Aquilla stood immobile, feeling very awkward, while this woman sobbed into her hair. Her arms dangled to her sides and her eyes looked over her mother’s shoulder at her father and sister. Her sister had the same blonde hair, who also looked like she was a bit nervous and extremely uncomfortable. Of course she was, she was gaining a sister that she never knew. She was probably a spoiled only child, and Aquilla was ruining everything. She was probably going to hate her. Who cares? She was getting the hell out of there as soon as she could anyway. She didn’t need a family. She had a family. She had Julius. Stupid fucking Julius. She hated him.
“Aquilla?” Seri said, interrupting the rant going on in her mind.
Aquilla hadn’t even realized that her mother had let her go.
“Uh?” Aquilla said, turning to Seri.
Her father hugged her next. Fuck, get the fuck off of me. “I can’t believe you’re home,” he said in her hair. “We’ve missed you so much. There hasn’t been one single day that I haven’t thought about you.” How nice, wish I could say the same. Aquilla noticed her mother shake the little device and breathe it deep into her lungs. Was she sick?
“Come on, I have lunch ready, I’m Liz,” she spoke to Seri with her hand out.
Seri firmly shook her hand. “Sarah,” she offered.
“I’ll get your things,” Emmanuel offered.
Seri turned around and hit the trunk button. Emmanuel lifted the blue duffle bag and then Seri’s small bag. She didn’t have much with her, hoping that Monica would swing by her apartment and bring her some clothes, otherwise she was going to have to do some shopping. How long was she going to be there? Aquilla needed to get onboard and fall in love with her family, QUICKLY.
“Would you like to see your room before dinner, Shelby?” Liz asked.
Seri instantly shot Aquilla a look, telling her to keep it cool.
“Yes, please, but if you don’t mind, could you please just call me Quill?” she asked. Only two people called her Quill, her father and Julius, well three now, since hardheaded Seri insisted as well. She figured her parents could better cope with Quill rather than Aquilla. What did she call them? She wasn’t calling them mother and father. No way, she wouldn’t do it.
Liz only smiled at her. She didn’t want to call her a name that a man who ripped her from their lives named her. For now she would do it, she would try anyhow. However, she was sure if she just showed her how much she was loved, she would love her name in no time at all. “We’ll go shopping for a new bed once Sarah leaves,” Liz assured her as she opened the door to Aquilla’s new bedroom. “Your grandparents sleep in here when they visit. We’ll just move the twin beds to the downstairs bedroom.”
Aquilla only smiled. Her king size bed would never fit in that room. “May I please use the restroom?” she asked.
Liz smiled and hugged her. “It’s right across the hall.”
Are you fucking serious? She was sharing a bathroom with her sister. Who lived like that? She needed her own bathroom, right inside of her own living quarters. What the hell? The sink barely had any counter space at all, and her sister…. um. Shit, what was her name again? Who gives a fuck? She had the whole counter full of her makeup, perfumes, hair straighteners, and a full basket of hair ties.
Aquilla splashed cool water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t look like Shelby. She looked like a sad Aquilla that wanted to go home. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“Quill?” Seri called with two quiet knocks to the door.
Aquilla took a deep breath and opened the door. Everyone was gone except Seri good.
“I fucking hate this, Seri, I don’t belong here,” she said in a loud whisper.
“Quill, you haven’t even given it a chance yet. Maybe you could open your mouth and talk to them.”
“About what? I don’t fucking know them!”
“Shhh, stop using that language. I’m sure it’s not as acceptable here like it was in the Chavez home.”
“Actually, my father would have grounded me for talking like that. You don’t know shit about the Chavez home.”
“Quill, Stop it, you don’t need to be difficult. You’re only making a bad situation worse, for you and your family. Will you try?”
Aquilla only snorted and moved past her into her new, teeny tiny bedroom. She opened a couple of the empty dresser drawers, but didn’t open her bag to deposit them. She would live out of her duffle bag. She wouldn’t be staying that long.
“Come on, your mother has lunch ready.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Aquilla, get your obstinate ass down those stairs and let’s sit down and eat with your family. Don’t do this, don’t make it harder than it has to be.”
“Yeah, and maybe you should go fuck yourself. Let me take you to some family you’ve never met and drop you off and then you can tell me how not to make it harder than it has to be. Okay, Seri?”
“What do you want me to do, Quill?”
“Get me the fuck out of here until I can find Julius.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Of course it’s not. Come on, Mommy, Daddy and Sissy are waiting for us,” Aquilla smartly remarked.
Liz and Manny stopped talking when they saw Aquilla and Seri enter the dining room. Seri sat across from Aquilla as they both looked at the food and then back to each other. Great, Sloppy Joes, red meat, yuck.
“Reese, pass the buns to your sister,” Liz requested. Really? She was going to do that?
“Um…That’s okay. I’ll just have some macaroni and cheese and lima beans. I don’t really eat meat that much,” Quill replied. She noticed the eye roll from Reese. Fuck her. Quill didn’t want to be there anymore than Reese wanted her to be there.
“I don’t really eat red meat either, thank you,” Seri said, smiling at Reese, declining the bun, as well.
Lunch was quiet, not to mention awkward. Aquilla ate her food and glanced around the table at her very white family. She didn’t think she was so white anymore. Her beach tanned skin was nothing compared to her families. She wondered if she would lose it and be as white as them since she wouldn’t be living by the pool and the beach. Did they have a pool? She doubted that they did.
“Do you have a pool?” she asked. Fuck, she didn’t mean for that to be out loud. She was only thinking it.
“We don’t have one here, but your dad has one at the house in New York,” Liz explained, glad she was talking.
He’s not my dad.
“It’s not really his pool. He lives in an apartment building with the pool as part of the amenities. There’s a gym and a track there too. Do you like to swim?” Reese asked.
“Yeah, I’ve always had a pool and have grown up by a beach.”
Seri felt a little pleased that she was talking. Keep going Quill. You’ve got this.
OR NOT.
“May I please be excused?” Aquilla asked, turning to her “father.” She wasn’t sure why him, probably because she wasn’t used to asking for things from a female.
Emmanuel looked a little taken aback himself. Reese didn’t ask to be excused. He turned to Liz, not knowing how to react. She nodded with a look that told him he was stupid or something.
“Yes, you can be excused.”
Aquilla heard Reese’s laughter as soon as her foot hit the first step. She was making fun of her, spoiled little bitch.
“Reese, stop it,” Liz demanded in a loud whisper.
“Did she really just ask to be excused?” Reese asked, still smirking.
“Quill has had a different upbringing where she came from, Reese. Give her some time. She’s not sure how she is supposed to act here,” Seri said, coming to her defense. Really? This little girl was going to do this? She should turn Quill loose on her and let her beat some etiquette into her smart little ass.