❝You're gonna be happy, ❞ said life, ❝but first I'll make you strong.❞
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A story of how a family reeling from loss and pain can come together and realize that there is beauty in the mess of life.
In the wake of their mother's death, five siblin...
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— Theo —
"GOOD MORNING," I spoke carefully as I padded wearily into the kitchen.
I poured myself a tall cup of coffee, potent enough to replenish the energy I needed to tackle this day.
Because today, I was going to poke the tiger; shatter the mirage of normalcy that had settled between my sister and I.
"Morning," her voice replied flatly.
I gulped, unsure how to finally settle this conversation without erupting the built-up anger that raged between us. I ducked my head into the fridge, sparing myself a few moments to recollect and think.
It was finally Friday and on Monday Riley would go back to school. If I didn't speak up now, she would bury this argument behind her walls; deflect as she had done for everything else.
"Are you busy today?" I managed to blurt out. When she didn't respond as her attention was solely focused on her hand as she swirled the chocolate milk around in her glass, I reinforced my words.
"We need to talk."
Though it was vague, I noticed by the stiffening of her shoulders and the scowl that had formed on her lips that she knew exactly what my words were directed towards. It was the unspoken words that my brief statement entailed that made both of us alert.
She glanced up at me with an annoyed expression as she gave me a direct you-want-to-do-this-at-nine-in-the-morning frown.
When I remained unrelenting, she stood up mechanically and walked steadily to exit the kitchen. But I blocked her path, enclosing her into the small area of the kitchen with no way forward but to face me head-on.
She sidestepped me, trying to maneuver her way out yet I planted my feet firmly as I refused to budge. I gripped her shoulders to halt her movements but she froze rigidly, even from under her sweater I could feel the tenseness of her muscles.
My eyes widened, realizing my mistake but she had already shrugged my hands off with hostility. "Fine. Go ahead, you're clearly so adamant to speak."
I opened my mouth, only no words formed. Only hundreds of thoughts churned tormentingly through my head — I wasn't sure where to even begin.
"Well? You wanted to talk?" Riley crossed her arms in hostility.
I swallowed in dread. "Your suspension. Let's start with that."
"What about it?" she spat ruefully.
I rubbed my forehead in stress. "The fact that you got into a fight, Riley."
"And so? It's one rule broken. I'm not going to make it a habit, Theo."
"How do I know you won't? When I don't even know what caused this fight," I pointed out emphatically.
