Eileen Slovak

Chapter Fourteen: Sister Roles

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and locales are products of the author’s imagination. They are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental. Copyright © 2024 by Eileen Slovak.

Catherine

At 6:30 p.m. this evening, my sister Scarlet appears on my doorstep. She’s soaked to the bone and weak with emotion. She looks like an apparition from the depths of hell. I lead her to the couch and wrap her in a blanket. Then, I go to the kitchen to make some hot tea and warm up a cup of chicken soup.

      Once you have a baby sister, you always have a baby sister. I’m four years older than Scarlet, but I’m light years ahead in terms of settling down. She says I should stop worrying about her so much, that she’s doing fine. What can I say? Old habits die hard. I’ve been taking care of Scarlet ever since our mother lost her long battle with cancer ten years ago.

      I married Gary two years after I graduated from college. At the time, I was working as a paralegal at a small firm in Providence and enrolled at Roger Williams University School of Law. Gary was a rookie back then, but now he’s a detective on the Providence police force. We live in a three-bedroom cape cod on the East Side of Providence. Gary’s parents and my dad pitched in in order for us to afford a down payment. The house has a tiny fenced-in yard that’s adequate for our three children Michael, Christopher and Charlotte. There’s not really enough space on the inside for our wild bunch. It’s cozy, and it is ours, or at least it will be in another twenty-two years. Scarlet considers herself an honorary member of the McKnight clan, having her own designated spot at our dinner table. I like to think we keep her grounded in good times and in bad. This is definitely the latter.

      “What were you thinking? Why would you go to Sean’s funeral alone? Why didn’t you call me or Maggie to go with you?”

      “Maggie offered, but you know me, Miss Independent, right?”

      Scarlet’s shivering so much that the words come out mumbled. I fetch another blanket from the linen closet, wrapping it around her shoulders. I’m make up the pull-out couch. Scarlet mindlessly changes into the sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt that I laid out for her.

      “I can do this Cat. Don’t you need to put the kids to bed?”

      “No, we’re fine, Gary’s got it covered. We’re not telling them you’re here until tomorrow. You know Scarlet, there’s no need to go through everything alone. You have a lot of people in your life who care about you.”

I had high hopes that Sean was ‘the one’. Since their split, Scarlet has not taken any other man seriously.

     “I know,” she says looking more through me than at me. “But the best way to keep it that way is not to be such a pain in the butt.”

      “I’m glad you can still make jokes.”

      “Who’s joking? You take care of the kids all day, plus Gary, not to mention Dad. You don’t need to add babysitting me into the mix.”

      “You reminded me. I need to call Dad.” I glance at my watch. He’ll already be watching his evening TV shows, likely he won’t want to talk.

      “Can I get you anything else?” I ask. I can see she’s fading fast. “A glass of wine, maybe?”

      “Just sleep, I think. I feel like I could actually hibernate right now.”

      Scarlet tucks herself under the heavy blankets, still shivering. A cold Rhody rain can cause a chill down to your bones that’s hard to shake. I know it too well, waiting for the warmth to return to your body. While Scarlet finishes the tea and soup, I sit in the armchair next to the pullout. A few minutes later she’s in a deep sleep. Burning the candle at both ends, little sister, you just never know when to say when.