Six Feet Under the Stars

Reilly sat under her favourite tree in the park. When she was little, she used to have picnics under it with her mother and father, when he wasn’t on business trips, after they’d spent the day playing on the swings. Reilly had received her first kiss under the tree when she was five years old and she’d received her first kiss from Jack under the tree when she was sixteen. She’d cracked her head open falling out of it when she was seven and Hannah had double dog dared her to climb it. Reilly could still use the fall as black mail.

In the background, Reilly could hear the kids playing on the play ground; she could hear swings creak on old chains and the familiar thump, thump of the round-about as it bounced over an uneven patch of tarmac that had never been fixed. She could feel the sun kissing her skin as she reclined against the bark and she could feel the damp seeping up through her jeans. She sighed as a shadow fell over her peaceful retreat.

“I thought I could find you here.”

Reilly blanched. Her stomach roiled and her head spun. Her eyes snapped open and found his silhouette blocking out the sun. Jack sunk down beside her as if it were allowed. She said nothing, letting the lump in her throat hold her tongue.

“You, um, you look good, Reils.”

She hated that he could still say her name and send tingles down her spine. She hated that he could smile at her, when all she could muster was the courage not to cry.

“Why are you here, Jack?” she whispered around her clogged throat.

“I’ve missed you. God, Reilly, if I could take back what I did-”

“What? We’d be living our happily ever after?” She sneered at the grass, unable to look at him any longer. “You may have broken my heart, Jack Barakat, but that doesn’t mean you can fix it.”

“Reils, God, I still-”

Reilly shoved herself to her feet. “Shove it, Jack,” she hissed and disappeared into the crowds of children and parents.

XXX

Reilly slipped into the restaurant twenty minutes later than she’d arranged. From the table by the window, she spotted her step-mother, glaring angrily at her, between her half-sister and an older gentleman that Reilly could only vaguely remember. She sighed, silver dress skirting over her thighs as she walked to the table and lowered herself down next to Jacqueline who smiled sweetly.

“You’re late,” Jasmine remarked.

“Sorry,” she said and placed an order with a passing waitress for a diet coke.

“We’ve ordered.”

“I’m not hungry,” Reilly shrugged. She licked her lips, crossing her hands over her lap. “In fact, I’m not even sure why I’m here.”

“You’re here because we’re discussing matters of your father’s life with his lawyer.” She motioned to the older man beside her and Reilly’s eyes flashed hatefully.

“He’s not dead.”

“Mom, you said this was your old friend,” Jacqueline mumbled, looking hurt. She rubbed her stomach softly under the table with her free hand. The other gripped the glass of juice she’d ordered. A diet coke was set down in front of Reilly and she wished it was full of Jack Daniels.

“I can’t believe you’d go so low, Jasmine. I mean, you fucked him over once when you were a kid but I hoped you’d grown up since then.”

“Don’t you act like I don’t love your father, you ungrateful bitch! I wasn’t the one that abandoned him when I was old enough to leave the house.”

“My father stopped caring for me the day you showed up on our doorstep,” Reilly hissed. “Because you and your bastard daughter turned up!” She saw Jacqueline flinch but she was too angry to protect her sister’s feelings. “And if it wasn’t for you, I’d still have a mom and my dad probably wouldn’t have been in that accident in the first place! I wouldn’t have had to leave your goddamn hell hole!”

She rose from her seat and glared at her step-mother. “I hope to God that when my father wakes up, he sees the light and kicks your slutty ass to the curb.”

“You better watch your mouth,” Jasmine spat.

“Why? Because the lawyer you’re fucking whilst my dad dies in hospital might tell on me?” She scoffed. “See you around.” She raged out of the restaurant, throwing herself into the drivers side with vehemence. She glared at the steering wheel, her hazel eyes stinging with tears. Her father wasn’t dead and her step-mother was planning what to do with her share of his will. She’d insulted her pregnant half sister, a person with whom she might have had a chance of rekindling a relationship and to top it off, she thought more about Jack than she did her dying father. Her body wracked out a sob as she kicked the engine into gear and drove to the only place she could think of.