Page 38 of Neo
It was divorce.
After that every thing happened so quickly. My dad bought out my mom for her half of the house, and she moved to a condo forty minutes away. It’s weird coming home now. Nothing is the way it was. Nothing makes sense. Especially when I walk inside and see a stranger taking up space where my mother used to stand.
“There’s my baby girl,” my father spreads his arms, waiting for me to run into his embrace like I did when I was a little girl. But I won’t, because standing next to him is Shane’s mother, her boney hand entwined with his.
“Hi, Kennedy, it’s great to see you,” she says in an annoying wispy voice that is the complete opposite of my mother’s strong one.
In fact, Shane’s mom is the complete opposite of mine in every way and I wonder what the hell my father sees in her. My mother has a slight figure, creamy tan complexion, and beautiful onyx colored hair compliments of her Japanese heritage. She is gorgeous and I count myself blessed that I share half of her genetic code.
Shane’s mother is just okay looking. She’s a pear-shaped, pale redhead, the same height as my father at five foot nine. She’s polite and soft-spoken and gets on every last one of my nerves simply because she exists.
But here’s the kicker…
The two of them met at accepted students’ day at VCU and simply because of our ill-fated connection, I haven’t been able to shake her cocky son Shane ever since.
“Hi,” is my simply return greeting.
My dad beams at me, unaware of the storm brewing inside my chest since Shane already told me what I’m walking into.
“Are you hungry, Kee-Kee?” he asks, using my childhood nickname that Shane has now weaponized against me.
“I ate on the plane,” I tell him.
“You want to go put your bags upstairs, then come back down?”
“Down for what?”
His expression flattens. “To spend some time with me. I haven’t seen you in months.”
“Uh, sure.”
“Shane is coming by too,” Shane’s mother says, as if I don’t already know that. “He just wanted to drop his things at our house first.”
“We were on the same flight,” I deadpan.
“Right, of course.” Her cheeks redden.
When Shane told me at the kickback that our parents were planning on celebrating Christmas together at my house, I knew that meant things had suddenly turned serious. When a couple decides to spend the holiday together, that is pretty significant.
I’m not exactly sure how much time flies by as I sit in my room staring at a pair of old, white ice skates which hang on a hat rack stand in the corner of my room. I used to love ice skating as a kid and would skate regularly at my neighborhood rink until the city shut it down due to budget cuts. I would fantasize that one day I’d be the first biracial girl to skate professionally in the US and in the olympics for Japan, but of course that was just a pipe dream. For one, I’m not a dual citizen of both countries and second, truth-be-told, I was never that great of a skater.
“Hey.”
I didn’t even hear Shane come in the house, much less upstairs, but he’s standing in my doorway looking like he actually feels sorry for me.
“Don’t give me that pity stare.”
“One thing I’d never feel is pity for you,” he replies, and the cool gaze in his eyes confirms that. Okay, he’s still the same ass I’ve grown to detest.
“Good, then why are you standing in my doorway?”
“I’m here to escort you downstairs. Dinner’s ready.”
“I already told them I wasn’t hungry. I ate on the plane and now that I think about it, so did you.”
“I’m a growing boy. I need more than one meal and you could stand to eat something else, too.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I cock my head to the side. “Are you calling me skinny?”