Page 58 of Exile & Lula

My sister walked to the trunk, where the door lifted. Lyric showed me her Band-Aid.

“Did you not come home because Ramen farts too much?” she asked, staring at me from under her Minnie Mouse hat.

“No, I fell hard for a pretty girl.”

“I’m pretty,” Lyric said and pointed at Skylar. “She’s pretty.”

“Yeah!” Nova hollered, glaring at me from the back of the SUV. I walked over to my sister, who waited with her arms crossed. “Do you want me to say it?”

“Go ahead,” I replied, knowing she was about to throw a little “Fatal Attraction” in my direction.

Smiling big, Lyric cried, “Do it, Mama!”

Nova poked me in the chest and sneered, “I'm not going to beignored, Dan.”

“Yay!” Lyric cheered while her sister and the dog looked ready to nap on the lawn.

I wrapped an arm around my sister. “I wasn’t ignoring you. We talked three times a day.”

“I had to take the trash out.”

“You often take it out.”

“Only because Iwantedto do it. Never because Ihadto. You’ve wronged me. I’m angry. So, tell your upscale girlfriend, we’re squatting on her lawn until you stop playing house.”

“I have an idea,” Lula suggested, leaning around the back of the car. “Why don’t you squat in my guest room?”

Nova’s eyes widened, and she smiled at Lyric. “Ooh-la-la, this fancy lady has a guest room.”

I immediately pointed out, “We have one, too.”

“The sunroom where your bros pass out is most definitelynota guest room,” Nova told me before thrusting her hand at Lula. “I’m the sister.”

“I’m the upscale girlfriend.”

Nova smiled wider. “No offense, but you’ve flubbed up my life by seducing my brother.”

“I couldn’t help myself.”

“No, I get it. Why do you think I let Dan still live in the house when I didn’t need him anymore? The guy’s a keeper.”

Lula smiled up at me in a way that made me feel like a different man. All my hangups and baggage belonged to the old me. The new guy was ready to do anything to keep this woman.

“Why don’t you show Nova and the girls the room while I carry their crap inside?” I suggested.

“No, I stay with you,” Lyric said and hid her face against the crook of my neck. “I got a boo boo, and you weren’t there.”

I frowned at Nova, wondering if she told the girls to play up their pouting to make me feel extra guilty. My sister very deliberately avoided eye contact with me and reached for Skylar’s hand.

As they walked inside, I reached down for Nova’s overstuffed suitcase. Lyric watched me with her baby blues. Under her unblinking gaze, I felt judged.

“I was coming home tomorrow.”

“You like the lady more than me.”

“No, but I really like that lady.”

“Why?”