In the Role of Brie Hutchens... by Nicole Melleby

Author:Nicole Melleby [Melleby, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2020-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

14.

AS THE WORLD TURNS, June 1990:

Margo Hughes’s stepdad begs her to make a medical decision for him, even though her mom will never forgive her for it. Still, she does what she thinks is right, what she thinks she has to, even if it drives a wedge between them.

It was Easter. Which meant that Brie was in an uncomfortable dress in an uncomfortable church pew next to her older brother, who always seemed to forget to wear deodorant on the days Brie was forced to be in close proximity to him.

His allergies also made him sniff up snot every five seconds. “Stop—you’re so annoying!” Brie whispered as loudly as she could without her parents overhearing.

Trevor flipped her off without them seeing. Brie was pretty certain that was some kind of sin.

She’d been thinking about sins a lot lately. Since her mom had taken on extra shifts at her retail job and her dad went to church only when her mom made him (which basically meant holidays), Brie hadn’t been to mass outside of school in a while. That suited her just fine. With her new . . . awareness . . . of certain things about herself, and knowing the church’s stance on it, Brie spent the majority of mass praying that the priest wouldn’t say anything negative about her feelings in his homily.

Her mom was sitting there listening intently, gaze never wavering from the priest and fingers toying with her pendant. If the homily said something—anything—about sexuality or Sodom or Leviticus or any of the words and stories in the Bible that got twisted up like Brie’s stomach . . . her mom would hear it. And if she heard it . . . would she look at Brie? Would her dad?

She was so tense her shoulders would probably hurt all through their Easter meal. She supposed that was why she was taking her frustrations out on Trevor, but also, he really did smell. “You stink, Trevor,” Brie said. “Can you at least move over?”

“Brie, shut up,” he replied.

“Knock it off, you two,” her mom chimed in.

Brie growled under her breath. Trevor heard her anyway. “Just daydream or something,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

Trevor motioned with his chin to the priest at the altar. “If this is bothering you, just daydream. That’s what I do.”

Brie was confused for a moment, wondering why on earth Trevor would say that, until the penny dropped and she realized. “You know?”

He sighed. “The house is small, Brie. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal!”

“Shh!” her mom scolded. “I said knock it off.”

Brie’s mood didn’t improve throughout mass or after mass or as her mom made her help prepare the ham they were cooking for dinner. Her mom’s sisters were coming with their families, as well as Brie’s grandparents, and Brie was already exhausted thinking about it. She usually loved Easter. Not really for religious reasons (she’d never tell her mom that), but because her grandma always made the best ricotta pie, and

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