"There was a random man wearing a creepy trench coat sitting in our kitchen two days ago," Jamie mentions to me Saturday morning as we eat breakfast. Only Jamie and I eat together on most mornings and evenings because my parents can't really find the time to enjoy a meal as a family. Sometimes my dad joins us when he isn't working or trying to please my mother. But, my mom never comes even if she is home; she'll grab a plate and go to the living room.
"The man mom was talking to?" I try to refresh my memory. Jamie nods to confirm my question. "Do you know who he is?"
Jamie shakes her head. "Strangely no I don't. I swear mom can be as sneaky as me sometimes. But, I bet she doesn't cover her tracks as well as me so I should be able to find out who he is."
"Why do you want to find him?" I ask her as I scoop some slightly cold eggs into my mouth.
"Because he was wearing a trench coat," she says sarcastically and I just roll my eyes and wait for her to give me the real reason. "He looks familiar. Really familiar."
I don't recognize him but Jamie has always had a better memory than me. There was something about Jamie's willinglyness to find this stranger that set me on edge though. With Jamie trying to be a detective it made me feel like I should be worrying about something.
"I think I may need to invest in some binoculars," Jamie mumbles to herself and I push away from the table.
"I'm going to my room." I gather a plethora of things that I have surrounding me at the table.
"You should come out with me Rose," my sister blurts.
"Go out where?" I question her because anywhere Jamie goes is a place I shouldn't be.
"Come with me and I'll show you." A slight twinkle gathers in her eyes and I know wherever she is trying to take me is a place Jamie loves more than this house.
"Will I die?" I ask immediately.
"Unfortunately I cannot predict the future my dear sister," Jamie laughs at more appalled expression.
"You're not very convincing," I tell her and she laughs harder.
"OK. There are no sources of immediate danger. Does that make you happy?" She throws up her hands as if saying ta-da.
"Not even slightly." I say shaking my head. "I'll go with you I guess."
"Yay! Sister bonding time." Jamie tosses her arms around me and pulls me towards the front door.
We both pull on our own pair of sneakers and brace ourselves in windbreakers.
Surprisingly Jamie leads us away from the town center and deeper into surburbia. When this town was built it seems as though starting from the middle everything is new and as it branches out the houses get older and more sparse. Land begins to come in miles instead of short bursts. I keep track of my surroundings and realize that Jamie has been dragging me around for 26 minutes. My calves are burning and my feet are on fire. I'll honestly be the first to admit that I'm not as active as I should be. Jamie comes to a sudden stop and points towards a small cabin style home surrounded in fields.
"What am I looking at?" I ask in confusion and Jamie grunts and pulls me closer to the fields.
"Its a sugar cane field." Jamie explains and I just look her dumbfounded. What made her think this was something I needed to see?
"But why are we here?" I follow her as she pulls me towards the tall stalks and leaves.
"To relax. You need it. I need it." She stops in front of a plant and pulls a stalk out the grouns with all her strength. "I hate that you spend so much time in that fucked up house. I can't even breathe when I'm at home; can you?"
"I think so." I shrug.
"Maybe its just me." She mimics my shrug. "Or maybe you've just accepted things the way they are and I haven't. Maybe I'm just making things harder for myself."
I'm quiet as Jamie pulls out a switchblade and starts hacking away at the sugar cane.
"What is there to accept?" I ask her and she glances up at me and then goes back to hacking.
"The way you are," Jamie clears her throat.
Her words drive into my heart immediately. Oh gosh Jamie doesn't accept who I am. My best friend and sister doesn't like the person I am.
"Stop drawing conclusions about what I said, Rose." She sighs and pushes away her knife and cane. "I don't mean I don't love you the way that you are. But I do think that you can be more than the fly on the wall that mom is forcing you to be. I don't accept that part of you. I don't accept your surrender and mom's bullshit tyranny."
"You love me?"
"Of course." Jamie laughs and hands me a piece of the sugary sap of the cane. "Don't swallow the stem part. Just suck it until its not sweet anymore."
"Why'd you bring us all the way out here to talk?" I reach for another piece of cane.
"Well not only is there delicious sugar over here. But Liam helped me tail creepy trench coat man yesterday and he happens to live LauderVille. LauderVille is the town right next to ours and from where we are now we are bordering the next town. "It'll probably be another 30 minutes until his house by foot though."
"We don't know anyone from LauderVille." At least I don't think we do. We've never even stopped there before. We just pass through because there is virtually nothing in LauderVille.
"Well mom does." Jamie grins.
YOU ARE READING
Everything I Hide From You
Teen Fiction"Even if I had one wish I still wouldn't tell you the truth about me. The truth about me is too bad for words. I could never mention it or tell. Not a single soul. Not even you. Please don't make me tell you. I love you. Isn't that enough? I love yo...
