Read The Mayfair Moon for Free Online Page B

you’re my sister,” she said simply, staring toward the window again.
    Her answer sparked a tiny bit of hope inside me. It was an opportunity to open her up, though a small one and I didn’t want to let it go. Uncrossing my arms, I bent over and picked the box of Precious Moments figurines up from the floor and went toward her closet, trekking through a bit of everything on my way.
    “I’ll put these up for you,” I said as I shoved a mound of sweaters away from the door with my foot. Finally getting the closet door open, I was surprised to see it completely empty inside. Then again, I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise since everything she owned was all over the place. Pushing up on my tiptoes, I carefully slid the box onto the top shelf. A tiny white rope dangled from the ceiling. I reached up and pulled it, clicking the closet light on. I could see the lines on the carpet where Beverlee must have vacuumed before we came here. I had hardwood floors in my room. Apparently, mine was the room Beverlee and Uncle Carl never got around to remodeling. But I didn’t mind so much.
    “I can clean your room for you,” I said. “Help you get set up and organized.”
    A part of me wanted to see her look over and shake her head at the absurdity of me organizing anything, but the bigger part knew that was wishful thinking.
    So, I started cleaning anyway.
    I began with the trash: the SOLO cups, various wrappers of snack cakes and plastic grocery store bags. I stacked the dishes into a small pile upon the edge of the dresser, unsurprised I found more dirty plates underneath her bed. Mold was setting in. Embarrassed to let Beverlee see how disgusting Alex had let her dishes get, I couldn’t resist throwing one plate away that a fork had been stuck to, held together by muck and decay.
    Alex never said a word. She never looked at me, even when I was standing directly in front of her. Still, it seemed she hadn’t blinked.
    In minutes, I had cleared enough out of the floor to make a suitable path from the door to the bed. I filled a laundry basket full of clothes, though most of them had never been worn, but to me they were filthy simply because of the surroundings they had been lying in.
    Finally, I was getting overwhelmed, but I think it was more due to her silence than the cleaning.
    “What’s wrong with you?” I walked toward the window and sat on the desk chair near it that Alex was using as a closet. It was time to confront her. It had been long enough for her to start dealing emotionally with what happened, but instead she was getting worse. I still felt bad for her. How could I not? I was there with her when that...beast attacked us and when that man...changed. We both went through the same hell. But I was learning to put it behind me. I was trying to be myself and live my life rather than letting what happened force me to live in fear. Alex was supposed to be the strong one. She was my big sister, the one who had my back if I ever needed her.
    Now, she was reduced to...well, someone I didn’t know. I meant it when I said everything about Alex had changed. Her personality, her attitude, even that bright enthusiasm she always carried in her face. It had become something brooding and miserable.
    “Please, Alex,” I said when still she refused to acknowledge me. “It scared me too. No, it traumatized me, I admit, but it’s over now and we need to put it behind us.”
    “I don’t want to talk about it,” she snapped, still not looking at me.
    I took immediate offense.
    “I think we should talk about it. You’re not yourself; you’re this rude, selfish hermit. You never come out of your room. You treat Uncle Carl and Beverlee like crap and you won’t even go to school.”
    She was getting mad, I could tell right away, but I didn’t care. She needed to hear this.
    “You’re gonna get the State coming down on us here too. They don’t need that; we don’t need it. Why can’t you snap out of this?”
    Her fists