The Wrong Sister (4 page)

She was not a breadwinner, or a moneymaker, and couldn’t imagine working as a single-mother. She didn’t have it in her.

Ordinary.
She was and always had been ordinary. She knew that. She reveled in it. Gretchen needed success and liked to be revered as the crazy-smart one in any room. Vickie was the polar opposite; a needy, useless, beauty who had to be taken care of. Tracy was… the normal one. Average, totally competent, functioning adult, and mother of two. Wife of Micah. She only began taking some bookkeeping classes last year in preparation for Kylie starting middle school. It wasn’t much, just a two-year program in bookkeeping that would give her a certificate of completion. She was only working at it part-time. She didn’t even take school seriously.

She was entirely unimpressive.

How was she supposed to take over Micah’s responsibilities too? He was impressive. Intelligent, commanding and smart. He filed their taxes, and controlled their finances and chose their investments. She couldn’t even reconcile their checkbook. It wasn’t because she was an idiot or anything. She and Micah just split up the household management and made it a mutual assignment shared by the two of them. She did some things and he did others. He didn’t touch or interfere with any of the things she did, and vice versa. Since Micah’s profession was in finance, it just made sense for him to handle theirs. They both had plenty of things to do, and until now, there was no reason for either to doubt what the other was doing. She didn’t even know for sure how much money they had at any given point. She quickly saw how short-sighted she had been and how vulnerable. If Micah died, she would have been utterly lost. She should have prepared for taking things over if it ever became necessary.

She never expected prison to be the reason she was suddenly left stranded in the world.

“Mom!” Tracy jumped when Ally’s voice cut through her near panic attack. “Can’t you shut Julia up?” Ally was walking into the kitchen.

Tracy wiped at her eyes and took in a deep breath while shoving back her shoulders. Yes, she could quiet and comfort and soothe a baby. She was always a little extraordinary at that.

****

~Vickie~

She woke up grabbing her head at the pounding, drugged out sensation. She tried to swallow the dry sensation of powdered cement that filled her mouth and groaned as she pried her eyes open. She rolled over. Donny wasn’t there. She shut her eyes again: she was very hung over.

What did she do?

She couldn’t remember. All she remembered was being with her friend, Alana. They had several drinks with lunch. No big deal. Alana had called and wanted to go out that night. No. No, she couldn’t. She didn’t do that anymore. She was a
mom.
Donny’s wife. She didn’t go out and party on random weeknights anymore.

No matter how much she wanted to.

Alana heaved a long, disappointed sigh. Vickie begged Alana to meet her for lunch instead. She needed something to do. Donny expected her to be there at home, alone, all day, doing what? Nothing. She could only change so many diapers and make so many meals for Julia. The thought of going out with one of her old friends was something she eagerly pounced on.
Yes! Out!

Julia was fussy and cranky at lunch. Vickie remembered that. She would have dropped Julia off with her in-laws, but they recently embarked on a three-month cruise to celebrate their other son, Tony’s, emancipation from them. Tony got injured in the war and had pretty much remained huddled in their basement for years. Now, however, he had moved across the country with Vickie’s sister, Gretchen. Well, Donny’s parents soon decided they deserved a vacation for all the times when they couldn’t. It was a little annoying to learn that even the angry war veteran was becoming successful now. Vickie had liked Tony at first, simply because he made her own lifestyle look good. At least, she didn’t live at home in her parents’ basement.

However, her parents were footing her rent, but she didn’t tell anyone. She would have taken Julia to her own mother, but her mom gently tried to admonish Vickie recently that she was dropping Julia off there, or leaving her with Tracy, way too much.

As if she didn’t ever deserve a break.

So she took Julia to lunch with her. Julia just fussed and cried, interrupting their conversation and trying to get out of her highchair while hurling her food around. Alana all but bared her teeth at Julia in anger. Alana wanted to party, not babysit.

