Chapter Text
Dominic
If there’s one thing the people in this family seem to be good at, it’s leaving. The first was my father when I was five years old. He said he was going out with a couple of buddies, but never came back. The second people were my Aunt Jenavieve and Uncle Tim. I never even knew they existed until they drove into our lives one day, dumped my cousin off with us, and then rode off just as suddenly as they’d come.
It’s a lot different having a family member just up and leave than when they die. When they desert you, you’re not really an orphan, even though it still feels the same. And you always harbor some sort of anger at them.
But endings are just beginnings in disguise, right? At least that’s what adults like to tell me. I’m not really sure how much I believe them. Sure, they may have twenty years more experience on this earth than I do, but they’re not me. They don’t know what it’s like to walk in my shoes. To look of exhaustion in my mom’s eyes everyday after working long shifts and trying to raise two boys, while still reassuring us that everything is going to turn out all right. Yeah, okay. That stuff is great for fairy tales, but I know better. Real life isn’t like that. Nobody is going to swoop in and magically save the day.
It’s the last day of summer, so there’s one more thing coming to an end. Tomorrow I step back into the musty halls of Lenora Palms high as a sophomore. The only good thing about that school is Akari Tanaka, and I doubt she even knows that I exist. Girls like her never notice the guys like me, who hide in the back of the class and leave as soon as the school day is over to get to some dead-end job that helps their family pay the bills.
That dead-end job is where I’m stuck right now. Most people are probably celebrating by spending a day down at the beach, or doing back-to-school shopping with their families, or having a Labor Day barbecue. Not me, though. Nope, instead I’m stuck behind the counter at Lenora Auto Parts, wishing for all the world that five o’clock will roll around so I can go home.
The industrial-sized fan whirs overhead, though it doesn’t do very much to dispel the heat. Florida summers are hell. When we’re not worried about hurricanes, we’re being suffocated by the damn humidity, or eaten by every goddamn species of mosquito. Bug spray does absolutely nothing to deter those little bastards. They’re determined, at least. I’ll give them that.
Business has been slow today, which I blame on the holiday. A homeless man is hanging out across the street. He’s shirtless, with a nasty sunburn all across his back. I see a dozen like him. They never stay long, because the cops kick them out. I briefly wonder how long it will be before this one is forced to move along as well.
I listen to the ticking of the clock behind my head as the minutes creep by. I don’t see a single car drive by. Man, it’s really dead today.
Finally, the clock strikes five and I clock out, making sure to let my boss know that I’m leaving. My bike sits locked up outside, though I doubt anyone would even want to steal it. It’s pretty shitty-looking, but it gets me around, so I can’t complain. Besides, it’s nice to have some form of transportation, since it’s not likely I’ll be getting a car anytime in the near future.
I reach home in about fifteen minutes. Ma isn’t there yet, and Oliver is playing a game on his phone in the kitchen. He looks up when the door opens and gives me a brief smile. He doesn’t talk much, just kinda observes, which is alright by me.
Guess it’s up to me to make dinner tonight. I open the cabinets to see what we have. It looks like it’s going to be mac-and-cheese. Again. I’ll have to remind Ma to make a run to the store after work sometime this week.
The summer may be ending, but this monotonous life certainly isn’t. And, somehow, I doubt it ever will.
Akari
“Are you just going to lay there all day or are you actually going to go in the water sometime?” Britt stands over me, completely blocking out the sun.
“Just a few more minutes.” I roll onto my back. “I don’t want to go back to school all pale. I want to look like I at least did something over the summer.”
Britt rolls her eyes. Her dark skin is practically flawless, and sometimes it annoys me. I swear, she got all the good genetics.
“Now, girls, don’t waste your last day of summer by arguing,” our mom looks over at us. She’s got a magazine propped up on her stomach, which is protruding from being six months pregnant. The doctors tell her it’s going to be twins– a boy and a girl. And of course they’re not going to look anything like either me or Britt. Because Gina Tanaka doesn’t have a type. Anything with a dick will do. It’s why people are often surprised that Britt and I are sisters. Besides our eye shape, we have basically zero features in common.
Our stepfather, a short Mexican guy by the name of Bradley (who names their kid Bradley?)--- takes Mom’s hand.
“Now, Gina, don’t go getting all worked up. Stress isn’t good for the babies.”
Britt makes a face, and I can’t help but laugh. We may bicker sometimes, but I love her to death.
“Okay, well, if you two are gonna get all goo-goo eyed over each other, I’m gonna leave,” I stand up and brush a few grains of sand off my legs. I’m not really the biggest beach person, unlike Britt. She loves the ocean. Plans to study it in college. I’m really just here to lounge around and look hot in a bikini.
Britt grabs my hand and pulls me along the beach with her. Thank God I wore flip-flops because it is HOT today.
“Where are you even taking me?” I ask. “The ocean is that way!”
She just grins. “You’ll see!”
“Oh, brother.”
Here’s the thing with Britt: you never quite know what she’s going to surprise you with.
It could be something really cool, like a pretty seashell, or it could be something disgusting like those frog eggs she found in a puddle when we were little and insisted on showing me. I can’t even think about those things without wanting to throw up. It was the reason I didn’t partake in the caviar at Mom and Bradley’s wedding. To be honest, I’m not sure how they even afforded that in the first place, unless one of them sold their soul or something. If that’s the case, it was probably Mom that sold hers.
I nearly stumble and almost fall flat on my face several times before Britt comes to an abrupt stop. I crash into her back.
“Sorry,” she turns to face me.
“All good.”
She points down at a crystal clear puddle. There’s starfish down at the bottom, and a spiky little sea urchin. Normally I’m disgusted by those little guys, but this one seems almost… cute, shuffling along in there.
“This is really cool, Britt.”
“Told ya.” She smirks.
She kneels down to get a closer look, purple Fulani braids forming a curtain around her. It’s like a whole little world in there.
We stay there for a while until Britt drags me back with her to actually do some swimming this time. Well, she swims. I go up to my ankles and then just kind of stand there, staring at the lifeguard. I wonder if it’s possible to fake drown in water this shallow….
Eventually, Mom and Brad come looking for us and it’s time to go home. Summer is officially over. Tomorrow, it’s back to the hell that is high school. Can’t fucking wait.