Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

Author:Nick Medina [Medina, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-04-18T00:00:00+00:00

Day 28

9:11 a.m.

Chris pounded the steering wheel. Twice. Three times. He winced upon hitting the new scar beneath his left thumb—stitches freshly removed—too hard. He’d kept his cool in the meeting room, smiling at fellow tribal members as they filed past on their way out, making jokes, feigning pride. Like father, like daughter, he’d said. She gets it from me. His true feelings, however, burst free as soon as he’d slammed the car door shut.

“Damnit, Anna, what’d you do that for?”

She couldn’t talk. Mouth still dry, her unwilling tongue passed over her cracked lips, making them sting. Her heart continued to hammer her chest; the blue blazer practically pulsed each time her heart beat.

“I don’t get it, Anna. I just don’t get it.” Chris blew a great gust of air between his lips that practically slammed against the windshield. “Did you see their faces?” His reddened, the same way Anna’s had as she stood at the podium, silent, instantly ashamed of what she’d said but too stubborn and self-conscious to try to take it back. She didn’t even know why she’d said it. Not really. Sure, she realized it was a way out, but from where had those words come? Why couldn’t she just have said she’d changed her mind? A few of the spectators had giggled in response to the words in question, likely thinking she’d meant to make a joke, only to cover their mouths with their hands as everlasting seconds ticked by in which Anna didn’t utter another word. Awkward. Uncomfortable. Anna fled to her seat the instant Miss Vicky’s lips mashed tightly together, creating a straight line across her face. “How could you pull that in there?” Chris said. “You have an idea that’s heads and tails above what everyone else is proposing. An idea that’ll mean something to your family and this tribe.”

“It’s not my idea,” she said. “It never was. I only asked you why the tribe doesn’t have a preservation society. You turned it into this.” She didn’t get why it meant so much to him.

“You brought it up, which makes it your idea,” he said. “But you’ve blown it. Don’t think they’re gonna give you another shot after embarrassing them like that. When did this become a joke? I went out of my way to make this happen for you, and now it’s like you never cared about it at all!”

“I care about the stories,” she muttered. The two-minute drive across the reservation had never felt so long. Clammy and uncomfortable air swirled within the meat wagon. Anna thought she smelled the stench of death wafting from the back.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t ready.”

“Life doesn’t care if you’re ready,” Chris said through gritted teeth. “Believe me, Anna, it’s one of the toughest lessons to learn. I hope this opens your eyes.”

Anna realized then why he was so invested in the idea. It was something that could reflect positively on him. While everything else—his marriage, his mother’s health, his relationship with his brother, and

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