Empathy

Chapter Three

My hair wet and stringy, my body smelling of honeysuckle and various berries, I came back to the kitchen. Gemma had moved to the living room, lying on the love seat and reading a fashion magazine and Mom had her earbuds in cleaning up the dishes. I shook my head.

Man I hate this.

With a sigh, I sat myself down at the dining room table. My arms were crossed over the wood with my head coming to rest on it.

A knock on the door drew my attention away from my mom. "I got it," Gemma called. She got up from her seat on the couch. I couldn't see who it was at the door but by the slight laughter, I knew it was someone important in our lives.

"Gem, who is it?" Mom called.

Huh, she must have taken her earbuds out without me noticing.

Mom set down the scrub brush, walking towards the door where Gemma and the stranger were.

I looked over to see the commotion. I got up and slowly walked over to the front door, hiding my body behind a wall.

"Oh, Leni, it's so good to see you," I heard Aunt Beth's voice, using my mom's name. Her skin dark in contrast to my mom's. Beth was wearing a simple gray pant suit with a dark purple undershirt. Her messenger bag was hanging from her shoulder.

I saw Beth hugging my mom tightly, with Gemma hanging off to the side.

Beth was my dad's younger sister. They were close growing up with Dad taking care of the two of them because their parents died with Dad was a little over eighteen years old, allowing him to be the one to take care of Beth. She was my favorite aunt, even though she was my only aunt, with Mom having a younger brother. The last time I saw her, she was at the funeral, saying goodbye to the last bit of her family that she had left. The last bit that she had of her parents.

To honor Dad and Beth, we had him buried in the same cemetery as Gramma Jane and Grampa Archie, their parents. We thought it was the best for all of us, especially since Mom had no idea where to put him. We only knew that he wanted to be buried.

Beth and Mom let go of each other. "Beth," Mom started. "It feels like we haven't seen you in years."

"What brings you here?" Gemma asked.

Beth took a deep breath. "Well, I was in the neighborhood because the university decided I needed to take some time off after my brother's untimely passing," she admitted. My aunt swiped a piece of hair out of her eyes. "Duluth is only a few hours away and I decided to visit my favorite sister-in-law and my two favorite nieces."

"And you needed to see how the rest of us were doing," Gemma added, crossing her arms over her chest.

The check up. I was wondering when we would be getting one of those. Labor Day was definitely not one of those days I was expecting.

I must have blacked out or something because Aunt Beth said, "There she is. There's my favorite oldest niece." Beth strode over to me from the doorway to the wall where I resided next to, smiling real big, engulfing me in a hug. "And a few weeks after your birthday. I'm happy I got this chance."

A range of emotions flowed out of her. Happiness, sadness, anger, and love. Love for all of us. A headache started behind my eyes, triggering my Empathy. She let go of me. "How was your birthday?" she asked. She was completely ignorant of the storm she formed in my body.

Disoriented, I shook my head, trying to get rid of the pain in my brain. I rubbed hands down my arms in comfort. "It was uneventful, Aunt Beth," I told the woman. "Seventeen isn't that big of a milestone."