Tell Me What You Hate About Me

25: Things and People

The next day, Sierra, Dominic, Jack, and I had nothing better to do with our weekend than to let Dr. Reed know that we weren't happy with the way she made us talk to a weirdo and essentially abandoned us there, as Dominic put it.

"It sure is lucky that this is the only bottle that didn't break," Sierra said with it in her hands. It was the same one she showed me and said she wanted back at Butterfly's shop, and she and I both knew that wasn't just luck.

If her hands were occupied with the bottle of the unknown liquid, then she couldn't take my stuff, so I wasn't going to say anything if she continued to carry it everywhere like a kid and their favorite stuffed animal. It fixed one of my problems for me.

I would be spending my weekends in Sherwood for the foreseeable future, and the thought was enough to bring an empty feeling in my chest. That was my only time to decompress from the academic week, and it was gone.

I smiled. I couldn't even take myself seriously about the stress. I didn't care enough to stress, no matter what Dominic had said to me the afternoon before.

After we arrived at Dr. Reed's house, which wasn't far from campus, I knocked on the door twice, and after a moment, Dr. Reed answered in a robe and pajama pants.

"An email? You abandoned us with an email?" Sierra said.

Dr. Reed crossed her arms. "Abandoned you? What the hell are you talking about?"

It was almost noon, and she was obviously feeling the consequences of her choices from the day before. Her hair stuck out in every direction, and she had a sallow look about her without any makeup.

"You know exactly what we're talking about," Dominic said.

"What the hell do you want from me? An apology? My nephew passed away yesterday morning." Dr. Reed looked over her shoulder back into the house. "Can you believe the shit I have to put up with, Stephanie?"

My mouth fell open. It was a good thing I didn't tell her that I was originally mad about her not coming to Sherwood like she said she would.

"Oh my god," Sierra said. "I'm—I'm so sorry."

"Poor kid was thirteen years old. Didn't do shit to deserve that," Dr. Reed said. "This damn world is a mess that it's him that ends up with cancer and not someone like me."

What was I supposed to say to her?

"I'm so sorry. It really isn't fair at all," Jack said.

I nodded. That sounded pretty good. Jack was always better with kind words and sympathy than I was.

"Now leave me and my sister alone. She just lost her son." Dr. Reed shut the door on us, and I couldn't blame her.

"Wow, guys. Now we look like assholes," Dominic said.

I nodded. "Well, you guys do. I didn't say anything."

"That also makes you look like an asshole, Lindsay."

I took in a breath and didn't bother responding to Dominic.

Sierra sighed and looked at the ground. "How were we supposed to know her nephew had cancer? It's completely like her to never show up without a reason, and so we assumed that's what happened."

"We should buy her a casserole or something. You shouldn't have to worry about food when you lose someone like that. It's already hard enough," Jack said.

I nodded. "It's the least we could do, really."

Was there anything I thought that the talisman could have taken the wrong way and made this happen? Was it somehow my fault?