The Sinclair Sisters

The weird story of Tobias Abraham

Cancun, Mexico
November 11th, 2020

Violet

I sighed as I sat in a chair. Koby walked into the main cabin, "There you guys are. I thought you got lost." Jodi opened a bottle of root beer, "Have some faith Ko. We couldn't possibly have gotten lost."

"So any news?" she asked. "We're looking for Luciano Russo, he's the next person on our list," I said, my eyes shut. "Okay then, I'll get to it," Koby said and left. Jodi stood for a while before leaving as well, going to do God knows what. Sometimes that girl worries me.

"I'm gonna go inside. Night Vi," Shannon said and headed for the door. She paused, "By the way, I don't plan on using drugs." I opened my eyes and looked at her. She smiled ruefully, "I mean, it sounds good and all, to be able to get through school without feeling like you're gonna pass out, but it's not worth it. I think I'll just stick with being a cat."

I smiled at her, "Good to hear."

Jordan

I hummed a song by Celia Cruz as I walked towards Essence's room. I silently knocked on the door before entering, not waiting for a response. Essence turned to face me, and for the first time, I actually noticed how haggard she was looking. Her eyes were dim and she didn't have her usual, preppy Essence aura. She smiled sadly, "Come to tell me how angry you are at me too?"

I sat beside her and took a sip of my root beer, "Of course not. First of all, I'm not angry at you, mainly disappointed." Her face fell, but I kept going, "And secondly, I'm not here to tell you that I'm angry or whatever. I want to tell you a story." Essence raised a brow, "A story?"

I nodded, "A really interesting story, you'll like it and I think you can relate. Shall I say it?" She shrugged, "You will no matter what I say so shoot."

I chuckled. She knew me well.

"When I was in high school," I started, "I had a friend. His name is Tobias. Our friendship was a bit unusual, if I'm being honest, mostly because Tobias himself was unusual. He was smart, very smart, and he loved his comic books. He was a tad bit overweight and he wore unusual clothes to school. But Tobias was always happy. You could tease him, mock him, insult him but he'd smile at you and say thanks. The only time I ever saw Toby loose his temper was when one of his usual bullies said something about his little sister, Tabitha." I chuckled as I remembered that day, the only day Tobias Abraham ever got upset. I continued, "But even after Tobias beat up the guy, he apologized the next day and told him to never diss his sister again. Tobias was Jewish and very religious, so during festivals like Hanukkah, he found a way to include everyone. No one wanted his cookies, but he'd share them every year to every one in the class."

"He sounds weird," Essence said. I smiled, "Oh he was. And I found out why. You see, once upon a time I wanted to be normal. On Valentine's day during freshman year, I got this huge box of chocolate. But I threw it out and someone saw me and that started the rumour that I was a mean heartless person. I tried to change my image, but then Easter came and I had to throw out another box of chocolate."

Essence laughed, "That's ridiculous." I smiled, "I know. I hated that everyone found me weird and tried to be normal. Then I saw this guy who was weird and happy with it. So, during sophomore year, Tobias and I got paired for a Biology project. We worked at his house everyday and I watched him closely, trying to decipher where his odd attitude came from, or if it was a facade. But then I realised his whole family was odd, and even they got insulted but they returned it with a smile. So one day, I got fed up and asked Tobias why he was comfortable being a social pariah."

Essence, fully enraptured in the story, asked, "So? What'd he say?" I grinned, "He looked at me and asked, 'I'm a social pariah?'"

Essence frowned, "He didn't know?" I shook my head, "Not in the way you think. Tobias told me, that he didn't see himself as a social pariah, in fact he felt he was perfectly normal."  Essence frowned.

I continued, "You see Essence, Tobias wasn't abnormal or weird or awkward. Society has evolved to a point where if you don't act they way they want you to, you become odd. But Tobias made me realise that that train of thought was wrong. Normalcy is overrated, and there really is no definition of normal. Everyone has their normal, as long as they don't break the law or do anything that's actually wrong, there's no problem. Tobias may have been odd, admittedly, but he didn't break the law, and he didn't harm anyone in any way, so he's perfectly okay. The same for you. Have you ever looked at Violet and wondered why she doesn't care what people think about her?" Essence shook her head.

"Because she knows it's unimportant," I said. "Violet has other important things to do than stress herself over little things like that. She's happy, we're happy and she's comfortable as she is. That's all that matters. We sent you to Hollywood so you could follow your dreams, heal your scars, not to follow their scale of normal. Hollywood is the most abnormal place by the way, one minute jumpsuits are the in thing, the next it's palazzo." I rolled my eyes at the last part and Essence laughed. I kept silent, wanting my words to take effect. No way was I losing my sister to something as stupid as drugs.

"So, Essence, answer me this," I said quietly. "Are you normal?" She looked away then grinned at me, letting her large, razor sharp canines show, "More than the next guy." I smiled and nodded in approval. That's my girl.

I left Essence's room and went back to the main cabin. Violet was still there, and I sat in the seat in front of her and turned to face her. She raised a brow, "Jordan, what did you do?"

I shrugged, "Just chatting with my sis." Violet shook her head and closed her eyes. I sighed, "Vi, we need to talk."

She opened one eye, "You sound serious." "I am," I said and let out a breath. "Violet, why in the name of all that is holy did you decide to sell our house?"

She sat up immediately, both eyes open. "How'd you know?"

I rolled my eyes. How stupid does she think I am? "You put it on the internet," I said dryly. "Anyone can see it."

She sighed, "I was going to tell you girls later." I raised a brow, "After it was sold? Vi, you can't keep doing things like this."

"Like what?" she questioned. "Like not telling us anything until the last minute," I said. "I know you want to protect us and all, but we're older now. Shannon is sixteen and Julius is dead, enough with the protecting."

"I thought you would be grateful. We hate that place, it's like our personal nightmare," she said. I sighed, "Did you at least think to ask? What if someone found something? Anything that could give away what we are, or even ashes." Violet's face went blank once she realised what I was referring to.

I sighed again, "Look Vi, I don't know about you, but I want to keep the house. I hate Julius, and I hate what he did to us, but I love the few good memories I had in that place. Meeting everyone, the times he travelled for business and we were alone, they were good. I just don't want to give that up just yet."

Violet went very quiet. Then she sighed and smiled sadly, "After this, I'll talk to the others. We'll take a vote, and discuss it. Together." I smiled back, "That's all I needed to hear. And you'll tell us why we're flying half way across the world for a piece of glass."

She rolled her eyes jokingly. "Yeah, yeah."

I laughed.