The Forgotten Ones

rumbling of an engine announced Jeff’s arrival next door and jerked me away from my thoughts. I looked over to see Nicole bouncing down the driveway. She glanced over at me, her face all lit up.
    “There you are! I’ve been texting you all morning.” She signaled to Jeff that she’d be just a minute and made her way over to me.
    I sighed, knowing what was going to happen before she was even in front of me. Once again, I had no believable excuses.
    “I’m going to a cookout at Jeff’s parents’ house. Wanna come?” No matter how many times I’d turned down her invitations in the past, she never lost hope that I would one day be happy to tag along with her and her friends.
    “I have laundry to do, Nic,” I mumbled as I walked into the house, wincing when I heard her follow behind me. She would never give up so easily.
    “And, it will be here tomorrow, won’t it?”
    My mother was still playing her violin in the den. Her talent never faded, no matter how ill she became. As I walked past, I could see Gram coming in through the sliding door. She was wearing her gardening hat and gloves, the knees of her pants caked with soil.
    “Hello, girls.” Gram smiled at us as she pulled the gloves off, wiping her brow.
    “Hey, Gram,” Nicole said, grinning. “Aunt Beth is doing okay, isn’t she?”
    Gram looked between the two of us, a knowing smile forming on her face. She licked her lips and laughed.
    “Aunt Beth is just fine, why do you ask?”
    I widened my eyes at Gram. She usually helped me fend off Nicole’s endless invitations.
    “Great, so you can come, Al!”
    “Are you sure I’m even invited?” I knew I was just putting off the inevitable. But I had to put up a little bit of a fight. I couldn’t let Nicole get complacent.
    She glanced at me and frowned. “I just invited you.”
    I breathed deeply. “If I come, will you leave me alone for the rest of the week?”
    Her dismissive expression made me laugh. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go. This will be so much fun,” she said, sounding much more excited than I felt.
    I made a “how could you?” face at Gram and followed after my cousin. I would never let Nicole know, but the idea of being surrounded by mindless conversation might actually be the only way I could make it through this day.

    The Magliaro family never had small get-togethers. They were a huge Italian family with plenty of relatives and friends constantly stopping by unannounced. A cookout there meant three times as many people around as there usually were. Luckily, their house was enormous.
    It stood a mile back from the road, and I sat in the back of Jeff’s Jeep, bumping and bouncing all the way up the long, snaking driveway. Half a dozen cars were already there when we arrived. Jeff pulled right onto the front lawn and secured the parking brake.
    I followed them into the house, smiling at relatives I’d met before, even if I couldn’t remember their names. The air was thick with the smell of spicy Italian cooking. Two booming male voices were having a friendly argument about which Patriots tight end should be starting in the fall, and little kids were running around, darting under our feet.
    “Eli, what did I tell you about running inside Auntie Joanne’s house?” Jeff mock-scolded a dark-haired boy as he ran by. The boy grinned up at him, showing several missing teeth, and scooted out the front door.
    In the kitchen, Joanne was putting chips into bowls and chatting with an older woman. The second she saw me and Nicole, her eyes lit up, and she excused herself before rushing for us.
    “Hello, girls! So glad to see you,” she said before turning to Jeff. “Did you offer them anything to drink Jeff?”
    “Uh, not yet, Ma. We just got here.”
    Joanne made shooing motions to her son, and he threw up his arms before going off in search of drinks.
    She leveled me with her eyes. “How’s your mom, honey?”
    “You know…same old.” I put on my best polite smile.
    Joanne nodded, her face showing that she saw right through me. “Well, I’m sorry I haven’t stopped by in a few days. I’ll come by soon, I promise.”
    I nodded. I knew she would.
    She gave my arm a gentle pat and then excused herself as Jeff came back with two bottles of water. I took one from him and caught sight of Ethan across the family room. My smile faltered a bit—he was leaning against the back of the sofa, whispering into the ear of a redhead who looked vaguely familiar.
    Nicole cleared her