A December to Remember (28)

She answered it and was grabbed at once by Maggie, who yanked her out of the house.

“Hold your horses!” Simone yelped, reaching back in and grabbing the bag containing bottles of wine she’d bought for the evening. “What’s the emergency?”

“Come on!” Maggie shouted. “We’re on standby in case Star needs our help.”

“What?” she grumbled, pulling the front door shut and trying to unravel herself from her sister’s grip. It was useless, of course; Maggie was strong as an ox. “What is going on?”

The shouts across the street began anew. Curtains twitched at windows.

“Stu’s back!” Maggie hissed urgently.

The anger that simmered permanently in her stomach came to a boil. She let out a derisive sound. “Huh! Of course Star would invite him here. Why am I not surprised! They’re probably going to loot the shop. I’m calling the police.”

Maggie stamped her foot impatiently. Simone was the firecracker of the three, but when Maggie lost her shit, they paid attention.

“Listen to the shouting. Does it sound like Star is happy to see him?”

Simone stopped talking as they hurried along the road. She was right—Star was clearly not at all pleased. Righteous indignation stirred inside her. Sisters may be utterly vile to one another, but woe betide anyone else who dares to mess with them; it was a universal rule. She flexed her fingers. She pummeled her patients’ locked-up muscles daily; she could pummel Stu’s weaselly face with ease, and quite frankly, she’d been waiting for the opportunity.

North Novelties & Curios came into view. Stu swaggered about below like a reprobate Romeo, while Star hung too far out of the front room window, waving her arms about and hiss-shouting. Simone moved to confront Stu, but Maggie held her back in the shadows.

“Give Star a chance to handle it. We can jump in if things get tricky.”

“Oh, Star couldn’t handle kittens!”

“Let her try.”

Stu’s voice was getting louder, as were Star’s whispered shouts in return.

“You can’t be here!” Star’s top half was bent in a right angle from the waist. “You’ve done enough damage as it is.”

“I’ve paid my debt to society,” he said petulantly.

“Sure, but I’m still paying for your misdemeanors. My sister still hates me. I’ve lost my job and my home because of you. This has to stop. I’m sorry, but you need to move on. We broke up three years ago!”

“You said you’d love me forever!” He was accusing now.

“That was before you broke into my work and got me fired and then stole from my sister’s house. As abuses of trust go, that’s a pretty big one!”

He waved his arm dismissively. “That was ages ago.”

Star’s mouth was open, and she was shaking her head as though she couldn’t think of a response.

Stu filled the silence. “And anyway, she can afford it.”

“That is not the point! You are not Robin Hood. And you certainly didn’t nick that stuff to give it to the poor.”

“I love you, Star! And I’m going to make you see that you love me too.”

“We are over. You have to accept it. How did you even find me anyway?”

“Let me up and we can talk about it.”

“No. You can tell me from there.”

In the light from the streetlamps, Simone saw him grin boyishly in a way that he clearly felt would melt Star’s heart.

“I tracked you. On your phone. And then I hung around and waited for you to show up. Plus, your surname is North,” he said, gesturing to the sign plate above the shop. He looked pleased with himself.

Realization broke across Star’s face. The look she gave Stu was clearly not what he had been expecting, and Simone felt a twinge of satisfaction as his hopeful expression faltered.

“You stalked me.”

“It’s not stalking—you up and left without telling anyone where you were going.”

“That’s because I didn’t want you to follow me! I don’t have to tell you anything because we are not together. You need to get that through your head. We are over!”

“Look, let me come up, we’ll talk.”

Back in the shadows, Maggie leaned in and whispered, “Got to give him points for perseverance.”

“Can I punch him yet?” Simone asked.

“Give them another couple of minutes.”

Stu’s wail filled the air. “But I love you!”

“Whatever, this isn’t love. I’m sorry.” Her voice was pleading, begging Stu to understand.

In that moment, Simone could absolutely understand how her sister got into the scrapes she did. She was too nice for her own good. Peace, love, and understanding had their place, but sometimes a person simply needed to be told to swing their hook!

“What am I supposed to do now?” From his tone it was clear that this was not a rhetorical question.

“I don’t know. I can’t tell you what you should do. Quit drugs? That might be a start. But you need to go.”

“And what if I don’t?”

The pleading of a moment ago had morphed into something more menacing, and Simone felt herself clench.

“I’ll call your probation officer,” said Star. “I don’t want to, but I will if I have to.”