My sister Eden takes one look at me and declares an emergency Storm session. She calls Esther rather than text; in case our oldest sibling is already at work at the bar. “This looks like a hurricane about to happen,” Eden whispers into the phone, as if I’m not standing a foot away from her growling and banging my fist on the counter. “Can you come over?”
Eva and Eliza are nearby finishing up work for the day and Eliza offers to give Eden a ride, since even my sister’s goat van is faster than the city bus Eva normally depends on.
Eden points at me. “Go take a shower. You’ve got mulch in your eyebrows. By the time you get down here, everyone will be here, and you can spew it all out.”
I growl in response and stomp upstairs, kicking off my overalls and climbing in the shower immediately. The cold water shocks me out of the worst of my rage cloud. What the hell kind of weirdo stares at me, acts like he’s infatuated, and then stops by unannounced to cite me for trespassing on the lot he helped me de-garbage?
I slap a washcloth around my body for a bit and quickly shampoo my hair before leaving in conditioner in an attempt to tame my waves. It won’t work in this humidity, but it’s worth trying. And then I sigh and water the plants, thankful that I keep them in the shower and glad they always seem to ground me.
By the time I head downstairs in a fresh t-shirt and a pair of sturdy shorts, my sisters are all passing out takeout containers in Eden’s and my cramped kitchen. I inhale, catching a whiff of curry. “Oh, thank god, one of you brought Indian food.”
“That was Koa’s idea,” Esther says, referring to her husband. “He predicted a spicy mood and suggested matching food.”
“This is why we like him,” Eva says, beaming. She still lives with Esther and Koa, which makes sense because she’s the youngest and barely an adult. Our crap mom blew town completely a few years ago to take a job as a card dealer in a cruise ship casino, but Eva was already living with Esther. We’re better off without Mom asking us for money for smokes.
I sink into a stool, irritated with our mother now as well as Stranger Ben.
Esther hands me a plate of rice with a few different dishes spooned on top. It smells amazing and I take a huge bite before muttering my thanks through a full mouth. She waits until I swallow and then says, “Now spill. I’ve got Tilly running the bar alone during happy hour.”
I groan and slump back against the wall, balancing the plate on my legs. “It really was the perfect idea.”
“Oh, god, here we go.” Eliza reaches for a piece of naan to keep herself quiet as I glare at her.
“I mean it. I have all this extra time now, without a day job. And you know I’ve been researching hops. I seriously know a ton about how they grow.” My sisters chew their food quietly, waiting for me to get to the part that sent me into a Storm rage, as Eden calls it when I freak out.
“We have like a zillion vacant lots in this city! One is right next door along half of the rest of this block. Right now, it’s a hot mess, with people just dumping trash and tires in there or kids climbing the fence to sit in there and smoke.”
“Because you never did that.” Esther sets her empty plate on the table and dusts off her hands before crossing her arms.
“The point is… the hops will grow on these lots. They’re hearty, they climb, and with a little work I can even keep the knotweed at bay.” I turn to face Eliza. “No worries, sis. There will always be enough invasive plants for your goat crew to eat.” She holds her hands up to indicate she’s not concerned about her own business. I sigh again, with less conviction. “I planted a few rhizomes next door just to see, and it worked perfectly. Perfectly! I can have a profitable crop in three years and then one lucky local brewery can brag about total local microeconomy with their beer. It was all going to plan.”
“Until?” Esther arches a brow at me.
“Until the stupid man-bear-pig I met at that dive bar ruined everything.”
“Oh, he was cute!” Eden turns to Eva and explains how the dark-haired, frowny faced man stared at me in wonder until I went over there and apparently talked with him for an hour. “What did he do to ruin your farm dreams?”
I pull Ben’s business card from under my sunglasses on the edge of the counter and wave it around. Esther snatches it from my hands. “Ben Barber? Oh, I know that asshole. He’s the one who shut down Piper’s first gym space.” She snorts. “He also tried to issue me a citation once. I did not go easy on him.”
Eliza pats her shoulder. “Wouldn’t expect you to, sis.”
Esther rips up the card. “He’s not going to follow up with this. Nobody in city government has time to care about you trespassing by way of attempting to beautify a vacant lot. He can’t prove you planted a food crop there with intent to sell it, without a permit.”
“Of course he can’t prove it.”
Esther squints at me. “Because you don’t have a damn permit, Eila. You can’t sell food without paperwork. It’s not like flowers.” Eden wriggles uncomfortably on her own stool and I keep quiet about her budding empire selling the honey she’s been collecting from her various bee hives.
The sting of tears threatens to crack through my armor, and I know I shouldn’t need armor with my sisters but I can’t help it. I can’t handle this idea falling apart and I really can’t handle hearing how Esther really feels about my project.
“You sold some of my home brews at Bridges and Bitters last year,” I retort.
Esther closes her eyes and swallows. “Trust me when I tell you that, ever since the fire, I’ve paid a lot more attention to the rules and regulations. I’m not even using second-hand candles at Bridges and Bitters anymore. Everything is totally above board. Not even Ben Barber could find something to cite in my establishment.”
I snort. “I bet you twenty bucks he could.”
“Much as I’d love to take you up on that wager, I have to get to the bar and relieve Tilly.” Esther squeezes my shoulder as she walks toward the kitchen door. “I’m not saying your idea is bad, sissy. I’m saying you skipped over a big portion of the planning for it.”
“And I told you I spent the entire day researching. I’m all in on this idea, Esther. It has legs, I tell you.”
Esther closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, but before she can talk, Eden says in a quiet voice, “I thought you were getting with unemployment today?”
My cheeks heat. I was supposed to do that. And I know Eden is worried about the rent, and rationally I know that’s a reasonable concern. I snap at her anyway. “Well, I didn’t get around to it yet. Like I said I was busy with my new business.”
Esther silently leaves the kitchen to go back to work, shaking her head. Eden glares at me and stomps upstairs. I finish the rest of my curry in silence, staring at the rest of my sisters until they start talking about Eliza’s plan for her goats this coming winter.