“What?” she asked.
“Does Danny not tell you that Melody and his dad treat her like absolute shit?” I rephrased.
She shook her head. “No. Danny doesn’t… I’ve never heard that she was bad. I’ve heard that she was difficult, but not bad.”
I tilted my head. “A few weeks ago, Crockett’s car broke down in the middle of a busy highway. When she called her dad, he didn’t answer, so she was forced to call her stepmother. Do you want to know what was going on? Ol’ Murphy 2.0 was at a track meet and refused to leave to come get her.”
Belinda frowned hard.
“When I picked her up off the side of the road—mind you, I barely knew her at the time. She only knew me as an ex-con that visited her store—I had to stop and get gas. And there was Melody. Waiting in her car for your father to come pump her gas. She’d called him at some point after Crockett had, and he’d dropped everything.”
Belinda started to look pissed.
“Obviously you know the whole Crockett/Rockett thing,” I continued.
That made Belinda wince. “I was told by Danny that Melody had a friend named Rockett that she’d always wanted to name her child after.”
I gave her a roll of my eyes. “I’m sure that’s it.”
We were silent for a few seconds as the wedding photographer had everyone move around upon hearing a request from Melody, repositioning Crockett so that she was on an end.
“Easier to cut her out of photos,” I told Belinda.
Belinda’s breath hitched.
Then, surprising me, she marched toward the group before anyone could take any photos.
“No, Danny.” Belinda clapped her hands. “Put your sisters on either side of you.” She made it to where Nora was on one side of Danny and Crockett was on the other. Then Belinda was on the side with Nora while Murphy 2.0 was on the side with Crockett.
Danny had both of his arms around his sisters, and he was grinning huge.
Though, even that ‘equalness’ still had him slightly leaning more toward Nora.
When Belinda came back, she was mad.
“Danny and Nora have lunch once a week without Crockett,” I said. “I heard that from Murphy.”
Belinda sat down hard on the chair next to me.
“She never has time to meet…” Belinda started.
“She takes a lunch every single day for a couple of hours. Closes the store down to do it if she doesn’t have someone to cover that shift. Twelve to two. When a normal person would take lunch,” I pointed out.
Belinda opened and closed her mouth.
“What did Crockett do wrong?” I asked. “Why does everyone hate her?”
Belinda pressed on her forehead.
“I…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize that anything was wrong.”
Just then, the group taking photos broke apart, and the two sisters separated to head to where I assumed was the bathroom. Danny came over to where his wife was standing and wrapped her up in his arms.
I wasn’t sure what to think of Danny just yet.
The same went for Nora.
I just couldn’t find it in my heart to like a person that willingly allowed their sister to be treated like crap from a family member while that family member treated them normally.
“Danny,” Belinda pulled back. “Why don’t you ever bring your little sister to lunch more?”
Danny frowned. “Because she’s working?”
He looked confused.
As if he didn’t understand the question.
“She has every single day off from twelve until two,” Belinda pushed. “Y’all go to lunch at eleven. Is there a reason that two self-employed people can’t go to lunch at a different time to include their little sister instead of going at eleven when she can’t be included?”
Danny opened his mouth and then closed it. “She…” He paused. “Dad and Melody sometimes come with us. I just figured she wouldn’t want to come.”
“Why?” Belinda pushed.
“Because they don’t get along?” Danny shrugged. “And the other times, it’s just a standing time that we’ve always had. When we started these, Crockett was away at culinary school. It wasn’t like we intentionally said ‘hey, let’s have these at times that Crockett can’t go so she doesn’t think we’re purposefully excluding her.’”
“But that’s exactly what it seems like to her,” Belinda said. “You have lunch every single week. Did you know that you could go to her store and eat there?”
Danny opened his mouth and then closed it again.
“I don’t eat burgers,” he tried.
Belinda gave him a look that clearly said she was disappointed in his answer.
“I have a salad there every other time I go in,” Belinda said. “And when I’m not feeling a salad or a burger, she specially makes me a grilled cheese sandwich. Or a panini. Or something that I would like instead. She doesn’t just cook burgers, which I know that you would eat all day every day if given the chance.”
Danny didn’t have anything to say to that.
“And since we’re on the subject of the corner store, why was it that Crockett had to quit her job to work there when both of you were at home doing nothing half the day? You work from the family business, at home, for your father. You could do that from anywhere. That includes from the corner store where you could help watch over your grandfather.”
“Murphy doesn’t like us,” Danny said. “He only likes Crockett being there.”
“That’s not true and you know it,” Murphy joined in on the conversation.
He’d shuffled up during the dressing down that Belinda had given Danny and had quietly listened to everything that was being said.
Danny turned to look at Murphy.
“Dad told us that you didn’t want us there,” he said simply.
Murphy gave him a disappointed look. “And you believed him.”
Not a question. A statement.
“I…” Danny looked even more confused. “What exactly is it that’s going on here?”
“Why do y’all treat her like crap?” Belinda asked. “Why is it that your dad and Melody hate her so much that she doesn’t get picked up off the side of the road? Why is it that you have lunch without her when she’s just as much a sister? Why is it that she has to work her ass off to help run a store when you could just as easily help? Why is it that she was the only one that thought your stepmother would do something horrible to me at this wedding? And she was right?”
Danny didn’t have anything to say to that.
Before he even got a chance to respond, Melody rushed over with her husband in tow, looking smug.
Nora was with them, but there was no Crockett in sight.
Which had me getting suspicious.
“We should get the bouquet toss started,” Melody urged, looking innocent and urgent all at once.
“Where’s Crockett?” Danny asked, finally getting his head together.
“In the bathroom,” Nora said. “She, uh, had some bad food?”
She didn’t have any bad food because she’d told me when she’d gotten here that she was so nervous she hadn’t eaten all day.