Act 1 || Scene 2
1287 Words
He stumbled into his bedroom and shut the door.
He knew he needed to call Brett at the arcade and let him know he would be late, but there was a lack of energy to do anything.
Normally, each day was done with a sort of numbness that didn’t end until he was face flat across the sheets.
But that protective veil had been ripped away and cairo was exhausted and yet, oddly, highly alert.
His mind was a tangled knot of everything and anything he could possibly do to get Lucan his money.
There was still seven hours before he had to see him and he knew he wouldn’t be able to rest until he’d tried everything in his hand.
He could get an extra two hundred from his overdraft protection at the bank.
It was a risk, because the bank had already warned him they would shut his accounts down if he did that again.
But what choice did he have?
It was either his bank account or his sister.
There really was no other option.
Still, that left him five thousand, three hundred unaccounted for and nothing short of selling the house was getting him that.
Even if that was an option, seven hours wasn’t enough time to do it.
Pacing, he slid sweaty fingers back through his hair and fisted, ripping out strands from their roots, but not caring.
Below, he could hear Ms. Edwina puttering around the kitchen.
Cupboards opened and closed.
Dishes rattled.
He heard the beep of the oven being preheated.
Then the quiet hum of some lullaby song Ms. Edwina always hummed while cooking.
cairo dropped down on the edge of his bed and stared absently at his dresser.
Most of the drawers were empty whereas once, they barely closed.
He had sold most of his high end, brand named stuff and lived off thrifty clothes, much to Olivia's eternal disgrace.
But they were cheap and practical.
He withdrew a fresh pair of pants and a top and stripped quickly out of his sweat drenched clothes.
He combed out his hair before grabbing his bag and hurrying downstairs.
“Ms. Edwina, I have to run to the bank, but I’ll be right back.”
The bank was around the corner from the house, a white building lined with sheets of glass that were tinted a green-blue against the sun.
cairo went to the teller first to cash the check before making a straight line for the machines.
His fingers shook as he inserted his card.
The two hundred dollars went into the envelope along with the five hundred from the hotel.
It was stuffed back into his purse before he left the building and made his way home.
“I don’t want your stupid casserole!” was the first thing cairo heard when he stepped back into the house. “I’m going out with my friends.”
Dropping his bag down on the table next to the door, cairo followed the shrill sound of his sister’s screeching and found the blonde looming over the island while Ms. Edwina diced chicken into neat cubes on the cutting board.
“Your brother put me in charge,” Ms. Edwina said evenly. “That means I want you at that table doing your homework.”
“You haggard old c—”olivia !” Outrage crackled down the length of Cairo's spine as he barged into the room. “What’s the matter with you?”
At sixteen, olivia was exactly like cairo.
They shared everything right down to the dirty blonde hair and green eyes.
The only thing that differed was their gender and attitude.
She’s family,” cairo countered sharply. “And you better watch your tone.”
olivia ’s pert little nose wrinkled in a clear show of disgust. “She’s not my family and I don’t have to do shit.” She swatted a strand of hair off her shoulder with a dismissive flick of her wrist. “I’m going out with my friends. I need money.”
cairo shook his head. “I don’t have money and you’re not going anywhere.”
“Are you serious right now?” The deafening volume of Vicky ’s shriek nearly made cairo wince. “Oh my God, you are trying to ruin my life!”
“I’m trying to get you to finish your schooling,” cairo countered calmly.
You need to graduate, olivia.”
“Ugh! I have a life and I have friends and I don’t need you—”
“—And homework that needs to be done,” cairo finished for her. “I have to go to work, so you are going to listen to Ms. Edwina, eat your supper, do your homework and watch TV, or something. I don’t care. But you’re not leaving this house.”
“You are not my mother!” olivia roared, flags of crimson flooding her cheeks. “You can’t tell me what to do!”
“I can,” cairo said with a note of sadness he couldn’t suppress. “I am your legal guardian and that means I’m responsible for you and your wellbeing until you’re eighteen. Until then, you listen to what I tell you or—”
“Or what?” Her hiss was mocking and cruel.
cairo never flinched. “Or I send you to Uncle Adrian’s farm and let him ruin your life for the next two years.”
All color drained from the girl’s face in a single sweep of horror. “You are such a jerk cairo!”
Eyes glittering, olivia stormed from the kitchen.
cairo listened as the crack of her pink pumps resonated off the hardwood all the way down the hall.Then all the way up the stairs.
It ended with the booming bang of the upstairs bedroom.
He sighed heavily into the silence his sister’s tantrum had left behind.
Ms. Edwina studied him with sad, shrewd eyes, but thankfully didn’t comment; they had gone through this song and dance before with olivia.
cairo had apologized profusely over and over again for the girl’s behavior. There was nothing left to do.
“I’m going to work,” he mumbled at last. “You might not be able to reach me, but I’ll try to be back some time tomorrow morning.”
Ms. Edwina nodded. “All right, dear.”
Taking his weary frame, cairo ambled his way upstairs.
In olivia’s room, the stereo blared something angry and loud that rattled the door.
cairo let it be.
He had learned long ago not to fight every battle if he wanted to win the war, and olivia was one giant battle.
In his room, he stripped quickly and showered.
Then dressed carefully in a black pant and a white blouse over a white tank.
He combed out his hair all the while, avoiding his own eyes in the mirror.
There was no longer room to ignore the inevitable.
He had done his best, but in the end, there was only one final option.
One last thing he could give lucan to protect olivia. While he lacked the courage to put a name to the unthinkable, he knew what needed to be done.
!~~~!
It had never dawned on him just how much he weighed until his entire weight was being supported by the grace of his unsteady legs.
The shoes he’d forced his feet into wrenched and wobbled across gravel as he hobbled his way to the warehouse doors.
Lights spilled through the cracked windows on either side of the sheet of metal, a sure sign that someone was home.
A burly man stood in front, sucking lightly on a cigarette.
- Writer