The trapped feeling began to percolate in Vickie’s guts. That feeling sometimes overtook her. God, Julia was so much work. She needed everything and she was always there. Every day. All day. There was no break from her or relief. It was like nothing Vickie had ever experienced. She loved her. She really did. But she got very tired of her. The crying and the constant demands for something: a bath, a diaper change, a meal, a toy, a nap, a hug… the list was endless.

And Donny got to escape from it all by going to work. It wasn’t fair.

So what if she drank a little wine? Too much maybe. Alana drove them home. Happily, Julia fell asleep. Vickie remembered putting Julia in the play pen. Didn’t she? Yes. Yes, she did. And Alana came in. They really started gossiping then, and maybe drinking a little more.

Vickie suddenly sat up and sprinted from the bedroom to swing open Julia’s bedroom door. It was empty. She slouched in defeat. Donny must have taken her. Where? Was she okay? She must have been. Wouldn’t Donny have awoken her?

Tracy.
He always took her to Tracy when he felt she wasn’t doing a good enough job at taking care of Julia. He was impossible to please. She tried. She really did. But she just wasn’t naturally good at it. She grabbed the phone and called her sister.

“Aren’t you at work?” Tracy answered without preamble. Her tone had gotten to the point of rude. What had Vickie done to Tracy lately? Nothing, at least, nothing that she remembered.

“Just, ah, yeah, soon. Is Julia okay?”

“You mean since I just bathed her for you? Yeah, she’s fine. Don’t bring her to me again like this. It’s like you didn’t even care for her yesterday. We’ve been over this before, Vickie. All day. Every day. You must take care of her. It is not my job. It is not Mom’s job. It’s not even Leila’s job. It’s yours, and Donny’s. I don’t have time for Julia today. Donny was desperate. Why is that, Vickie?”

Vickie fell onto the couch. Oh thank heavens. Julia was all right. That meant Donny had been home last night. He must’ve found Julia in her playpen. He found her… how? How was she when he found her? She assumed she passed out because she didn’t remember anything after talking to Alana. When did Alana even leave? Why would Alana leave her alone if she were that drunk with the baby in the house? Tracy always said Alana was a crappy friend. Maybe she was. Vickie’s stomach heaved. Her sister’s voice grated on her already sore head. Tracy expected so much out of her too.

“I just, ah, we had a fight. I didn’t talk to him last night. I’ll call you later.”

“When are you coming for her?” Tracy persisted.

Vickie’s stomach was about to rebel. Later. Later, she’d go get Julia and make up for leaving her alone yesterday. Later, she’d go find a way to make Donny forgive her.

He’d be mad, but she could fix it. She could. She would never do that again.

****

Donny tapped the keyboard to finish upgrading the system on a local bank’s network. He had a pile more to do today, including some bills and accounting. He had to let the receptionist and bookkeeper go recently in an attempt to save money, and now did those jobs himself.

Money?
Where could he get more from? He couldn’t imagine how he would manage to keep it all afloat. That’s what motivated him to seek Micah’s help and counsel. His stomach cramped.
Micah. Shit.

He glanced up when the storefront door opened with a ding. There stood Vickie. Today, her eyes were clear and sober. She was dressed, and her hair and makeup were back to normal. She looked stunning for an ordinary Thursday. Almost the opposite of Tracy this morning. It was part of what so distracted Donny about her at first. She always looked like a posing cat-walk model. She was compelling.

Hanging her head, she stared at her hands, which she kept folding and unfolding before her. He rolled his chair back from his desk and waved her into his office. The place was quiet now. His only other employee left for lunch. He really hoped to bring in another programmer and some support staff. He just needed a couple more good profit months.

Now? Again, who knew?

Vickie’s voice cracked. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Donny.” She started to cross the room and got down on her knees to grab his hands from the sides of his chair. Squeezing them in hers, she was now eye level from where he sat in the office chair. Tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t mean to do it. I’ll be better. I swear it this time. This is my rock bottom. I can feel it.”

