Storms 01 - Family Storms

don’t really care what my parents decide to do about you,” she told me. “What you did with Ricky was mean. I’m not going to lie for you anymore, though. I can tell you that.”
    She turned to her parents.
    “Haven’t I tried to be a good older sister to her? I’ve lost friends because of her and some of the crude things she says. Now she goes and seduces Ricky after I talk him into taking us to Catalina on his father’s boat. Don’t just take my word for it. Ask my girlfriends. Go on and ask her if she’sstill a virgin or ever was when she first came here. Go on. You can have her examined if you don’t believe me.”
    I couldn’t keep the tears from streaming down my face. The looks on Mr. and Mrs. March’s faces felt like knives in my heart. They both looked drained of any warmth and hope. I felt as if I were looking at them when they had first heard their younger daughter was terminally ill. I felt terminally ill. Kiera, always alert to an opportunity, had her finish perfected and perfectly timed.
    “I told you, Mother. I warned you,” Kiera said with a voice soft and sorrowful. “She’s not Alena. She took advantage of you. She probably did know how to play the clarinet but pretended she didn’t.”
    Mrs. March started to cry.
    Kiera turned to me. “You’re not my sister. You never could be,” she said, and walked out of the office.
    I took deep breaths to stop myself from crying. My chest ached. Mr. March rose and paced a bit behind his desk. Mrs. March stopped crying, wiped her face with her handkerchief, and, after a deep breath herself, turned to me.
    “I spoke with Deidre. She confirmed Kiera’s story about what happened on the boat,” she began. “She doesn’t know anything about any VA club, and her mother confirmed that she has no tattoo on her lower back.”
    “Deidre’s lying for her,” I muttered weakly.
    “I called some of the other mothers, and they checked their daughters, too. No tattoos, Sasha.”
    “Theirs weren’t permanent, then. They showed them to me to fool me,” I said. “I’m not lying. I didn’t seduce RickyBurns on his boat. They gave me something to drink that was supposed to help my seasickness, only it made me feel weird. They were all in the room. I was raped!” I cried.
    Mr. March stopped pacing and looked at Mrs. March. “This is no good, Jordan. We’re talking about a first-class scandal here.”
    “I know,” she said in a voice of defeat.
    He pointed at me. “You don’t go making such an accusation, Sasha. Tom Burns is an influential businessman. His chain of pharmacies is one of the most successful in the state. He’d destroy us in such a fight. I don’t want to hear that you’ve told this story to anyone at school. Is that understood? Is it?”
    “Yes, but it’s true.”
    “Don’t dare speak it,” he said, punching each word. He turned to Mrs. March. “I want you to move her out of Alena’s room for now. Put her in one of the guest rooms away from Kiera. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, Sasha,” he said, turning back to me. “Maybe your life on the streets made you sly and clever in your battle to survive. Maybe you saw an opportunity in Mrs. March. She’s taken the loss of our daughter very hard. Maybe I need to send both you and Kiera to therapists. Whatever. But for now, I want no more talk about any of this. I’ll look into seeing what the best alternatives for you are. For the time being, go to the school we have had you going to. Do your work, and stay out of trouble. Come directly home after your school activities, and do not go out and about on weekends. Am I clear?”
    “Yes.”
    “You did impress me when you first came here. I have to believe that indicates you have good qualities. My advice is for you to nurture them and nothing else. You want to add anything, Jordan?”
    “No,” she said.
    “Tell Mrs. Duval to move her things immediately, then.”
    She nodded and looked at me. “Go up and put together what you want to take to the guest room, Sasha. I’m sorry, but Mr. March is right. We want you away from Kiera.”
    “And out of Alena’s room,” he emphasized.
    “Someday you’ll know that I wasn’t lying, and you’ll be sorry,” I said. “And I’ll feel sorrier for you than I do for myself.”
    I walked out and up the stairs, but I felt like a sleepwalker. When I reached Kiera’s room, she opened the door. She must have been waiting right there, listening for my footsteps. She