Salted Wound

Chapter 53- Feb 26, 2019

Anastacia

I take a sip of my cold brew as I read over my anatomy textbook. I peek over at Zamari and he's writing some notes for trig, I think some makeup notes from when he missed last month. I remember when my teachers graded me on my notes. Lowkey miss that. Zamari looks so concentrated in his work. The way there's a small "v" in between his eyebrows pops out as he reads over the textbook. His jaw is clenched and I can see a straight line reaching to the back of his ear. He's actually pretty handsome.

    He stops and moves his eyes toward my direction and I quickly bat my eyes and look back down at my book. I cover my face to keep him from seeing my flushed face from embarrassment. I hope he didn't catch me staring.

    "It's kind of odd that you aren't pushing me to study for my midterms. I figured you'd give me like 50 problems worth of thermodynamics or something," he starts. I let out a nervous laugh.

    "Senior teachers don't put as much pressure on midterms for second semester. They mainly focus on finding ways to get rid of us faster. I'm pretty sure you'll do fine as long as you fill out the study guide," I say pulling out the chem study guide. He nods and takes the sheet of paper from my hands.

    "Well as long you help me review this then I guess I can plan for at least a B," he mentions.

    "That's the spirit," I smile.

    "Have you packed for Florida yet?" He asks.

    "Nope! Knowing me, I'm probably going to pack the night before the trip," I joke.

    "Oof, I wouldn't be surprised, Ms. Flores," his voice is smooth. I look up and he's giving me a different smile. One I've never seen before. More warm and childlike. I'm taken back but then his phone rings and I'm brought back to reality.

    "Hello?" He picks up.

    "Mom, what's wrong?" He sits up in his chair and sounds concerned.

    "I'm on my way," he says and gets up from his chair.

    "What's wrong?" I ask.

    "I don't know, she just called me and told me that she's here to pick me up and that its an emergency. I'm sorry, but I have to go," he says starting to pack up his things. He shoves everything in his backpack and heads for the door.

    "Call me if anything happens!" I call out before he leaves.

    "I will," he says with a little smile and walks out the door.

Zamari

I rush outside, my heart pounding as I scan the parking lot for mom's car. She told me she already called me out of school and was already almost here to get me, but that's all she would tell me.

I run through the possibilities. Jade is worse and needs to go back to the hospital. Amari fell and got hurt. Dad...I push the thought of him away, and finally, see the car pulling into the parking lot. I bounce on the balls of my feet, impatient for her to get me.

I furrow my brow when I see Jade sitting in the front seat, appearing perfectly fine. I climb in the car and see Amari in the backseat, also fine. Jade turns to stare at me, looking as confused as I feel.

"Mom you said Zamari was hurt, that's why we had to get him, he's fine."

"I thought something was wrong with you," I tell her, still confused. We both turn to mom, who clears her throat before saying, "Well I didn't really lie to either one of you, we are going to the hospital, just not for any bad news."

"The baby?" Jade and I say at the same time, and mom nods, Amari obliviously making motor noise for the hot wheel he carries.

I slide lower in the seat and close my eyes. I tell myself it's better than being at school, but little is worse than seeing dad lately. Even for the birth of my baby brother, who I should be much more excited to meet. I don't want to examine my trepidation right now.

We get to the hospital and park, and even with her limp, Jade seems to slow even more than usual as we approach the doors. Mom twists her car keys in between her fingers, obviously as unsure of this as both Jade and I.

We get off the elevator, and follow the directions of a nurse to a corner room, with the door halfway open. Mom nudges it open slightly further and knocks hesitantly.

"Come in," Dad calls, his voice sounding slightly rough.

All four of us trail in, the room especially big for one at a hospital. I should know, I've spent enough time with Jade in a room half this size.

Jenny lays in the bed, her hair rumpled and fanned out on the pillow behind her, a small bundle of blankets in her arms. Dad sits on the edge of the bed, one hand on her leg.

I clench my jaw. This isn't a scene we should be intruding on. The feeling of displacement, of not belonging here grows.

"Hey, I'm glad you guys came," Jenny says around a soft smile, causing Jade and I to glance at each other. That's not exactly what we expected.

"Come meet your brother, Dominic."

Amari is the first to rush toward the bed, and dad helps him up to peer into the mass of blankets. I edge closer and see his little pink face all scrunched up, the little bit of hair he has is as dark as his mother's.

Mom talks to Jenny for a moment about babies, about bringing him home soon, bottles, and a whole bunch of other motherly topics that I zone out of.

I glance at Jade and she mouths brother to me, and I nod. It feels weird to think this little tiny baby is our brother. Dad smiles at me when I lean over mom's shoulder to get a better look, but I ignore it. I may be willing to accept another brother, but that doesn't change anything between dad and I. He still doesn't deserve us.