Who We Are

"What happened between you and Ronnie?" Riley asked as we sat at the dinner table, his homework laid out in front of us.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, biting my lip as I looked away from Gwen's testing stare.

Riley shrugged. "I don't know, exactly. But he refused to come over here when dad.." he trailed off, letting me fill in the rest.

"I don't know. Nothing happened," I told him, hoping I sounded convincing enough to fool Gwendolyn.

Riley just shrugged his shoulders then and turned his full attention back to the math book that was sitting open in front of him. I looked down too. I was writing a paper for english already and I was trying to forget about everything else but the grammar that I was supposed to be correcting.

I finished with all my work about a half an hour later. Riley and Gwen were still working. Riley was asking Gwen to help him with something simple as I stood up from the table and moved to the living room to make the couch up for Riley.

I heard Gwen tell him no, flat out.

Riley sighed and whispered, "Okay. Sorry."

I grabbed a couple blankets out of the closet and laid them out over the couch. I fluffed up the raggedy pillows and grabbed the duvet off of the floor here it had been thrown earlier in the day.

When I was finished with that I moved back into the kitchen so that I could make a plate of dinner for Dad and put the rest in the fridge. I looked to Riley as I covered the left overs.

"Do you want anymore?" I asked softly, watching as he shook his head, no. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, Kat," he said, "I'm still stuffed from earlier."

I nodded my head and shoved everything into the small refrigerator, leaving Dad's plate in the microwave so he'd just need to start it when he got home. "When is Dad getting off tonight?" I asked my sister. Gwen just shrugged and focused the packet that was in front of her on the table.

I sighed. "Are you almost done, Gwen?" I questioned, wanting to go upstairs but knowing I would be reprimanded by my younger sister if I left her alone with Riley.

"Yeah, I guess," Gwen said as she stood up, "This isn't due for a couple days anyways." Gwen packed all her things back up and shoved her into her bag. We both turned to Riley then.

"You can figure it out?" I asked him as I stood behind his chair, peaking down at the simple biology worksheet that sat in front of him.

Riley nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm almost done anyways. Then I think I'm going to go to bed."

"I made up the couch for you," I told him, "And the remote is on the floor."

Riley smiled up at me politely. "Thanks, Kat."

I ruffled his hair like he was years younger than me as I said, "No problem."

I said goodnight for both Gwen and I before the two of us retreated to our room. Gwen went in without me. I went to my father's room first and pushed the door open. Gianna was fast asleep in her bed next to the window. Her princess night light was glowing right next to her head and her curls were fanned out across her pillow.

I shut the door and moved onto the next room. Lisette and Octavia were out cold, too. They were sleeping in pretty much the same manor as Gianna; minus the night light. I closed their door tightly and crossed the hall. I striped out of my clothing and pulled on shorts and a tank-top before I scrambled into bed, my head becoming heavy as I realized just how tired I was.

Gwendolyn was staring up at the ceiling and I turned over to do the same. I closed my eyes and listened to my sister's soft breathing. I couldn't help but let my thoughts travel back to Ronnie Radke. Of course I had questions for him, most of them beginning with "why". But I decided right then and there that I was not going to let myself get involved with Ronnie's little game if it continued.

I rolled onto my stomach and buried my face in my pillow. I listened to the world outside my window and heard the commotion from next door that Riley was trying hard to ignore.

Russell, their father, was outside and yelling. He was shouting about his ungrateful sons and how they'd never come home when he needed them. I sighed and tried to ignore it, knowing it was not for me to hear.

Gwendolyn scoffed lightly under her breath as he continued, so I turned to look at her.

"Don't," I whispered, "Just ignore it."

"He's going to wake up the whole neighborhood."

I shrugged, "It's not our fault."

I could see Gwen's eyes in the dark. "Sort of," she said, "we are harboring one of the Radkes."

"Don't talk like that," I murmured, losing sight of her eyes as she closed them, "He just needs a little help. You should try and be nicer to him."

"Why should I?" she replied quietly, her eyes still closed. "They're not nice to anyone. You've said it yourself, Kat."

I shook my head, letting my eyes close too. "I said that Ronnie was never nice to anyone."

"And they're related."

"That doesn't mean anything," I whispered, "You're related to me and you're being mean. I'm not."

Gwen sighed and rolled over towards the wall, making the bed creak as she did so. I followed her lead and did the same, facing the opposite way of my sister as I realized she wasn't going to be any nicer to anyone.