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MADELINE
Why does my sister have to be such a stuck-up bitch? It was worse than pulling teeth trying to get an address out of her, and I should know; I’ve pulled plenty of teeth in my day. After all the time we have spent apart, one would think she might be happy to hear from me. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have sent a car to pick her up. Or at least offered her something to eat or drink when she arrived.
Mal made me walk here—in the middle of the night—then, when I get here, she takes her sweet-ass time answering the door. I’m wide awake, ready for a sisterly reunion. You know, have a few drinks, catch up. No, she just opens the door, points at the couch, then disappears into her bedroom like mom used to do when I would get locked out of the house late at night. She even locked her bedroom door—I checked.
It takes me forever to find a damn light around here. Now that I have, I see why she keeps it so dark. This place is depressing. It’s actually beyond depressing. It’s pathetic. Mom bragged about Mal being some hot-shot nurse at a big-time hospital. This place looks like what people get sent to for solitary confinement.
She has, like, zero décor. A cheap gray loveseat sits in the middle of her living room, next to a matching club chair which is about as comfortable as a rock. An end table as well as a coffee table are the only other pieces of furniture in the living room, each sporting nothing but boring books that would put the Pope to sleep. What are these, medical textbooks? There is a TV mounted on the wall, I’ll give her that.
I settle onto the couch and bring it to life, but quickly find out that she has no streaming services or cable. What’s the point of having a television if you can’t watch anything?
What the hell does she do with her free time? Hike? The stairs leading up to this place are enough hiking for me. Who doesn’t at least have Netflix?
Since there is nothing to watch, I raid her kitchen. Again, boring. She has more than half a bottle of decent scotch hidden in the cupboard above her fridge. It’s probably to help numb her lonely heart. Looks like the night, or shall I say morning, just got better. Party by myself!
I almost finish off my sister’s scotch before finding a spare bedroom while snooping through her place. This is nice. Why did she offer me that small couch when she has this piece of gold in her apartment? It doesn’t appear to belong to anyone, or at least no one is in it at the moment. Fair game, I say.
All I can think is my sister didn’t want me in this room for a reason. She didn’t want me in here messing up her perfect guest room. I doubt any guests ever stay here. Does she even have friends? With the attitude she has shown me, I would venture to say no.
Poor Mal has not done well without me. As kids, my sister was always the one thinking she knew what was best. That appears to have done her no good in life. No one wants to be around a know-it-all. No, my sister needs help, and I showed up just in time. She needs to know there is more to life than a job and a place to lay her head. We are going to turn this baby around.
I’ve come to the realization that I have been gone for way too long. Mallory should be grateful for my return. Whether or not she knows it, she needs me in her life.