Harly

Chapter Two (Edited 08/2021)

"She's staying here?" Lacey cried from the living room, contorting her body to stare at us over the couch's back. "Ugh! Now it's going to be even more loud!"

"Watch your mouth." El warned, giving her a glare. Lacey only scoffed and returned to watching television.

"She's been like this ever since Jason passed. She's been hurtin' for punishment." She seemed exasperated, but the housekeeper, Dee, tutted along happily in the kitchen, unbothered by any of it. Either she was incredibly used to it, or she just liked the paycheck too much.

Thinking about what Ella said about the life insurance..... probably the latter.

"Would you guys like to help us bring in Aunt Em's stuff?" El asked the kids. Lilly nodded eagerly, and I suspect she would agree to jump off a cliff if that meant she got to be involved. Lance also agreed, moving at the same pace as his mom so they wouldn't be separated. Lilly grabbed my hand and pulled me straight out the door and to the car.

"Wow! You got lots of stuff!" She said cheerfully once I pulled the backseat door open. She reached right in and grabbed a plastic sack that contained my toiletries. "I help!" She stated before turning and walking back into the house.

"Who knows where she's taking it." El muttered, being much more helpful and grabbing three suitcases. Lance grabbed the box I took from the attic, and I grabbed a large group of clothes I haphazardly strewn along the back seat.

We carried them in and went upstairs where a spare bedroom had been minimally decorated to host guests. It was somewhat bare, no personal decorations except for a picture frame on the side table that had a photo of me and Ella when we were kids.

"We were really hoping you'd come. We kept this room empty in case you decided to come have a slumber party." Ella answered my thoughts as I studied the frame. "Lilly wanted to paint it pink but we decided to wait and see what you wanted."

I felt my cheeks get hot from embarrassment. Ella waited seven years to hear from me. She even picked out a house with enough rooms for me to have my own if I even decided to come. This whole time I thought she forgot about me, but she was just hoping I'd come here.

"This is fine." I mumbled, looking at the cream walls. I didn't want them to go through any more trouble.

"Yuck! It's too plain! Pick pink!" Lilly pushed, dropping the sack on the floor. "We can match."

"Pink is a stupid color." Lacey muttered from the doorway, some more of my clothes in her hands. She apparently wanted to be included after all, but once Ella raised an eyebrow, she suddenly defended herself. "What? If she's staying, might as well get all of her stuff in here. So it's not in my way." She added last minute, avoiding eye contact. I smiled, realizing that despite her attitude, she was actually a good girl. She just lost her father, so she was bitter. I get that. I was bitter, too.

"Thank you." I told her earnestly, and she seemed surprised for a bit. Her eyebrows rose and her face blanked. She was still as cute as she was as a baby, especially when her face wasn't so angry. But her brows quickly knit themselves again and she dumped my clothes on the floor.

"Whatever." She said and left the room, but I could hear her stomp all the way back outside to get more.

We brought all of my things inside, and El helped me organize them. There were three bathrooms in the house, but one was in the master room that El had. She offered to let me put my things in there, but I opted to just share a bathroom with Lacey who was none too pleased once she found out.

"That's my side, and this is your side." She stated, throwing open the shower curtain and pointing. She had spent several minutes rearranging the shower to be neat and give me room.

"Yes ma'am." I muttered while putting my meager belongings on my designated shelves. She watched me like a hawk, as if the 'big sister' role extended to me too, despite the "older than you" override.

The entire house had a warm, inviting feeling to it. Something I hadn't felt in a long time.

It's strange when you get out of an undesirable situation, how much you reflect and discover just how bad it was. It seemed, despite where I went, there was sound and happiness from every corner. Even the surly preteen emitted an aura of love for her family, despite her constant claims of wishing she were an only child.

It was exhausting.

I ended up passing out in the bed that had been premade for my arrival with, no doubt, the loving hands of my sister and Lilly.

As if I were a new toy for her birthday, she had attached herself to me all day, and eighty-five percent the cause of my energy drain. She was happily snooping through my things when I closed my eyes, and she was the first thing I saw when I opened them again, two hours later.

"What's this?" She had asked, holding my box of my dad's things in her chubby little hands. It wasn't very large, and only contained a few of his items. Some pictures of us as a family, some of him solo, a couple of knick knacks, and then a box.

The box is hard to explain. I couldn't tell you why I had such an attachment to the box. It didn't open. Or, at least, I couldn't open it. I didn't see any place for a key to enter, much less the actual key itself. I didn't see any super secret openings or buttons to press. It just seemed like a hollow box, but I could definitely hear something inside when I shook it. I remember being so obsessed with the box as a kid, but never being able to open it. Whenever dad saw me playing with it, he'd chastise me for touching his things and move it. But I always ended up finding it, like it called to me.

Even as an adult, the box held an air of mystery that I couldn't bring myself to leave behind in that house.

"Hm?" I answered groggily, blinking away the sleep in my eyes to better study what she had shoved far too close to my face. "Oh. That's just a box of my dad's things."

"Your daddy?" She asked, bringing the box closer and studying it with a new resolve. She cradled it much more carefully now, and I could almost see the wheels turning in her mind as she thought. "Mama says my daddy is in heaven." She didn't particularly sound sad, but I could see why. Lilly was a baby when Jason passed, so she wouldn't necessarily have any attachment to him. She had no memories of him.

"So is mine." I answered, pushing myself into a sitting position. She seemed pleased with the knowledge that our fathers were together, despite not knowing exactly what heaven was, I suppose.

She didn't ask before she sat the box, and then herself, down and explored the contents. Though, I didn't expect that she would. Kids.

She looked at the pictures for a minute, pointing at different faces and asking "Who's that? Who's that? Who's that?" I guess it never occurred to her that adults were once children, because she almost cried from laughter when she discovered her mom in the photos as a kid, and me as a toddler in my dad's arms. She didn't move on from that one for a while, but eventually she got to the box.

It was weird, but I felt a sense of ownership for the box. A sudden desire to, as my dad did, tell her to leave my things alone and hide it from her. But I had no reason to, she was just a curious kid who wanted to explore. But the sense of selfishness didn't fade no matter how long I watched her admire the box.

It was also weird to see her try the exact same things as I did the first time I found the box. Almost to a T, from what I remember. Trying to find a keyhole, trying to pry it open. Shaking it. She was fixated.

"How do you open it?" She finally asked, once she decided she couldn't figure it out herself.

"I don't know. I haven't been able to." I answered honestly, watching her toy with the box. I've had that box for nearly sixteen years, but I've never been able to open it. I even hit it with a hammer. Nothing.

She had opened her mouth to ask something else, but El called for dinner and the box was quickly forgotten. It was dropped back into the packing box while Lilly ran to the stairs where I quickly heard thump. shhhh. thump. shhh....

I stood as well, taking one last look at the box as I made my way to the stairs to join my new family for dinner.