Page 93 of The Favorite Sister

CHAPTER 24

Kelly

Her scream is cut short. It isn’t until I listen to the recording a third time—alone; Layla is in school—that I start to visualize some of what I am hearing. Lauren must have been startled awake by Brett, and Brett must have slapped a hand over her mouth when she cried out.

It’s me. Shhhhh. It’s Brett.

Bedsheets rustle. When Lauren speaks, her voice is rough and disoriented.

What...She clears her throat... why are you...? Is it time for dinner?Fumbling. More rustling.You have my phone.

Just give me a sec.

Why do you have my phone?

Because Stephanie jacked mine up and I can’t get the button for J to work.Brett groans, quietly.You don’t have Jesse’s number?

Lauren is awake enough now to speak with some embarrassment in her voice:It’s a new phone. I have Lisa’s number.

I don’t want to talk to Lisa.

What do you need to talk to Jesse about at...a pause while Lauren strains to read the bedside clock, probably...three twenty-nine in the morning? I knew you guys were boning.

Lauren Elizabeth Fun, Brett reprimands,that word ages you.

People still say “boning”!

Oldpeople. Like Stephanie. Who is out of her FUCKING mind right now. Do you know what she did tonight? She got up onstage at Talkhouse—

You guys went to Talkhouse?

After dinner.

Why didn’t you invite me?

Um. Because your hair caught fire and you came up here to fix it but, I don’t know, I guess you passed out instead?

I didn’t pass out.

You’re still wearing all your clothes. And your boob is hanging out of your T-shirt.

A pause while Lauren checks to be sure this is true.You love it, you little lezzie. What happened at Talkhouse?

So. The band let us come up onstage and sing with them—

What song?

“Bitch.”

Fuck you.

Brett finds this misunderstanding uproariously funny, laughing while she sings,I’m a bitch, I’m a mother, I’m a child, I’m a lover.

Ohhhh. Good one for us. Very on brand.

Why do you think I requested it?Even in her final hours, Brett couldn’t help but pat herself on the back.Anyway. So after the song was over I got off the stage and I thought Steph was behind me. But she stayed up there and, like, hijacked the mic and started saying all kinds of crazy shit. About us.

Did she say anything about me?