LUKE: Complete Series by Leo Cassia

Author:Leo, Cassia [Leo, Cassia]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: ORLY Press
Published: 2013-02-16T14:00:00+00:00

My father set the brown paper bag of groceries on the counter and I immediately began pulling out the contents: Fiber One cereal, Metamucil powder, Activia yogurt.

“Geez, is it going to be one of those ‘stay away from the downstairs bathroom’ kind of days?” I asked, as I opened the refrigerator to put away the yogurt.

My dad grabbed the box of cereal off the counter and opened the cupboard. “Hey, don’t blame me; blame the lab. They botched that biopsy and literally scared the shit out of me.”

“Gross, Dad.” I pulled a head of lettuce out of another bag. “You don’t have cancer. There is no need to torture us with this new fiber regiment. Trust me, this will not end well.”

He chuckled as he grabbed my arm and planted a kiss on my cheek. “It’s great having you back, pumpkin.”

He left the kitchen to get more bags of groceries from the car and I sighed. Of course my dad loved having me here. I was unemployed and I would no longer be assaulting his pride with my monthly parental support checks. I couldn’t afford to help them anymore. I had to save up my unemployment income to put down the first and last month’s rent on an apartment as soon as I found a job. My dad might be glad to have me back, but I needed out of this house pronto before the memories, and the fiber, smothered me.

I finished putting away the groceries and raced upstairs to call my best friend Jill Ramirez. My fiery Filipino friend (that was what I called her in private, though it made her inordinately angry) promised she wouldn’t allow the receptionist at the travel agency to leave me on hold for days the way she normally did. Jill’s family’s travel agency was way understaffed ever since Jill took over when her mother got sick. They couldn’t afford to hire anyone other than a receptionist. Jill literally spent ten hours a day on the telephone talking to clients. Her phone never stopped ringing.

I didn’t even bother calling her office phone anymore. I usually just texted her and she’d respond within a few minutes, but today I needed to talk to her. I needed her moral support.

“K&R Travel. Jill speaking. How may I help you?”

“You can start by telling me I’m not about to make a huge ass out of myself.”

Jill sighed. “Oh, thank God it’s you. I’m about to slice my throat with one of these shiny new brochures. Unless you’re looking for a deal on a trip to Ireland then I guess I’d better use the letter opener.”

I couldn’t respond. Jokes about committing suicide with a brochure would have been at least somewhat amusing to me eight months ago. But when you’ve been friends as long as Jill and I have, it’s hard to remember the topics that are off-limits. I wasn’t angry with her. I just didn’t know what to say.

“Fuck. I’m sorry,” she said, and I could imagine her eyebrows scrunched together between her shiny black eyes.

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