I Don't Believe You

Chapter 9

When dinner was finished, Nia placed the dishes in the sink and we sat on the couch. I continued to ask them questions, curious how they had formed such a close bond in the few years since Koda had left foster care. He explained to me that when he was free he applied for college and was accepted with a multitude of scholarships due to his financial status. He had graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science with a minor in business, which he credited with helping him learn how to save money properly. Nia had also been a computer science major, but they met in their freshman year of college in general education classes.

They told the story of how they met on a field trip for their Geology class when their bus broke down in the middle of Death Valley. They took turns with their sentences, painting a vivid picture of how they had helped the bus driver fix the machine and ultimately became best friends. I loved seeing my brother so happy with her, but there was something off about the interaction. I realized that it was tinged with sadness like there was a goodbye in their future. Maybe Nia was moving, or leaving to get a master's degree so that warranted their melancholy? I waited for someone to bring it up, but it never came. When the clock turned to midnight, I yawned and we walked Nia to the door, saying that we'd see her again soon.

Koda closed the door behind his back and made a face, looking at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked, freezing. Was I supposed to do something and I forgot? Should I have hugged her goodbye? I wasn't much of a hugger.

"Do you approve?" he asked playfully, winking at me.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, laughing a little as I remembered our joke. "I do! She seems good for you."

She really did. She was tempered and cool, in a way that was reminiscent of the moon, which was perfect for the sun. He sighed with relief and walked us back towards the kitchen, grabbing the plates and beginning to wash them. I picked up a towel and he passed the dishes to me when they were clean, letting me dry them off.

"Why do you care so much what I think of her?" I asked curiously, trying to read his face as he bent over the sink.

"I just want you to like her," he said in a cheerful voice that wasn't quite believable. We hadn't seen each other in years. Even if we were family, he was clearly in love with her. Why would he want to know how I felt about her?

"You're lying," I said earnestly, hoping my confrontation would shock him into the truth. He bit his lip and kept washing, filling the kitchen with his silence. I waited quietly, determined that he would crack first. I was a good liar myself, which gave me the ability to tell when others were and were not telling the truth. The proof was in their faces and their eyes or buried in their words, whether they were too scripted or too blasé.

"She's going to be watching you for a while," he finally said, looking up at me from under his lashes. They blinked nervously as I processed what he was saying.

"Like a babysitter? What the fuck?" I asked, dropping the plate I was drying on the counter with a loud clatter.

"No cussing," he said, giving me a completely unreasonable parental look.

"You're not the boss of me!" I said, before cringing at my childishness. It was entirely reminiscent of our old fights and we both laughed as our anger dissipated. I knew I was overreacting, but why was he leaving when I just got him back?

"Why are you not going to be here?" I asked sadly.

"Work," he informed me, but there was a hint of aggression in his tone that didn't seem to match up.

"What do you do for work?" I asked, forehead creasing. Did he hate his job?

"Computer stuff," he shrugged. It made perfect sense of course. He was always into technology, even as a little kid, and it matched his major. That wasn't the lie... but what was?

"And you have to travel for that?" I asked, stupefied. I didn't know much about the tech industry, but wasn't the whole point that you could do it from anywhere? He nodded, scrubbing a tough red stain off of a bowl with a determined expression.

"You're lying to me," I said, knowing it was true. Even though I hadn't seen Koda for years, I knew him. This didn't make any sense.

"It's none of your business, baby," he said, setting down the last dish in front of me. I threw the towel on the counter.

"I'm not a baby anymore, Koda! What're you really doing?" I asked, clenching my fists and straightening my posture so he would take me seriously. His eyes scanned me and his lips turned up as he tilted his head condescendingly.

"It's not for you to know," he said with resolve in his eyes. He wasn't going to crack on this. "Let's go to sleep, we can talk about it in the morning."

I followed him upstairs after we locked the door and flicked off the lights, and he walked me to my bedroom. Something about the way he stood in my doorway in the dark until I had crawled into bed felt warden-like. When I heard his bedroom door shut, I slipped out from beneath my covers and sat up. What could he be hiding from me that was making him so upset? As his sister, it was my responsibility to find out. I didn't want him to face whatever it was alone.

I walked to my bedroom door and pushed it open, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't creak.