“So you gave a woman you’ve talked to a handful of times my cigarettes?” Hector was giving all kinds of stink eye.
“No,” Valerie got all defensive “I only remember talking to her a handful of times. I'm sure we’ve spoken more.”
“Was this your plan? Get me hooked on them and then take them away from me.”
“I’ll be honest, I had hoped one of the inmates got you hooked on something that would make you slow and weak and that you were too tired to come visit me today so that I could have stayed home while complying to the last will and testament of our egocentric, megalomaniacal and dead dad.” Valerie paused for emphasis but then realised she had finished her speech.
“Well, it’s nice to know that you think about me at night.”
Valerie leaned to get something from her bag. “Here.” She chucked a book at him which he managed to catch in his lap.
“Pages 8, 22, 64, 65, 118 and 203 are particularly…” Valerie paused for effect “spicy.”
Hector flicked to those pages and dangled a sachet of ramen spice up in front of them, visible disappointment on his face.
Valerie deflated. “What?”
“Not exactly what I thought of when I asked for spice.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to spend good stuff on you. That should do you fine.”
“Yeah, the…” Hector put his glasses on and looked closer. “Chicken Ramen liquid spice will make my bread taste great.”
“I didn’t know you baked.”
“Vals, there is a lot we don’t know about each other.” He put his glasses back in breast pocket. “ I don’t expect we’ll learn much worthwhile anyway.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Last time I’ll try small talk.”
“We aren’t small talk people. To each other anyway.”
“That’s a boldfaced lie.”
“No, I’m a banter man. I like a bit of meaningful banter. The occasional remark.” He paused, probably for effect. “But us, our relationship is routine. We talk because you don’t want to talk to others. We’re brother and sister but that's it.”
“I really hope you get out soon,” she leans in and whispers “I hope you live a long and prosperous life and then you find a trailer to the movie you've been waiting to watch, I hope you die a slow death just as you get comfortable in that cinema seat with your popcorn. Preferably choking on a kernel as the trailers finish.”
“There it is.” Hector signals for a guard “News on Cassandra?”
“Nothing right now but I’ll be heading over to her shop while she’s gone. Should be able to walk in and learn something though.”
“Walk in? Sounds like a plan.”
“We’ll see innit?” Valerie got up and was prepared to leave when Hector placed his hand on her shoulder. A guard moved in to stop anything that might have happened.
“You don’t know her like I did,” Hector says with concern in his eyes “You have to make sure she doesn’t kick off. She won’t come back otherwise.”
The guard guides Hector back to his seat. Valerie looks her brother in his eyes.
“I remember her clear enough. I used to look up to her. I wanted to be like her and when I finally felt like we were a family, she left. There isn’t anyone else who understands her better.” She gestured at the guard and he backed off. “I just want to find out if she found what she was looking for.”
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In her youth, Valerie did not understand boundaries. Rooms were just places she wasn’t in and nothing would stop her from getting in. This was an issue when she’d walk in on her parents or Hector.
Cassandra had never gotten angry when Valerie walked into her room though. She was always either reading a lengthy book she had borrowed from the library or she was writing an equally lengthy book herself. In the time it took Valerie to read one of her own books, Cassandra was onto the next.
One day, Valerie decided to pick up a pen and notebook herself to write down her own adventure. It took her a year to complete and there were errors every which way. She knew Cassandra wouldn’t mark her down for it. Valerie had grown in writing this book.
She left the book by Cassandra’s door. Had she gone in, she would not have been welcomed by her sister.