickened me. I excused myself from the table, put up my plate and went back to my room to finish packing.