Page 83 of The Lucky One
“It was fine,” I said, covering my mouth with my sleeve to hide the stupid grin that always crept out when I lied.
Mama smiled and squeezed my hand. Lucas kept chatting away as we ate. My phone vibrated and I pulled it out expectantly. Despite my begging Papa to stay, he had sold the house and moved to Berlin. We had talked a few times on the phone since, but less and less over the months. I sighed when I saw it wasn’t his name on the screen.
“No phones at the dinner table,” Mama scolded.
I rolled my eyes, but before I could put it away, Lucas grabbed it. “Let’s see who you’re texting!”
I lunged for the phone but he ran for it. “Hey, give it back!” I shouted, rushing after him into the kitchen.
“Guys, not during dinner! Please!” Mama called, but we ignored her.
“Who’s Michael, hm?” Lucas cackled, holding up the phone so I couldn’t reach it.
“No one!” I squealed, jumping up, but I wasn’t tall enough.
“Ooh, he sent a heart emoji!” he said, looking up at the screen. “Wait, is that an eggplant emoji? What the heck—”
I had climbed onto the kitchen counter without his notice and jumped onto his back, laughing in delight. “Give me my phone!”
At that moment the door opened, and Lucas startled so hard I accidentally knocked down a vase of droopy old flowers Richard had gotten my mother, probably a month ago for her birthday.
“What’s going on here?” Richard yelled, and our laughter faded.
Mama rushed into the kitchen. “Richard, hi! The kids are just messing around.” She helped him out of his coat.
Richard eyed us and the mess we’d made. “Right. What did I tell you about fooling around?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. The vase hadn’t even broken. But Lucas only let out a snort. “We were just having fun.”
Mama quickly took out another plate from the cabinet. “Let them be kids, Richard. Are you hungry? I can fix you up a plate.”
“They aren’t kids anymore. They’re fourteen and eighteen, Susanne.” He strode past us to the table, and Mama gestured at us to join him.
We returned to dinner, quieter now. It was always like that. When he wasn’t there, we chatted and laughed... But when he was, I scoured my brain for things to talk about that wouldn’t bug him.
It all started a few months after we moved in together. The first time we broke something by accident, he lost it, telling us to be more careful with his things in his house. No matter what we did, nothing was good enough in his eyes. Mama kept saying he was stressed from work now that he had to provide for an entire family. I didn’t get it; Mama was working all the time herself. We barely spent any time together except for at dinner.
“You got your history grade back?” Richard asked me. He had helped me study for the test, but no matter how much I tried, I just wasn’t good at history. English and German were my strengths.
“I got a B-,” I said, dodging eye contact.
“Oh, how great, lovely!” Mama said, but Richard made a face and muttered under his breath, “B-, don’t encourage her for that.”
My brother let his silverware clatter onto the plate. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m not hungry anymore.” He stomped out.
“We’re not finished yet!” Richard called.
Mama placed her palm on his hand. “Let him go, honey. It’s fine.”
My mother kept defending us, but it didn’t make it any better.
Now...
I lay sprawled on Jon’s bed, surrounded by my Culinary notes. Finals were coming up soon, and despite my school in Germany making me repeat the year, I decided I wanted to ace them for myself—and for the slight possibility that I’d be finishing high school here after all. I shook my head, staring down at all my notes.
Jon glanced up from the couch, where he was immersed in his own stack of papers. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s so unfair that German schools are so strict. I’ve learned so much this year, and they’re acting like I didn’t do shit.”