vii. Stolen Goods
Benjamin and I stood in the produce section of the grocery store closest to our place. I watched as Benjamin stared intently at the rows of different vegetables, trying to figure out what we should get. This was a massive con to not having a shopping list before going to the store; having no idea what to buy.
"What do you feel like eating this week?" Benjamin asked. We couldn't live off of fast food, no matter how much I would have loved to do so. At least according to Benjamin, the self proclaimed culinary genius out of the two of us.
"I have no idea, dude," I said. I couldn't think of a single food I wanted to eat. I could rarely think of any foods, no matter the occasion, so now that I was being put on the spot, it was even harder than normal.
Benjamin sighed and turned to look at me, his tired green eyes meeting mine. "That doesn't really help much," He said in a tone that made me wish I had been able to think of something.
I thought for a few seconds and came up with a suggestion. "How about soup?" I asked. It wasn't a super specific suggestion, but it was better than nothing.
"Chicken soup?"
I nodded. "We could also get some noodles and make it chicken noodle soup," I said. Benjamin smiled and nodded and placed some vegetables into our cart. He also picked up some fruit and salad ingredients and dropped them in.
We walked around the store and picked up the rest of the things we needed, along with an extra package of chicken so we could eat something other than soup some day. Soon enough we were at the cash registers. "It's my turn to pay for the groceries, right?" I asked just to make sure. Benjamin nodded, so I pulled out my credit card.
I paid for our things and we grabbed our shopping bags and walked out of the store. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. I figured I could check on it once we were at home.
As I switched my car into reverse, my phone buzzed again, making Benjamin raise an eyebrow. He chose not to comment on it, and we drove back home in silence.
...
Once we were finally in our apartment, I took the grocery bag Benjamin was carrying in his right hand and took it to the kitchen. I heard Benjamin lock the door and noticed him double check that it really was locked.
My phone buzzed again, now for the twentieth time since we left the store, and I pulled it out of my back pocket. My mother was calling. "Okay, dad died," I thought, noticing that this was the twenty first time she was calling me in the last twenty minutes.
I stepped out of the kitchen so Benjamin could have room to unpack the groceries, and answered the phone.
"Mom? What's going on?" I asked immediately. I heard the voice of my father yelling at someone on the other side. I felt relieved that he wasn't dead.
My mother sniffled. "I don't even know why this would happen, Samuel," She said, her voice shaky. I could tell she'd been crying.
"What happened?" I asked again, my tone now more urgent and demanding. I needed to know what made my mother cry, and what made my famously emotionless father angry.
"Vienna. She-" My mother started, stopping to take a deep breath. "We picked her up from the rehabilitation center last Sunday, and now she's gone."
"Gone? What do you mean gone?" I asked. I felt myself becoming anxious, and Benjamin sent a worried glance over at me.
"She left," My mother sniffled, and for a moment, I felt even slightly glad that she was gone. I didn't want my thirty-something year old sister to be leeching off of my parents. That feeling of relief only lasted seconds. "And she took my ring."
Her ring. My heart sank into my stomach, and I didn't want to believe her words. Her ring meant literally everything to her. It was a ring that had been passed down in our family for generations. It was the ring that my dad proposed to her with, and the ring she wanted to one day gift to me when I found someone I wanted to marry so that I could keep the tradition going.
I felt anger bubble up inside me, but I kept it in. "Do you have any idea where she could have gone?" I asked, only to get a soft 'No.' as a reply.
"Have you called the police?" I asked, my grip on the phone tightening and my other hand curling into a tight fist. I didn't even notice the way Benjamin seemed to shrink as he noticed how angry I was getting, or how he inched away from me.
"Your father is talking to them right now," She said. "I just can't believe she would take my ring. She could have taken anything else and I wouldn't have cared, but my ring. I don't think I can forgive her for this."
I hadn't forgiven her for leaving for ten years, and now I was more than sure I was never going to. Vienna was no longer my sister, as if she had ever really been. Taking my mother's ring was too far. This was obviously a last little 'Fuck you' to us.
"I'm so sorry, mom," I said, knowing I couldn't help her in any way. "I wish I could help you."
I was getting angrier and angrier each second that I thought about Vienna, and I was doing my best to control myself.
"No, it's fine. Just, if she by any chance ends up in Ann Arbor, please tell us," She said. It wasn't fine, though. Nothing about this was fine. What she did was awful, and something no one should ever do to anyone, much less their own mother.
"I will," I said. I tried to sound as calm as I could as I spoke. "Hey, I hate to say this right now but I have to go. I'll call you later, okay? I love you."
"Okay, Samuel. I love you too."
I hung up the call and resisted the urge to throw my phone. "That fucking bitch," I muttered and sat down onto the couch. "The fucking audacity of this woman."
I heard the sound of shuffling footsteps making their way closer to me, and looked up to see a slightly frightened looking Benjamin.
"Are you alright?" He asked shyly. My expression softened and I shook my head. I knew I shouldn't be this angry around him, not after what he went through.
"Not really," I said. Benjamin shuffled a bit closer to me and crouched down near me. He asked me what happened, and with a sigh, I spoke.
"So, I've told you a bit about Vienna, the sister that bolted years ago," I said. Benjamin nodded and frowned, already knowing something bad had happened. "Well, she came back around Thanksgiving, and she was heavily addicted to some drug. My parents wanted to give her a chance, so they got her into rehab."
Benjamin nodded, telling me that he was listening. "She came out of rehab on Sunday, and now she's gone. With my mother's engagement ring that's been in the family since, like, forever," I continued. "That ring was priceless to her, and Vienna just took it from her." I was seething from anger, but for Benjamin's sake, I kept my anger in.
"That's- that's messed up. I hope your mom gets the ring back," Benjamin whispered. He placed his hand onto my knee. I stared down at his hand.
"I hope so too."
Benjamin gave me a strained smile before standing up, his hand leaving my knee. He turned on his heels and walked back into the kitchen.
I sat there for a moment, trying to decide whether or not I should stay there, or go out for a walk to get my mind off of the many things going around in my head.
After giving it a sufficient amount of thought, I stood up. "I think I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back at some point," I said, getting a mumbled answer back. I grabbed my keys and my jacket and walked out of the apartment.
As I wandered around on the streets of the city, I couldn't help but think about everything that was happening all at once.
There was Vienna coming back, pulling some shit about wanting to change and then taking off with my mother's ring.
There was Taylor's upcoming trial that I was quite honestly terrified of going to. I wouldn't know what to do if all of this ended in her favour.
There was also the fact that Benjamin was going to become a father soon enough and even though we'd never said it out loud, I think we both were unsure if he was ready to take care of his daughter. I had no doubt in my mind that he would be an amazing father, but with everything that he went through, I feared that this baby could break him.
And last, but definitely not least, there was the fact that I had feelings for a man who would probably never see me in the way I wished he would. Even if he was bisexual, which I knew for a fact he was, he wouldn't go for me. He wouldn't be 'going for' anyone anytime soon.
There was one thing I hated about feelings, especially when it came to feelings toward a certain person. It was that no matter how much I wanted to, no matter how much I tried, I could never quite control them, and I ended up falling for the wrong people.
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June 6th, 2020
This chapter is here to remind y'all that Vienna still exists.
How nice :)