yelled at me.
“Hey,” Dash and Garnet said at the same time.
“Garnet, he’s bad news for you.” I glared at her and pointed my finger at Dash.
Dart slammed his hand on the table and jumped up. “That’s enough, Daisy.”
“No,” I clenched my jaw. “I won’t allow it.”
“You’re not my mother, Daisy.” Garnet got up from her seat.
“No, I’m not, but I’m your sister; I’m trying to look out for you.”
“You’re a crappy sister, and I don’t need your help.” Garnet screamed at me and raced out of the house.
I followed her, and when we reached our living room, Garnet began to yell at me. “Daisy, you’re a fucking bitch.”
“How dare you call me that? Since you hit this campus all you’ve done is spread your legs for Dash. Is that the reputation you want?”
“So, what if I do? But, here’s a little bit of information.” She walked right up to me. “You don’t know Dash, and last night was the first night we were together.”
I took a step back. “You said that you two were together before. I don’t understand.”
“I lied.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re so quick to assume you know everything, and you don’t know shit.”
I felt the water pool in my eyes. “What happened to you?” My voice cracked. “My sister was sweet and kind. Now, you’re drinking, having sex, lying, and God knows what else. What happened to you?”
Garnet’s eyes narrowed at me, and her breathing was ragged. “You really want to know, my dear, sweet perfect sister.”
“I want to help you.” I ignored her sarcasm.
“Help me? Now, after all these years, you want to help me.”
“Yes,” I reached for her, but she shrugged away.
“You haven’t been in my life since you left for college.”
“That’s not—”
She cut me off. “Don’t you act all innocent, Daisy. The moment you left, you stopped caring about me. To top it off, Mom and Dad put you on a pedestal. It was always how proud of you they were, how great Dart was, and perfect your sorority life was.”
“Garnet,” I shook my head. “Now, come on.” My sister was exaggerating what our parents had said about me to her.
“Don’t,” she pointed her finger at me. “You would only talk about you every time you called home. You never asked about me. When Mom started getting sick, I took care of her. I bathed her. I fed her. I held her head when she was throwing up. I was holding her hand when she took her last breath.” Garnet’s tears fell. “Where were you on your school breaks, or in the summer? Where were you to help? You were in Miami or Cancun or Myrtle Beach or wherever else the sisterhood took you to. What about me? I’m the one that put everything on hold while I was in high school to take care of Mom. I’m the one who lost it all. Mom’s dead, Dad doesn’t care, and neither do you. So, please forgive me, dear sister, that I found a guy that likes me. I don’t care if you don’t approve of him, because I do.” She pushed past me and ran upstairs.
I stood in the middle of the room, and I felt like I had been dropped from a tornado. I processed everything Garnet said. She couldn’t be correct. I mean, I didn’t go home as often as I should have, and I regret that. However, my obligations to the sorority were important to my future career. I know Dad cared about Garnet; he wasn’t that expressive though. I knew she was helping with Mom, but I guess I hadn’t realized how much.
I tried to remember some of my conversations with Garnet, when I would call home. I don’t remember a lot except what was happening with me.
“Oh my God.” I dropped into the armchair.
I was a bad sister.
It wasn’t Garnet’s fault that she was this way. It was mine. She had been holding all these emotions inside, and it had been eating at her. No wonder she had been drinking, sleeping around, and cussing like a sailor. She’d had to grow up too fast, and it was because she had so many responsibilities.
Garnet had been sixteen when Mom became ill. She should have been out with her friends, calling her crush on the phone, and worrying about what college she was going to apply to. Instead, she was a nurse to our mother.
I never really thought about it. My selfish ways had kept that part of reality away from me. I