"Nocturnal Dialogue"

“I thought you were sleeping, mid—” I start to say midget and then control myself.



“I can never sleep the night before school starts, never ever.” He squirms under the covers and sighs. “Amelia, would you be okay with Vinny coming over this week for mom’s birthday?”


“Not on your life kid.” I press the card against my heart.


“Vinny said you wouldn’t want him there,” he says in a voice that is older than his years.


“When the hell do you talk to that freak?” I yank the Addams Family curtains back.


“Please don’t use that language. You know I don’t like that language,” another sigh. “I don’t talk to Vinny much. I talk to mom. Mom wants Vinny at her birthday but Vinny doesn’t think you want him there. It’s why we celebrated early. You’re the only one keeping mom from a Happy Birthday. I thought you should know,” he says, his bug eyes glaring at me in the dark.


“Yeah, well let’s see if mom leaves her bedroom this year,” I say and watch Jack’s dark brows frown into one. Last year it looked like it was going to rain so our mother, taking it for a bad omen, locked herself in her bedroom. It hadn’t helped that Uncle David, dad’s older brother who looks so much like dad, showed up to surprise mom like a ghost from our past. “Jack, I think you’re being a little naïve if you think that mom and Vinny are just friends.”


“I believe whatever mom tells me and she tells me everything.” He rubs the sharp blade of his spear like it’s a teddy bear’s nose.


“Yeah, you go ahead and believe a woman who accepts tickets for a date to the New York Philharmonic.” I rip the curtain closed.


“It’s not a date! They’re just friends!”


“So they’re going, right?”


“Mom didn’t want me to tell you.” There is silence followed by the sound of Jack getting under the covers again. “You’re a very selfish, selfish person Amelia.”


“No, mom is the selfish one,” I say and tears prick my eyes. Jack doesn’t say anything more. He doesn’t need to. The truth only needs to be said once.