“I wrote you every day for a year, you piece of shit excuse for a brother.”
Well, at least she acknowledges that I’m family. That’s a start.
“I never got any letters,” I say. I hold up my hands like I’m surrendering to the cops.
She freezes. But then she lets out a hiss of breath and starts to shake her head. “Fuck you,” she says. She turns and walks away. I chase after her, but she leaves me standing there in the hallway. The elevator doors close behind her, and I think about racing down the stairs so I can intercept her, but I have a feeling that won’t help me.
Well. I messed that up.
I walk back to her doorway and sink down onto the floor and cross my legs. I’ll wait. I can’t give up on this. I have too much at stake. If I wait here, she’ll have to talk to me eventually, right?
It’s two hours later when the elevator dings and I hear footsteps in the corridor. I sit up. It’s not her, though. My heart clutches in my chest, because it’s Jenny. “Jen?”
I lumber to my feet, my ass sore from sitting on the floor.
Jenny freezes and stares at me. “Tag?” Then she breaks her gaze and looks at my duffle bag, her eyes skittering from place to place.
“It’s me, Jenny,” I say softly.
She sticks her key in the lock and swings the door open, then nods for me to follow her. My heart rejoices. I’m in the fucking door. So far so good.
She lays her things on the kitchen counter. “What are you doing here?” she asks. She looks like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.
“I wanted to see how you’re both doing,” I say quietly. “Are you okay?”
She snorts. “You’re asking that now? After all this time?” Her eyes narrow. “Why do you care?”
“You’re my sister, Jenny,” I remind her. I need for her to remember that. I need them.
“My name is Wren. Wren Vasquez. My father’s name is Emilio and my mother’s name is Marta. I’m twenty-four years old and my sisters are Star, Finny, Lark, and Peck. I don’t have a brother. Not anymore.” She turns and takes a cold drink from the fridge. She doesn’t offer me one, but I’m okay with that.
“Wren,” I say. Her new name sounds foreign on my tongue. “It has been so long,” I tell her.
Looking into her face is like staring my mother in the eye. They look so much alike that it’s disturbing. “You look like Mom,” I blurt out.
Her eyes fill with tears and she blinks them back. “Tag,” she breathes. “Damn it. Why now?”
“I’m in trouble.” I didn’t mean to say it, but I did. “Lots of trouble. Back home.” I scrub my hands down my face.
“What kind of trouble?”
“The really bad kind.” I look everywhere but at her. “I was hoping I might be able to stay with you for a few days maybe.” A few days…or just long enough to get you to trust me and give me money so that I can take care of something back home.
I hold my breath and wait for a response. But none comes. “Or maybe just long enough to save up a few dollars?” I need to put the fact that I need money directly in her face.
“Star won’t like it,” she says.
I wince. “I already saw her.”
Her eyes narrow at me. “What happened?”
“She pretty much told me to fuck off.”
She laughs. “That sounds like Star.”
“So, can I stay?” I hold my breath. I need this. I really need it.
“Put your stuff in Peck’s old room,” she says, pointing to a door down the hallway. Her phone dings and she smiles down at it. “I have to go to the hospital,” she says as I come back down the hallway after dropping off my bag.
“Hospital? Are you okay?”
She waves a breezy hand in the air. “I’m fine. But Peck’s having a baby. We need to get there.” She motions for me to follow her.
“Do you just want me to wait here for you?”
“Dude, I know you’re my brother, but I’m not leaving you alone in our apartment.”
“I understand.” I nod and follow her to the door.
At the last minute, she turns back to face me. “If you hurt Star, or anyone else in my family, I will make you regret it. Do you understand?”
My heart stutters, but I nod.
They’re going to hate me when this is all over.
She’s kind of quiet in the cab on the way to the hospital. She texts a lot and makes a few calls, cursing when she doesn’t get an answer. She makes some small talk with me but she doesn’t really say much. Finally, she pays the driver and we get out. I run a hand through my hair.
She laughs. “You look fine,” she says.
“Will your adoptive parents be here?”
She nods. “Yep. You’ll like them, though. They’re awesome.”
We stop at the reception desk and they send us to maternity, where Jenny—I mean Wren—asks for Peck’s room. They show us to a waiting room, and we walk in, but it’s empty except for Jess—I mean Star—and a man in a wheelchair.
Star jumps to her feet when she sees me. “What’s he doing here?”
Wren glares at her. “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been trying to find you everywhere.” She holds up her phone and points at Star’s.
“Why did you bring him here?” Star asks. “He doesn’t belong here.”