Page 7 of Heartless
“You’re right,” I concede to my wife.
“Come on. Let’s go have dinner. It’ll be difficult enough to make it through dinner with your father berating her and your mom walking on eggshells.”
“I know,” I grumble, taking MJ’s hand in mine and leading her down the hallway toward the dining room.
When we arrive, I notice that my sister is buried in her phone, my father is glaring at her, and my mother is chatting away happily as she places the final serving dish on the table.
Looking around at all of us, she asks, “Can we eat now?”
“Yes, please,” MJ says, taking her seat beside mine and across from Danica’s. Dad has removed the leaf from the table that extends it to a long rectangle and creates a small square table for the five of us.
My mother stretches her hand out and takes my father’s hand, who sits at the head, and he takes mine where I sit on his left. MJ takes my left hand and reaches her free hand across the table to take Danica’s.
My father begins praying, and although I bow my head, I keep my eyes open, watching my sister intently. She purses her lips several times, constantly shifts in her chair before her eyes fly open, and her gaze rests upon me.
I have no idea what made Danica so angry and shut off from the world or what caused her to push everyone away. My sister was a beautiful, free spirit all her life. She made others laugh, and she was friendly, outgoing, generous, and kind.
Most of the time, I don’t even recognize the person that she’s become. Some days, I can’t stand her. When I feel my wife squeeze my hand, I lift my gaze and notice that the prayer has ended, and no one is holding hands anymore.
Dropping MJ’s hand, I begin plating my food.
“Now, back to the question I asked earlier,” Mama says.
“What’s that?” Dad asks.
“When are you two going to get started on making us some grandbabies? I’m ready to retire, and I want something productive to do with my time. Some babies to spoil,” Mama says as her eyes sparkle like diamonds.
MJ grows tense and shoots a glance my way.
“We’ll get started when we’re ready, Mama. Right now, we’re just enjoying our married life. We’ve only been married two years.”
“Plenty of time to enjoy each other and start a family by now.”
Dad’s flipping through his phone and half-listening, and Danica is rolling her eyes.
“We’ve been discussing it lately,” MJ says, causing my stomach to cramp.
Shit! Why did she have to go there with Mama?
“Great! Sounds like you two aren’t on the same page, though,” Mama says.
Silence descends as she looks between my wife and me. Danica looks up cautiously from her plate, and Dad looks away from his phone.
“Tina, honey, leave those two alone. They’ll have children when they’re ready,” Dad says.
“I know. I just can’t wait.”
“Sounds like you’ll have to,” I say lightly, following it up with laughter to ease the tension.
We all dig into our food and forget about conversing for a while. Halfway through the meal, we begin talking again.
The mood is jovial, the conversation is light and easy, and the food is amazing as always because my mother, who’s a neurosurgeon, is also a talented cook. Mom entertains us with stories about her newest patient, an eight-year-old boy with a brain tumor, who displayed more courage facing brain surgery than her thirty-two-year-old patient who was getting injections for a pinched nerve. She talks about how the man cried upon seeing the needle.
Meadow talks about her upcoming dance performance, and Dad and I both talk about our businesses, but Danica remains quiet. Even when Mama and MJ attempt to pull her into the conversation by asking questions about her show, she remains passive and noncommittal when it comes to conversation.
It explodes near the end of the night when Mama serves the cake.
“Maybe you should have a glass of water or some juice with that cake,” Dad says to Danica.