State Of Affairs

Chapter 22

I stay silent as she wipes away a tear.

"You have no idea how much that meant to me. Mac is my best friend, but I also consider her as one of my sisters. We met when we were four, in ballet class, no less. She was always a quiet one, but she had a level of sass that rivaled my own, and that certainly hasn't changed. We were the youngest girls in the class; the other dozen or so were six. Mac and I were always paired together because of our age, and she became my favorite person. When we started kindergarten, we had different teachers and school hours, so I begged my parents to let me switch. At first my mom said no, because either her or my dad would drop me off in the morning before work and then I would go to the afterschool program in the afternoon until one of them could pick me up. Mac's class started at noon, and neither of my parents would be able to drop me off at that time. Mac's dad, who worked nights, offered to take on the responsibility. So my mom would drop me off at Mac's apartment before she went to work. Mac and I would play with dolls, practice ballet, watch TV, or her dad would take us to the park or something. After lunchtime, he'd drop us off at school, and when school was over my dad would take us to ballet. We were absolutely inseparable from then on."

She smiles then, looking a bit wistful. A few moments later she looks at me, the smile gone from her face.

"She moved to California when we were eleven, right after her mom died. I don't know if Mac told you about that."

"No." I reply. "Well, I mean yes, she told me her mother died when she was eleven, and that her dad took her to California, but I never got any details."

"She died from the flu." Minzy shakes her head. "We didn't even know she was sick. At least, not at first. She was fine in the beginning. When she first started feeling different, she thought it was just a cold. The very next day-"

Minzy takes a deep breath while I hold mine.

"She sat laid up in the hospital for a total of seven weeks. After the first six, she started looking better. She had more energy, the bags underneath her eyes were fading, she was cracking jokes again, and her skin was losing its paleness. We thought she was going to make it. She ended up passing away in her sleep. On Mac's birthday."

My heart nearly stops. I think back to Mac's last birthday, and how she didn't want to celebrate it. Hell, she barely allowed me to even acknowledge that it was her birthday. She let me give her a single gift, but I had to wait until midnight to do so.

Now that we're no longer together, I hope she still wears it. I know that she usually only takes the necklace off to shower, but things could very well have changed.

I fucking miss her.

"And then, the day before Mac's eighteenth birthday, her dad was hit and killed by a drunk driver."

If my heart nearly stopped before, it now feels like it's about to shatter. Damn, I really wish I could hold Mac right now. I know it happened years ago, but there's no way you can get over something like that. Having both of your parent's deaths marked on (or near) your birthday? How are you supposed to celebrate your life while remembering those who no longer live?

But knowing Mac, she'd merely shrug. She'd probably say something along the lines of "at least I got to know my parents. Think of how many people there are out there who were separated from their parents or had parents who died when they were really young. I'm grateful for the time I had with my parents."

And I'm already regretting my decision. Lou said I had a decision to make: either cut off all ties with Mac, or tell her everything.

And I mean everything.