AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What’s so bad about admitting that maybe I need a little bit of a lifeline?
“Yes,” I say.
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“What changed?”
In the last five minutes?
I can’t think of a good excuse.
“I...” I shake my head. I just want to find Aaron. I miss him so much, and even if I take a crappy, low-wage part-time job, I’m never going to be able to afford a private investigator. I really think that’s what it’s going to take for me to find him. I miss him so much that it hurts, and for the last decade, I’ve been looking on my own without any hope of actually finding him. I just keep hitting dead end after dead end.
Beatrice’s eyes soften. She knows.
“It’s your brother, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Hey,” she places her hand on my shoulder. “You’re going to find him, okay?”
Beatrice hasn’t offered to pay for me to find him, and I’m kind of glad. I don’t want to act like I’m too proud, but I am. Aaron is out there somewhere, and I want to find where. He didn’t just disappear into thin air. He couldn’t have.
Separating us was the worst thing the foster agency could have done, at least in my opinion, but it honestly forced me to evaluate who I am without my brother, and without my family. No matter which social workers I talk to, nobody is able to offer me any information about his case because I’m not him. I’m not Mom. I’m just the sibling, and nobody cares about the older sister who misses her kid brother.
“I know,” I say. And it all starts with this phone call.
Beatrice reaches for her cell and presses a button.
“Ryan, it’s Bea.”
I hear laughter on the other end of the line. She’s got her volume turned up loud enough that although the call isn’t on speaker, I can hear it clear as day.
“I know who you are, cousin. What’s up?”
“You have any job openings?”
“Maybe.”
“I have a friend – my roommate, actually – and she’s looking for a new role.”
“Qualifications?”
“A master’s degree. 4.0. Ten years of work experience.”
She’s not lying about any of it. I started working when I was 18 and I’m 28 now. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it’s been this long. Ten years and I have nothing to show for it: no car, no job, no husband, no brother.
“I might have something in finance opening up later this month.” Shit. I don’t really have any finance qualifications. I passed my math classes just fine, but that’s it.
“Nothing now?”
There’s a pause.”
“Ry?”
“Don’t call me that.”
