Chapter 2 - Cold Pizza and Warm Hearts
The noise inside the arcade was a wall of sound—synthesized music, neon lights, and the clattering of plastic tokens hitting metal trays. To anyone else, it was chaos. To me, it was a sanctuary.
Lucas and Mia were busy aiming water jets at plastic targets, their earlier tears forgotten in the pursuit of cheap tickets and neon-colored eraser tops. The little blue-and-yellow birdhouse sat in the middle of our booth, positioned carefully between two paper cups of watered-down soda and a half-eaten pepperoni pizza.
My phone screen dimmed again. $1,900.
Diane had invited six extra people without telling me. She had ordered two bottles of reserve wine that cost more than my monthly car payment. She had assumed, as she always did, that the tab would quietly resolve itself through my checking account while she took the credit for hosting a grand family gathering.
"Mom, look!" Mia ran over, holding up a long ribbon of tickets. "We got enough for the big sticky hand!"
"That’s amazing, sweetheart," I said, forcing a smile that finally reached my eyes when I saw her dimples.
Lucas followed her more slowly, leaning his elbow on the table and looking at the birdhouse. "Do you think Grandpa will ever put this in his garden?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and sharp. I reached across the table and covered his small hand with mine. "If he doesn't, we’re going to build a post in our own backyard and put it right where the bluejays nest. Deal?"
"Deal," he whispered, a small, genuine smile breaking across his face.
I looked down at my phone one last time. The screen showed three missed calls from Dad, two from Aunt Carol, and five frantic text messages from Diane.
“Kristen, the manager is standing right here.”
“You are ruined if you don’t unlock this right now.”
May you like
“Dad is losing his mind.”
I didn't reply. I pressed the power button, held it down, and slid the icon to power off. The screen faded to black. For the first time in ten years, I felt my shoulders drop away from my ears. Let them figure out how to pay for their own cruelty.
