Love at 11 by Mari Mancusi

Author:Mari Mancusi [Mancusi, Mari]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC
Published: 2012-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

*

There’s nothing like stepping into your own apartment after an extended absence, the sense of peace and quiet that envelops you as you open your front door and step over the threshold. No matter what’s happened out in the unpredictable world, you know you can always return to your sanctuary.

Except if you have your little sister staying at your place.

I groaned in dismay as I surveyed my living room. Candy wrappers were strewn throughout. The couch cushions had been pulled onto the floor, one beige cushion now stained with some kind of grape-colored liquid. Empty bottles of Bud Light were lined up like soldiers, guarding my coffee table. But most horrifying was the presence of my bathroom makeup mirror behind the beer sentries. Laid on its side, and covered with chalky residue and rolled up dollar bills.

Dear God, no.

I approached the mirror cautiously, to get a better look. And while I was certainly no expert, I wasn’t a babe in the woods, either.

Lulu and her friends had been doing drugs. In my house!

I scanned the room again, looking for more evidence of drug use. Instead I saw a trail of abandoned clothing leading to my bedroom. I took a deep breath. Could this possibly get any worse?

Half of me wanted to just retreat out the front door and come back later—after Lulu had picked everything up and kicked out whoever was there with her. Then I could return and pretend nothing had happened and not have to deal with what I was about to have to deal with.

But she was my little sister and, at the moment, I was all she had.

Stepping into my bedroom, I found Lulu in bed, an unshaven, scraggly-haired guy by her side, listlessly watching television. Except the television in question was currently spitting out static snow and neither party seemed to notice. Their blank expressions made the scene more chilling than if they’d been in the middle of some dirty deed.

“Lulu, what the hell is going on here?” I demanded. Lulu started, coming out of her trance with a guilty, red-faced look. “Maddy!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, I live here?”

“Er, right. I know, I’m sorry,” she amended quickly. “I just mean, well, I thought you were coming back later, that’s all. I would have … cleaned.”

Right. “Um, I’ve been gone more than twenty-four hours,” I reminded her. “And I tried to call your cell about fifty times on the way home.”

“You have?” She scrambled out of bed, thankfully fully dressed, and started racing past me to the other room. “Wow, I must have lost track of time.”

“I’ve already seen the drugs, Lulu,” I called after her, realizing exactly what she was headed to do.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Turned around slowly to face me. “Drugs?” she asked, her eyes wide and innocent.

“Oh, please. Save it. Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Oh, you think—” She laughed. A brittle laugh that sounded more hyena than human. “That’s just Ritalin.”

Ritalin? As in, the medication

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