apparently she was eating too slow or not enough, the portion that had been meticulously doled out to her was taken away half eaten. that was okayā sheād learned that of all the siblings sam was one not to question. if she pressed him for some answer for why, it might be interesting, but it certainly wasnāt going to get her dinner back. thatās what delivery was for, or a pot pie. not right now, it looked like she wasnāt going to be doing much of anything right now. her eyes followed as he went through the motions that were supposed to be cleaning up after dinner. but theyāre just the actions that he thinks should be followed, nothing seems to be particularly thought out, punctuated with the shattering glass.Ā
there are words like different and special that might have been thrown around with different families, but sheās only ever known that sam was the dangerous. still she likes him best. what was the danger in a brother who still didnāt know that he could hurt himself on a piece of glass.Ā āiām not doing that.ā she watched him clean up, she did not lift a finger. her mind was on whether she had packed a hotspot or if she was going to need to call his internet provider first thing in the morning.Ā āiām going to get ice-cream. cookie dough.ā his order is answered with her own addendum, but her thoughts have already taken off in another direction. a lot of people can live off the grid, not a lot of people can make the bulk of their monthly income shorting stocks in the timezone overlap from pacific over greenwich.Ā āand plastic plates.ā
and she was going to make a pot pie, and improve his desserts, and she was going to set up a network for herself. the list grew. still it felt better than the empty bedroom that was awaiting her return. or at least something more interesting. like camping, learning the lay of unfamiliar terrain. an idea that she could be doing more, needed to do more. it was a hot itch under her skin, and this was simply the first salve.Ā āso you just watch tv here. thatās it.ā
On one hand you have a broken finger. On the other hand you have one that's dripping with blood. Eight out of ten isn't bad. You're okay with the red gushing out with a piece of what looks like fat peeking out. It's white, anyways, and you know it's not bone. Some would even say crimson suits you. You might have thought Harper could be one of those people if the circuit board that made up your brain was wired that way. It's not. She's talking about ice cream as one entity instead of two.
"You get more if you buy them separately," you point out, but you're not arguing. You'd have to care to do that, even if ice is good for your other projects. Ice cream is not. It's just not as effective dunking a guy's head in ice cream as it is in ice water, but maybe you should try. You decide you will. "Get the gallon size." It's a good size for a skull, and it comes with a handle. What more could you ask for?
Your blood is all over the muzzle of your gun as you put it to your side. To be fair, someone else's beat you to it probably. Your sister is talking again. You wonder how many things she could think of to talk about. You expected her to be asleep by now, especially when you gave her the couch for her first night. Tobias used to have trouble sleeping when he was younger, too, remember? You could put him to sleep in under five minutes like the good brother that you are. Your arm still has the muscle memory of the hold you put him in to make a return visit. Insomnia is not good for your designated family's health.
Harper's voice did not go higher at the end when she was done. You know by that it was not a question, so you do not have to respond, which means you make your leave to the attached living area slash bedroom slash den slash dining room. It is multi-functional because you made it so by having a tv sitting on its cardboard box, a couch, and a coffee table. It's all you need. Sometimes people need things, too. You know this because your door gets kicked open just as Seinfeld starts blaring. This is not good timing. You haven't seen this episode before.
You hear your new visitor talking loudly. You categorize it as yelling because the decibels dictate it. This is a robbery he says. The proof is in the ski mask and the gun pointing at your sister. You're still trying to listen to the episode while you watch until the opening creates itself. You're the first and only to shoot with your bloody gun. Your neighbor's dog goes wild.
The gun is out of his hand, and you're standing over him. You did not shoot to kill. You have questions.
"Close the door, Harper."