He clamped his jaw together. “My daughter was left alone and unattended for half a day. Any number of things could have happened to her. That will
never
happen to her again. I don’t care what I have to do to make sure of that.”

She nodded as her tears streamed harder. “I put her in the playpen.”

“Alone. In the dark. In a dirty diaper. Unfed. Unloved. Uncared for. What you’ve done to her can’t be undone. But you won’t be doing it again.”

“I just… you know this thing gets me sometimes.”

“What made you start drinking on a Wednesday morning?”

She averted her eyes and shrugged. “I don’t really know. I went to lunch with Alana and we had a glass of wine—”

He grabbed her hands in a tight grasp. “Did you drive Julia drunk?”

She started shaking her head. “No. Honest. Alana drove us. I thought it would be okay.”

“It’s never okay when you drink. Why even go with Alana? She always has that effect on you.”

She shrugged. “Sometimes, I get bored at home. You know, there isn’t a lot to do. I get lonely. You work all the time. So Alana called and it sounded like fun to get out.”

She could have taken care of their daughter. He gritted his teeth to keep from snapping out the obvious. No, instead he burdened his overwrought, devastated, exhausted sister-in-law to do it while his wife drank herself unconscious. And today, she spent three hours to get pretty and came here to… what? Try to justify her existence to him?

He worked too much?
She entered the marriage with four credit cards maxed out. She easily spent equal or greater balances since then. All the times she felt “bored” or “lonely” she spent money. Online shopping soon became almost as much a problem as her drinking. She ordered random purchases that she didn’t need or want, while never considering that there might be a problem. She didn’t get Donny’s stress. Sometimes, she didn’t even use or wear the items. She donated them with the tags still on them. He suspected the shopping went along with the drinking addiction. She was trying to fill some endless, needy hole inside her that he now realized was bottomless.

He pushed his chair back to get some space. Shaking his head, he held his hands up. “I can’t do this anymore, Vick. I just can’t. You take too much from me. You have almost bankrupt me. You have put me in debt that will take me twenty years to get out of. But worse, you put my daughter in danger. You ignored her. I can’t tolerate that. I could deal with the shopping. The drinking even. But not what you just did to Julia.”

She started shaking her head, and fell back to sit on her heels. “I know. I do, Donny. Please, don’t be like the others. I know I do things… hard things to live with, but don’t leave me. Not like everyone else. I love you. I need you so much. I’ll get better. I’ll find a way to get better.”

“Do you love Julia?”

Her mouth dropped open. “You think I don’t love our daughter? Oh my God! I do, baby. I love her more than everything. What I do… isn’t because of her. I didn’t mean to do it. I’m going to change this time. I promise I will.”

“What you did yesterday? I won’t let you do that again. I can’t even trust you to take physical care of her. I can’t trust you… period.”

She finally nodded and tears, real ones this time, filled her eyes. “Something is wrong with me.” Her shoulders shook as she sat in a miserable huddle on his office floor. He stayed back. In times past, he would have been wrapping his arms around her and rocking her as he told her nothing was wrong and they’d figure this out. This time, however, he just sat there. Her sniffling was the only sound in the office. She was good at that. He pressed his hands on the chair’s arms. She knew how to manipulate people to feel sorry for her. She was good at getting her way. Right or wrong, she was a masterful manipulator. It was how she’d gotten away with it for so long. He figured that the past three divorces usually occurred when she could no longer get her husbands to obey her demands.

Surprisingly, he started saying “No” a while ago. Instead of leaving, as she customarily did in the past, she acted as if she really cared about him. He shuffled his butt on the chair. She just might have actually fallen in love with him.

He drew in a breath. Great. But where did that leave them? Broke. Broken. Alcoholic. Crappy mother. Compulsive shopper. Was she playing him? Or did she mean it? He really didn’t know. She looked miserable, huddled there before him. She clutched her knees to her chest and had her head bent over them as great, wracking sobs shook her body. God. Yesterday, Tracy; today, Vickie. Happiness everywhere. He rubbed a hand over his face.