Haner to Save the Day

There was something amiss in the way of the world, Veronica thought to herself, though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that possibility could be. The restaurant was in its usual busy Saturday lunch buzz and the weather outside did not indicate for any storms in the near future. Regardless, Veronica couldn’t help a sinking feeling in her stomach that she had perhaps forgotten something.

“Are you okay?” Evan asked quietly, once he reached their drinks station. He noticed that Veronica wasn’t much of the talkative type, she spent a lot of her uninterrupted time lost in thought. But he liked to think that he knew her enough to know when something was bothering her. It was all in her body language, her shoulders were very tense, and she continuously fidgeted with her hair.

Veronica have him a half-hearted smile. Truthfully, she was okay; it was that nagging feeling in the back of her head that bothered her. “I just feel really off...”

He nodded in understanding. “We all have those days. But at least you don’t have to close today.”

“That’s true. I think I’ll be better once I’m outside.”

Evan ripped a page from his orders notepad. “In the mean-time,” he said, folding the paper expertly, “I hope this helps.” Veronica watched as he finished his little art project, revealing an origami swan.

“That’s so cute!” she said with a large grin on her face. They only just began dating, but she appreciated his unwavering thoughtfulness. She wanted to give him a hug but knew that was unprofessional. Their boss was also unaware of their relationship, and she did not want to jeopardize her job. Instead, she opted for a handshake, causing him to laugh. Maybe she had been wrong, and her worries were her imagination.

Once she got home, she took a deep sigh. The walk from work was longer than anticipated and Jimmy and Brian couldn’t chauffer her for the day. Nevertheless, she realized it had been a solid three months since she was kidnapped and forced to live out the rest of her life in California. She was still alive, so there was that much. Because she was able to make friends so quickly, she stopped resenting her sister and parents for bringing her out this far. Of course, she was never going to admit this out loud to her family. Besides, she had better things to do with her time, like chastise Alana for dating Marco still. Veronica would have left her sister in her emotional and upset mood, except every time her family was all together, Alana complained about her relationship or made sure that everyone was no longer in a happy temperament.

Veronica sat down after grabbing a glass of water to eat dinner with everyone. Veronica’s dad went fishing earlier during the day and was able to catch a hefty salmon, not that they really needed to fish to survive. Peter worked overtime hours to the maximum, and seldom had opportunities to leave work early; he decided he needed to relax. Everyone ate the cooked salmon in genuine appreciation instead of Alana. Her face was downcast as she used her chopsticks to push the small grains of rice across her bowl. Veronica rolled her eyes, knowing her sister was upset because of one particular asshole.

“You know,” Veronica began with a mouth full of rice, “I don’t know why you still date him.”

Peter and Linda immediately looked at each other, bracing for another intense argument. They remembered when their daughters had the best relationship siblings could have; and they truly missed it. Though neither parent knew the exact reasoning why the two girls had a falling out, they surmised Alana’s relationship with Marco was the probable cause. Usually, the little arguments dissolved and the two were back to their normal selves. Lately, Alana’s attitude soured and hadn’t alleviated. Veronica hadn’t mentioned Marco in a few weeks; they mistakenly believed that perhaps their youngest daughter got rid of her ill feelings of him. They were, in fact, wrong.

“Leave me alone,” Alana muttered.

“No. He always makes you cry or angry. Why are you dating someone who’s an ass to you?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alana finally lifted her face to look at her baby sister. Her eyes were red and cheeks flush with tears.

Veronica almost felt terrible, almost. She constantly told her sister she could be better off by herself or with someone who was better for her. “He always makes you cry. It’s not okay. You wanted to move out here and look wh-”

Jack barked from the sound of the doorbell reverberating throughout the house. Everyone looked at each other in surprise. It was late and they weren’t expecting any visitors.

Wanting to let her sister mull over her words, Veronica got up from her feet and walked over to the front door. Jack followed happily behind, wondering if he had a new person to play with. As soon as his human opened the door, Jack’s ears pushed back, and he bared his teeth. Marco was standing outside with a box of chocolates.

Veronica raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “What are you doing here.”

Marco rolled his eyes. “I’m here to apologize to Alana. I just wanted to talk to her.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?” Marco sneered, staring down at the young girl as though she was lesser than garbage on the street.

A fire ignited in the pits of her stomach. This was the odd feeling Veronica had earlier. “Did I stutter?”

This guy really had balls trying to test her patience. Although she had never punched anyone before, she assumed he would be the first winner of this prize. The longer she looked at his face, the harder her hand balled into a fist. Beside her, Jack’s growls grew louder, sensing his human was upset.

Marco’s eyes narrowed into smaller slits. “Get the fuck away from me. I’m here to talk to your sister,” he said as he pushed her.

That was probably the 50-pound pile of straw that broke the camel’s back. In the next instance, Veronica swung with the power of a baseball pitcher and connected her fist with Marco’s face. He dropped the chocolates while screaming bloody murder, “YOU DUMB BITCH!”

The rest of the family ran to the front door seeing the chaos in front of them. Alana immediately ran over to her boyfriend, cupping his face. If looks could murder, resuscitate, and murder again, it would be this. “RONNIE WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU. HOW DARE YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM!”

Linda could cook rice with the amount of steam radiating off her younger daughter. Veronica gritted her teeth, counting to 3 in her head before she lost her logic, “I ONLY DID WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE A LONG ASS TIME AGO. EXCUSE-FUCKING-ME.”

Linda immediately ran into the kitchen for an ice pack and sprinted back to the front to place on Veronica’s swelling knuckles. She was never the confrontational type and had no idea what to do in this situation. She had never experienced her two children speak to each other with so much venom. To put a halt to her crying and having a mental breakdown, she devoted all her attention to her youngest daughter’s hand. Her husband stood in the middle of all the mess, scarily serene. His temper was normally on par with Veronica’s, but something about this scene squashed his anger. He still had no idea what had happened, but he had a feeling if he reacted violently, things would turn out worse.

“I think we all need some time and room to breathe,” Peter stated, looking at everyone twice.

Alana was livid. “NO! She needs to get punished. I’m so tired of you letting her say whatever she wants and not getting into trouble!”

“She needs to learn her fucking place,” Marco muttered, holding his face still.

Veronica had been sitting on the floor with her mom, but her sister’s sudden words made her stand back up. “I’m trying to help you stupid. All you do is complain about how much he hurts you. Obviously, you’re too dumb to see that.”

In barely the next breath, Alana said steadily, “I wish mom had aborted you.”

Everyone gasped, even Marco. He didn’t like his girlfriend’s sister, but he wouldn’t ever wish she was not alive. He looked at Alana’s face to see if there was any regret. In that moment, he honestly couldn’t tell, and that scared him.

Before anyone could blink, Veronica ran out the house bare foot with Jack instinctively following behind her for protection. She ignored everyone that called out her name. All she wanted to do was run. Maybe if she ran fast enough, she could run away from the pain she felt. It wasn’t the agony of her bruised hand; she could barely feel the swelling. Neither was it that she was running on concrete without shoes. The aching she felt was with her heart. She couldn’t believe her sister wanted her dead. Had she really been that terrible of a person for her to feel that way? Would they all be better off if she wasn’t around?