About that Night by Hunter J. Keane Page B

This voice was younger and higher pitched. I could only assume it belonged to Lola.
    “Hey, Lo.” Luke braced himself as a burst of blue hair and bright clothes collided against him. He choked out a laugh as he hugged his sister. “Good to see you, sis.”
    “Damn right.” Lola released him. “You look good, little brother.”
    “Damn right.” Luke gave her a quick once over. “New hair color?”
    “Mother hates blue hair. I couldn’t resist.” She gave him a conspiratorial wink and then her eyes widened as she noticed me for the first time. “So what mother said is true. You brought home a whore?”
    “Jeez, Lo.” Luke’s face turned a bright shade of red. “You could at least pretend our family isn’t a bunch of assholes.”
    “Sorry.” Lola turned to me. “I’m sorry if I offended you. That was supposed to be a joke, but my brother isn’t exactly known for his sense of humor.”
    “I’m not offended.” In reality, I was sure Virginia had said much worse things about me. “At least she didn’t say ugly whore.”
    Lola laughed, a deep laugh that came from her gut. It was a wonderful sound. “I think you might be a keeper,” she said and turned back to Luke. “It’s a shame though. I was really hoping you would turn out to be gay. It would have so pissed off our mother.”
    “He could always get his whore knocked up,” I suggested. “That would probably piss her off even more.”
    Lola grinned a wicked smile. “I like it. And I like you. Come with me. We have work to do.”
    With that, Lola grabbed my arm and pulled me into the devil’s lair.
    * * *
    “So anyway, that was the third time I got arrested,” Lola said as she filled up her wine glass for at least the sixth time. “That was also when mother started seeing her therapist.”
    I glanced across the room to where Virginia was sitting, knitting a purple scarf and passing judgment on me with her beady eyes. I was glad to have the space between us.
    Luke was seated next to me on the couch, his eyes focused only on his phone. He had been answering work emails all afternoon, in between defending me from his mother’s barbs. On more than one occasion he had tried to drag me away, but Lola wouldn’t allow it. She was determined to share her life story with me.
    “So what about you? What did you do to drive your parents insane when you were a teenager?” Lola kicked her feet up onto the coffee table.
    Luke had the presence of mind to realize that his sister was treading on sensitive ground. He tossed an arm around my shoulders and frowned at her. “Lo, I thought you were making dinner tonight. Shouldn’t you get started on that?”
    “Pssh. There is plenty of time for that. I’m bonding with your girlfriend.”
    Luke glared at her. “Stop being so much like our mother,” he said.
    “It’s okay, Luke.” It was true that she was being nosy, but she was also the only member of his family that had acknowledged that I was anything more than the woman that was dating Luke.
    “Yeah, calm down, bro. I only asked an innocent question about her childhood. She doesn’t have to answer.” Lola nudged her brother’s foot and turned back to me. “Back to you, Kase.”
    “There’s not much to tell. I didn’t get into much trouble back then. I never got arrested, or even a detention.” In fact, dating my boss was probably the most scandalous thing I had ever done.
    “Your parents were very lucky to have such a perfect child,” Virginia snapped from across the room. “But I’m sure they told you all the time how wonderful you were.”
    “Not exactly.” I felt Luke’s hand tighten on my shoulder. “My parents died when I was fourteen. I moved in with my aunt.”
    The room was engulfed by a deafening silence. No one knew what to say. I could’ve easily changed the subject and relieved the tension, but I wasn’t exactly in the mood to make Virginia feel better.
    “I’m not really in the mood for any pity, or further insulting