Chapter Thirty-Three: Karen and Winnie:

As if this summer couldn’t get any more complicated. When I got back home, I spotted the last thing that I wanted to see. A bright yellow Tesla sat in the driveway. I blinked about four or five times. No way… This can’t be. No! No!

I ran to the front door.

“Mom!” I shouted. Mom, three women, and a little girl looked up at me. Mom clapped her hands together.

“Oh, Nathan!” she said. “Look who stopped by.”

“Uh… yeah,” I said. “I can see that.” I nervously laughed as a woman curly red hair and a round face raised an eyebrow.

“Hello, Aunt Karen,” I said. (Yes, that is really her name.) She’s much younger than what her face portrays.

“I heard you were back,” she said. “Why?” Mom nudged her in the side.

“Karen,” she hissed under her breath. I put up my hand.

“No, it’s fine,” I said. “I got fired and evicted in the same day.” A woman with long dark hair who was about my age, a woman with blonde hair who was two years younger, and girl was light brown in pigtails all looked at me shocked.

“Why?” Karen asked again.

“My landlord is a criminal on the run and I don’t know why I got fired,” I said.

“So they fired you for no reason?” she asked. There it was. That condescending tone that she’s infamous for. She tells you that she’s disappointed in you without saying she’s disappointed in you.

“You should sue them,” Karen said. “That’s not legal.” Wow. Nothing blaming me for a change. Mom looked like she wanted to stab her. I’m glad we weren’t in the kitchen.

“And how have you been, Karen?” I asked.

“Dreadful,” she said. “Some idiot about scratched my baby!”

“Oh,” I said.

“This isn’t a competition, mom,” the woman with blonde hair said.

“I know that Ashley!” Karen said with her hands on her hips.

“Um… what are all of you doing here?” I asked.

“Oh,” Karen said. “Winnie just had to see you.” The woman with the dark brown hair’s face turned bright red.

“Mom!” she whimpered.

“I see,” I said. I looked over at mom. I could tell that this wasn’t her doing. It must have been one of her other sisters who couldn’t stop talking. Mom would rather die than let Karen around me. But how did she let this happen?

“So how long are you staying?” I asked. Karen tossed back her curls.

“A few days,” she said.

“Really?” I asked. She’s been dumped again. To be fair, her daughters are cool. It’s just Karen herself.

“It’s so good to see you again,” Winnie said.

“Uh… yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said. “It’s good to see you too.” Everyone stared at me now. This is why I don’t like when Karen and her daughters come to see me. It’s always a struggle to try and say something. Luckily for me, my phone rang. I resisted the urge to publicly breathe out a sigh of relief.

“Excuse me,” I said. I pulled out my phone and rushed into the house. I looked at the screen while I was in the dining room. Huh? What’s Kate doing calling me?

“Hello?” I asked.

“Where are you now?” she asked.

“I’m in my hometown. Why?” I asked.

“It’s really bad!” Kate said. I narrowed my eyes.

“The cheating scandal?” I asked.

“No, this is even worse,” she said. I stopped in my tracks. Don’t tell me…

“Nathan?” I heard behind me. I jumped with a yelp before I whirled around. Winnie stood at the end of the hall. She blinked at me as I held the phone in my hand.

“Are you still there? Hello? Hello?” Kate asked on the other line. I put the phone back to my ear.

“Can you hold on for one minute?” I asked. I turned back to my cousin.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Winnie said. “I didn’t know you were still on the phone.”

“No, it’s fine. What did you want?” I asked. Winnie lowered her eyes as she pressed her lips together.

“Are you having dinner with us?” she asked. Oh, that’s all she wanted.

“Sure,” I said.

“Okay,” Winnie said. I stuck up my thumb and put my phone back to my ear.

“Are you still there?” I asked as I walked to my room.

“Yeah,” Kate said.

“Sorry about that, my cousin just asked me a question,” I said. My eyes shifted back and forth.

“Are we talking about that scandal?” I asked. I already knew what the answer would be, but I hoped that she would say no. I heard the rumors, but that’s all I thought they were. Just rumors.

“Yes,” Kate said. My heart sank. It didn’t take me long to put the pieces together. So the rumors were true. I looked down the hall. The girls in my family, mainly Karen, were still talking to each other. Still, I had to tread lightly on this conversation.

“Give me a second, okay?” I said. I made it back to my room and closed the door. I leaned against the door and lifted my chin.

“Okay, I already know that I am not going to like this,” I admitted. “Tell me everything that is going on now. How bad is it really?”

“Like Sandusky Penn State bad,” Kate said in a serious tone.