Speak Up // Lams

Chapter 19

• John's POV •

I need Martha. I know that Alex has lost people before and he'd understand, but I need Martha. She dealt with Mary's death too.

I pulled up to my old house, where luckily, I didn't see my dads car. I knocked on the front door and peeked in through the window as I waited for Martha to answer.

She attacked me in a huge bear hug when she saw me standing there.

"John! I missed you so freaking much, oh my God. Did you find somewhere to stay?" She asked, walking into the house. I nodded and explained the whole Peggy thing and the apartment. She smiled happily when I told her about Alex.

"I'm so happy you found someone and you have somewhere to stay. Sorry for not texting, Dad made me delete your phone number and contact information and I didn't have your number memorized so..." she said as we sat together on the couch.

"It's fine. I figured he'd do something like that. But that's not the reason I'm here. It's kind of a long story actually." I said, not wanting to take up too much time in case my father came home. Martha waved her hand.

"He's working late tonight. He said he won't be back until after 10 at least. So I have time for this long story." She smiled. I nodded and told her all about Alex's not eating and him not coming to lunch and me finding him in Washington's classroom.

"So do you think he's anorexic or something? Or bulimic?" She asked, a worried expression painted across her face. I nodded.

"But anyways, that's not the point. I got upset because we had a fight about it, and then he left and I stayed in the empty classroom and started thinking about how he's so stubborn and how Mary was too... and then I skipped the last few classes and got really emotional because I looked at all my pictures with her... and I needed you because I don't want to upset Alex at home and I knew you'd understand." I said, getting quieter as I mentioned Mary. She was still a very sore subject for the two of us.

"Oh, John. I'm so sorry." She hugged me tightly and I noticed that the shelf behind her, which used to be covered on family pictures, now only contained pictures without me in them. Ouch, Dad.

"I just miss her a lot. She didn't deserve to die, you know? She was so young. And thinking about her made me think of you and how much I missed you." I said, pulling away. She nodded and squeezed my hand.

"Well... since Dad isn't gonna be home for a while, do you want to make an early dinner for the two of us? Like the good old days?" She asked, a broad smile spreading across her face. I jumped up and pulled her with me towards the kitchen.

"Of course." I smiled, pulling out my phone and turning on music.

Before my dad kicked me out, Martha and I would cook dinner ever single night together. We would turn on the radio or music on our phones and sing while we made food. We would pretend we were on some Food Network show and judge each other on the jobs we'd be doing. It was always filled with laughter and dancing, and thinking back, it was almost always the highlight of my day. Martha and I are crazy close.

We harmonized loudly and spun around each other as we put food in the oven and washed dishes, jumping onto the table in our socks at the best parts of the songs and tumbling to the ground, out of breath. Eventually the oven went off and we took the food out, rating it on a scale from one to ten as we sat on top of the island instead of in chairs.

"You know, even after not cooking together for a while, I'd give this a solid 8 and 1/2." Martha said. I laughed and nodded as I chewed, agreeing with her. I missed our little cooking parties. We talked and laughed for a while as we ate, until I got an idea.

"Mar, get your phone out." I told her. She looked at me confused but pulled it out anyways, handing it to me.

I entered my phone number in her contacts but under a different name. I racked my brains and finally decided on "Anthony Ramos".

I handed it back to her and she looked at it, even more confused than before.

"If Dad ever checks your phone to make sure you don't have my number, it's under a different name so he won't know." I said.

"Ahh. I knew you were always the smart one in this partnership." She laughed. We put away our dishes and talked for a little longer.

"Oh, it's almost 7? How have we spent this much time and it only felt like a few minutes?" I said, catching the time on the digital clock out of the corner of my eye.

"Dad just texted. He's going to be here at 8, his meeting ended early." Martha said, looking up at me with slightly worried eyes.

"I'll go. I haven't talked to Alex at all since our fight at lunch, so I should probably get back home anyways. But text me next time Dad isn't here, ok? Or we'll meet up somewhere." I told her. She nodded and stood up, giving me a hug as I left.

"I love you." She said before I got in my car.

"Love you too, Martha." I waved and honked a little as I drove away, content and happy that I finally got to see my sister.

Now, to go see Alex.