Thirty-One
Tickets
The room seemed to turn into a scene from a stop-motion film. Jess jerked back and her eyes widened with shock. Babs bared her teeth and lunged at Diego. “You—” she shrieked.
“I can explain,” he said, trying to stop her from grabbing him. “Please.”
Carla stood in the middle, not knowing where to turn first. It was like she’d thrown a grenade and was witnessing the aftermath.
She watched Diego take hold of Babs’s arm, then lead her to the corner of the room, trying to calm her down. Babs clenched her fists and yelled at him, jabbing her finger in the air.
Jess turned on her heel and ran out of the office.
Carla sped after her, managing to catch her in the corridor.
“Sorry to interrupt your little family reunion,” Jess seethed as the two sisters stood outside the kitchen. “I’ll leave you guys to it.”
Carla upturned her palms. “Please don’t be like this, Jess...”
“Like what? Like the poor baby who lost her mother? Who’s been looking after your business and Gran and our bereaved aunt, while you’ve been having a great time sleeping your way across Europe? It’s a good thing your wedding is canceled.”
Carla’s mouth dropped at her sister’s words. In the heat of the moment, she could see why Jess might be overawed by everything. But this was too much. “You know that’s not true.”
Jess tossed her hair. “Don’t patronize me. You’re the one with the baby on the way, with the fiancé, and your business, and the memories of our mother. And now you’ve got a dad, too. Congratulations.”
“It’s not like that at all. You’re my sister and—”
Jess shot Carla a disdainful stare and pushed past her.
Carla stumbled backward and could only watch as Jess fled down the stairs.
“Half sister,” Jess shouted back at her.
Carla didn’t know whether to chase after her or to see if Babs was okay. She sped back into her office to find Babs sobbing in Diego’s arms. He raised his head to look at Carla and his eyes swam with pain.
She took another step forward, but he shook his head and mouthed, No, not now.
Carla crept backward out of the room. She hurried down the stairs and opened the door, trying to phone her sister when she couldn’t see her anywhere. Outside, the sky was murky, heavy rain starting to pelt down. Jess is only wearing a dress, Carla thought as her call rung out. Her sister didn’t pick up.
She didn’t want to lock the door with Babs and Diego still inside, but she needed to get to her sister. Her mind whirred as she tried to think where Jess might go. Maybe back to her apartment?
She left her keys inside the door, grabbed a coat from a hook in the hallway and booked an Uber to take her to Jess’s place.
Carla circled around outside her sister’s ground-floor apartment and knocked on the front door several times. All the rooms were dark except for a small light switched on in the kitchen. She cupped her hands to the window and peered inside.
Tarot cards were spread out on the kitchen table and there was a pile of runes, things Jess turned to when she needed guidance. There was a ripped photo of a man Carla assumed was Mr. Forty-Nine Percent, and her heart tugged for her sister.
The rain fell harder and a drop snaked down Carla’s back. She doubted Jess would return to their gran’s place, to be among all the family mourners. Narrowing her eyes, Carla spotted another photo pinned to Jess’s kitchen wall. Carla, Jess, Lucinda and Ted posed beside Vadim, waving their fortune tickets in the air. It was a happier time with their family, at the place Jess loved the most.
“Silverpool,” Carla said out loud. “It has to be.”
It was too far for her sister to walk there, so she’d probably taken a taxi.
Carla booked another Uber, smarting at the cost of using so many cabs. When the car arrived, she ran toward it to escape the rain and spent the next half hour watching droplets shimmer on the car’s windows as it headed toward the seaside town.
She knew they had arrived when she smelled the familiar aroma of doughnuts. Carla zipped her coat farther up to her chin when she got out of the car. The rain fired down even more heavily, and her hair stuck to her forehead as she stared at the amusement arcade on the opposite side of the road.
Children squealing, electronic music and flashing lights lured her toward them. The arcade was closing down, and she watched as vendors collected the day’s takings, switched off the machines and wheeled them back inside.
Vadim’s chamber still took pride of place on the pavement. The genie appeared to be staring at her, his hand hovering above his illuminated crystal ball. A green light shone upward, making his features even more eerie than she remembered.
Carla watched as Jess emerged from inside the arcade. Her dress was wet, and a coin shone in her hand. Carla breathed a sigh of relief and started to cross the road.
Jess fed her coin into the machine’s slot, and the mannequin came to life. “This is Vadim speaking. I can read your future...” he boomed, casting his hand from side to side.
Jess stooped down to pick up her fortune ticket.
Carla shouted her sister’s name but a truck rumbled past, drowning out her voice. When she eventually reached Jess, she placed a hand on her shoulder.
Her sister jumped around. “What the hell are you doing here?” she gasped.
“I’m worried about you.”
“Well, don’t be. I left you alone to play happy families with Diego.”
Carla shook her head. “I only found out he was my father minutes before you arrived.”
“Well, go home to Tom, then. Leave me alone. I don’t need your sympathy.”
