Between Sisters
Allison went over to Kate’s apartment, because she didn’t feel like spending another evening alone. Kate frowned and sighed when she opened the door to find Allison there.
“Hey,” Allison said. “Um. Thought I’d stop by… I was in the area.”
“Yeah, right,” said Kate, but let her in anyway. “You really need to find some friends.”
“I have friends.”
“You have your support group,” said Kate, but there was no heat to her words. They had the same argument every week. “It isn’t the same.”
There was a ritual to Allison’s visits (Kate never bothered coming to Allison’s). They’d argue about Allison’s life, then they’d complain about mom’s new boyfriend-of-the-month, then watch TV for a while and eat ice cream. Sometimes, if Allison was lucky, Kate would complain about Stan. Allison despised Stan.
The ritual didn’t matter this time, though. Allison had news.
“I do have friends, and you’ll never guess who I spent part of the day with today!”
Kate put some tea on. “Oh, do tell.”
“Are you ready for this?” Allison paused for a moment, just to make sure Kate was, indeed, ready for it. “Brian Kunitz!”
Kate looked at her, puzzled. “Who?”
Allison threw her arms up in the air. “Come on, you remember Brian! I used to hang out with him in high school! He sort of dated Jess Monson, then disappeared?”
“Ah,” said Kate. “Church guy. I remember him now. Stan knew him.”
“Stan used to torture him,” said Allison, relishing the hyperbole. “But he’s back. He’s been gone for ten years! He turned up at the thing the other day.”
“He did? I didn’t see him.”
“He was there, we talked. I saw him today, we rode around while he did his job. He’s, uh, like a traveling minister, sort of.” Allison smiled. “He’s really different now. You really don’t remember him?”
“I told you, I do,” said Kate mildly. “Just not well. He was your grade, right?”
“He was a good friend back then,” said Allison. “And he doesn’t judge me now. That’s pretty good for a minister.”
“I suppose,” Kate said.
“Earth to Kitty,” said Allison, waving a hand in front of her face. She slapped it away.
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “You don’t want me starting to call you Marky Mark again, do you?”
Allison giggled. “You only ever called me that once! But don’t you dare!”
Kate rummaged in her silverware drawer, and pulled out spoons for the tea. Her expression might as well have been etched in stone.
“What’s wrong?” Allison asked.
Kate shook her head. “Sorry. Long day at work.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“No.” She suddenly jabbed at the stovetop dial, switching it off. The tea slowly stopped boiling. “Go home. I don’t feel like company tonight.”
“But–”
“Just go. I want to be alone.”
“Hey, if you need anything, I–”
“Mark.” She slammed a teacup on the counter. It shattered into a thousand fragments. Kate shut her eyes tightly, clenching her teeth. “Go. Home.”
“Okay,” said Allison, fighting back tears. “I’m sorry. I’m, um. I’m going now. I’ll see you next week?” She let herself out of her sister’s apartment, shutting the door behind her with a click.
—
Kate poured herself something strong and sat on the couch. She took a sip and grimaced. She hated this stuff. She took another sip, a bigger one this time.
What the hell was wrong with her?
