“No, I’m not in trouble.” Danica tried not to sound as annoyed as it made her that it’d be the first thing her sister would ask.
“Good, ’cause I’m done bailing you out of jail. I’m not doing it anymore.”
“I know you aren’t, and it’s been over two years since you had to bail me out last. When are you gonna stop throwing that in my face?”
“When you stop hanging around those low-life friends of yours, Danica. Mom always said, ‘Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.’ Was she lying?”
“I get it, okay!” Danica dropped her bags, pissed at the angry tears that were already betraying her and blurring her sight. “That was a long time ago. Can you cut me some fucking slack?”
“Get out!” Her sister opened the door again. “I won’t have you disrespecting me in my own home and upsetting Dominic.”
“It’s my house too,” Danica argued, choking back the emotion.
“Mom left me as sole executor of the will, which means I can do whatever I want with this place.”
“Nicah! Nicah! Nicah!”
Just hearing his voice, even the way he said her name, was enough to have Danica smiling. She turned to her brother, who stood by the hallway door, one hand leaning on his walker, the other reaching out to her. “Hey, Boo Boo.” She rushed to him and hugged him hard as he tapped her back in response. When she pulled back, she smiled, despite having to wipe tears away still. “How’s my big brother?”
He nodded but pointed at his own eyes. “Cry?” He tilted his head, searching her eyes. “Nicah sad?”
She shook her head and wiped more tears away, kissing his chubby little cheek. “I’m not sad.” She smiled even bigger. “These are happy tears because I’m moving back in. I’m gonna live here with you and La again.”
Dominic’s eyes widened, and he smiled big, glancing at Delia then back at Danica. “Nicah here?” He pointed at the floor, doing a little jiggle. “Nicah iv here?”
Nodding, she glanced back at her sister, who was shaking her head with a smirk, as if to say dirty trick. Danica knew her sister well. Seeing Dominic smile so big was enough to have Delia overlooking her younger sister’s outburst earlier. “You’re right, Dani. This house is just as much yours as it is mine and Dominic’s, and you’re welcome to live here forever if you so well please.” She sat down on the sofa as if she’d already given into the idea. “I just need you to promise you won’t bring any of those friends of yours around here. I don’t even wanna hear about them if they’re still a part of your life. Is that understood?”
Danica walked over to the sofa, and Dominic followed, pushing his walker along. “You act like I had a ton. It was just Angie and Juanita.”
“A topless waitress and an escort.” Feeling the anger warm her insides, Danica bit her tongue before she went off on her sister again, but Delia knew her too well.
“She wasn’t a topless waitress. She was a bartender at a topless bar. But she never went topless.”
“Look. I get it,” Delia said, crossing her arms in front of her. “I’m not even judging them on their chosen occupations. They’re just trying to get by, and they’re not hurting anyone, but they’re addicts, Dani, and you’ve seen what drugs can do to people. Good people. People like you.”
Grinding her teeth, Danica swallowed the emotion back. “I never did drugs.”
“Doesn’t matter. They still landed your ass in jail, right?” Danica had too much to feel happy about. She refused to get pulled into this conversation and get down again. Plus, her sister was right, so why bother arguing?
Willing away the heartache this topic brought on, Danica exhaled. “I promise.” She plopped down, tapping the sofa for Dominic to sit down next to her. “You won’t be hearing of me around either of them again.”
Delia eyed her, not looking totally convinced, but Danica couldn’t fault her for that. Danica had let her down too many times in the past. “You don’t work today?”
“I gave my shift up so I could move out while Ted was out having breakfast with his kids.”
Danica exhaled at the reminder of the only drawback about breaking things off with Ted. His son Blaine was a defense lawyer who’d agreed to represent Danica and help get the felony reduced to a misdemeanor. Even with these two new jobs, there was no way Danica could afford to retain her own lawyer. Court-appointed defense lawyers were only for when you were being charged with something, not for when you’d already been convicted and were trying to get charges reduced after the fact. Ted refused to tell her how much he’d paid his son. All he said was he’d, of course, given him a good deal. But Danica had done some research before he offered to take care of it for her, and the least she’d been quoted was five grand, just to retain someone. If things got complicated, it could be more. Danica had some rethinking to do. That perk had been one of the biggest reasons why Danica had tolerated Ted this long. That was obviously out the window now.
“What happened with Ted?” her sister asked.
Leaning her head against Dominic’s shoulder, Danica took a deep breath. “You were right. He’s a control freak and he’s only getting worse.”
Delia shook her head. “I don’t know how you didn’t see it before. I saw it the very first night you introduced him to me when we met you for dinner, from his telling you what to order to the way he wouldn’t let you out of sight when you went to the ladies’ room. He watched you the whole time you walked there and back as if, God forbid, you might be social with anyone along the way.”
Danica shrugged. “He wasn’t that obvious in front of me and, for a long time, was really good about hiding his control issues. That day I just thought he was trying to help me choose since I’d never been to that restaurant, but little by little, his true colors have started coming out, and I just didn’t want to stick around and see how bad he could really get.”
Delia stood up. “You have breakfast yet?”
“No.” Danica shook her head, lifting it away from Dominic’s shoulder.
“Good, you can tell me what finally made you come to your senses over breakfast. I made chorizo and eggs. You know me. I always make too much, so there’s plenty.”
Turning to Dominic, Danica opened her eyes wide and smiled. “Ready for some papas? Chorizo!”
“Izo. Izo. Izo.”
“Let’s go!” They got up, and Danica took in Dominic from behind as he made himself to the dining room table. He’d been dragging one foot for years, but it appeared to be getting worse. Danica decided she’d wait until he wasn’t around to ask Delia about it. Technically, Dominic was their older brother, since he was older than both. But as each sister past his mental age, which was that of a roughly four-year-old child according to the doctors, he’d become their baby brother. It helped that the Down Syndrome stunted his growth. So, between him being dependent on them and his being a little shorty, they’d forever see him as their baby brother. It’s why Delia had felt compelled to go into the line of work she was in. She was the licensed children’s therapist and even had a whole set-up out back and in the family room for the clients who came over regularly. Danica had assisted her plenty of times, and she had a lifetime of experience with Dominic. She, along with Delia, had a huge hand in helping raise him. More than most sisters would. Their father had suffered a stroke at an early age and had become completely dependent on their mother. Thus, their mom had also had her hands full dealing with him. By then, Danica and her sister were old enough to step in and take over Dominic duty. But Danica didn’t care what those doctors said. Dominic was extremely intelligent when it came to many things. Even though his vocabulary was limited, he still picked up on a lot. Like today when he asked her if she was sad, despite her cheery greeting. Even though she never actually told him she’d moved out when Delia kicked her out, whenever she came by to visit, he was always so sad when she’d leave. He’d point at her room and say, “Nicah sleep.”