Voodoo

Chapter 3

"Oh. That's right. No touching." Miles crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. This was exactly the weird stuff she was talking about with her mom.

"I don't think you're dirty or anything. I just don't like germs. I'll have to wash and it triggers my OCD. Once I start washing after a touch, I never can get clean enough. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Miles said, walking up to her duplex. "Just forget about it."

When she closed the door behind her, Sydney looked broken. For a moment, Miles hated that she was so mean to him. She just didn't know how to handle his problems and her own. She needed to focus on what happened to the girl.

As soon as she shut the door, she heard the voice that made her close her eyes in frustration and count to ten to calm down.

"Hey baby girl." 

Dino spoke from his perch on the couch. He was cross legged and sipping brown liquid from a glass. Harrietta was sitting on the coffee table in front of him, legs crossed. Miles hated that she looked like a puppy at his feet, feigning for his attention.

"Hey Dino." Miles said and snaked around the table towards her bedroom.

"Since when do you call me, Dino?" He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Since you haven't been around." Miles said, then turned her sights to her mom, "I'm going to go study now."

Harrietta's face was a mix of pleasure and agitation. Miles knew she wanted to have all Dino's attention before Jelly got home but she also wanted to thrash her for shattering the vision of her imaginary family with Dino. Miles would stab herself before feigning happiness with her father.

"Miles, just sit down for a minute. Your father has something to talk about with all of us. We're just waiting for Morton to get home." Harrietta gestured to the chair in the corner.

Miles plunged into it heavily. Her sulking was not missed by Dino, "Does she always act like this?"

"You'd know if you were here with us. I just know she'd be different if you were here. She needs you." Harrietta gushed.

Miles pursed her lips to keep from screaming at her mother. She was doing an alright job without Dino. She didn't need him. Dino was no savior. He was barely a man she knew, thought Miles.

"You want more whiskey?" Harrietta said, plucking the glass from his hand before he could answer and sashaying into the kitchen.

Miles watched her in her heels and inwardly seethed. She never wore heels to work. This was just another action for Dino's sake.

"So you're angry with me, huh? Because I don't live here?" Dino said, leaning into the cushions deeper and smirking. His eyes looked red and tired.

"No. I'm not angry with you. You're being who you've always been. I'm angry with her for letting you come back." Miles jutted her chin in the direction of the kitchen.

"I'm your father. I'll always come back. It's not up to her what I do and don't do." He said smugly.

"Maybe we're better off without you." Miles mumbled, playing with the strap of her backpack in her lap. The action made her think of Syndey and she felt even worse thinking about his face when she closed the door. She'd treated him like her father was treating her, like she didn't matter. She was going to apologize as soon as she saw Sydney again.

"What you say?" Dino sat up straight as Harrietta returned from the kitchen with his drink. She looked from him to Miles then back again.

"What has she said now?" Harrietta breathed heavily, standing by the couch.

"Don't worry about it. It's between a man and his daughter. I don't need you coming to my aid, woman. Sit down now. I don't like you standing over me like that." Dino said, sipping his whiskey and staring at Miles.

Harrietta had just sat down on the couch next to Dino when the front door opened and Jelly stood startled in the doorway. He looked at everyone in the room watching him.

"Who died?" He said with his brow furrowed.

The room erupted in laughter as he shut the door and Dino beckoned him to the couch with a firm pat to the cushion. They embraced and Dino showered him with compliments and questions about school. After a few minutes, Jelly sat beside him and looked at Miles, her face marred with discomfort.

Harrietta said, "Your father has something he wants to share with you both. So listen up."

Dino made an effort to bask in the attention. He rubbed Morton's curly head and smiled at him. Then looked from Harrietta to Miles appreciatively before saying, "I've gotten a new job in the area and I've been talking with your mom about moving back in here for good. We could start things over. Be the family we're supposed to be."

"We've been a family already. We didn't stop being a family because you wanted to be with other women." Miles blurted before she could stop it.

"Miles!" Her mom yelled angrily. "This is a good thing. Don't ruin it for everyone with your bad attitude." She said with a warning in her eyes.

Dino put his hand in front of Harrietta, "It'll take some time to get used to, Miles. I know that my work has taken me away from the family for far too many years. That's why I tried to find something close by to be with you both." He hugged Jelly to his side.

Miles could sense that Jelly wasn't sure of this either but he was torn between wanting his mom happy and a man in the house to emulate. And simply put, Dino had captured Jelly with his charisma the moment he peppered him with attention. Miles just didn't think it was right for him to come back whenever he wanted. She didn't trust him.

"Yeah. Work was the reason you haven't been here for us." She rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Just give it a chance, Miles." Her mother said, pleading with her eyes.

"We all know Dino has endless chances with you, Mom." Miles grabbed her bag and went to her room. She had fought the urge to cry in front of them. They didn't deserve to see her weakness. They were so jaded by Dino. Why was she the only one that could see he was still using them? He probably got kicked out of his last girlfriend's house, she thought as she punched her pillow in exasperation. She wished he was gone forever.