Loners pt. 5

“Quiet, your brother’s sleeping on the couch,” Maria’s mother, Miriam, whispered to her as she walked in the backdoor. “…by the way, where have you been? The bus came by thirty minutes ago.”
“Had a friend drive me home” Maria almost felt guilty about calling Lola Harding her friend. In fact, for anyone to say something like that would be a lie.
Her mother pursed her thin lips, reluctant to ask any further questions, and returned to washing dishes most likely left by Lucas too lazy to clean his own mess. Of course, he had better things to do like sprawling out on the couch taking naps until the smell of bacon awoke him the next morning. But to Miriam, Lucas deserved the best treatment. He was, after all, a full-time student. He graduated college with a philosophy major, and ended up in a second-rate law school two years later still biding time before entering the real world. Maria glared at him from overhead in his hibernative-like state only able to think, “God, he’s ugly”. Even though he was her brother, Maria hated when he came home. His favorite activity was sleeping on the couch, and his second favorite activity was eating her fudge bars.
Maria watched Lucas turn onto his side. His hairy gut hung over his waistband as he slept, and a low-pitched rumbling came from the back of his throat as he breathed. Greasy dark brown hairs covered his forehead curling upward around his brows. His pig-nose ate the majority of his face. Maria noticed that he must have been trying to grow facial hair; his unshaven stubble was thin and patchy. “Ew,” she said quietly to herself. It was almost an embarrassment to know she came from the same genetic tree as such creature.
“Your dad called,” Miriam said as she entered the living room holding a mug of hot tea. This explained why their house always smelled like chai.
Maria paused, not wanting to sound too eager. “What’d he say?”
“Just wanted to hear from you.” Miriam took a dainty sip from her paisley rimmed mug before settling down on her “knitting chair”. It was clear her mother was unimpressed by her father’s sudden interest; however, Maria could hardly contain composure. The last time she spoke with him was on Easter when he interrupted dinner with a phone call which her mother made her abruptly hang up. But other than the occasional phone call, terse emails and the sentimental birthday cards, her dad never showed much interest in his former family after the divorce. Maria both hated him and longed for him more this way.
“Also, I got an email from Betsy Richards today,” Miriam beamed, her whole tone shifted immediately. “You remember Betsy, right? Sarah’s mom? Now that little girl was an angel. Well, she’s back in town!”
Maria knew her mother half-expected her to jump up in the air with pure joy like a little girl who just found out she was getting a pony for Christmas. “I know,” she mumbled remembering the incident from earlier.
“You must call her! How about I invite them both over for dinner?”
“Great,” Maria gritted through a forced smile. She could tell her mother was less than pleased with her reaction.