I followed Jimmy down to the guesthouse, my nerves firing like rockets through my stomach. My big sister could be scary sometimes, especially if you pushed her too hard. She’d never been afraid of a fight…unlike me. I was the people-pleaser in our family, always backing down and being the good girl. Victor was good too, but he did it for Mama’s pride. I did it because I didn’t want to upset anybody, which is why coming across the country to do this thing was stressing me out so bad.

My blissful days of waiting were over. I peeked behind me. Ralphie was there—a towering strength that I wanted to hide behind.

Halfway down the path, Jimmy spun to face me. I took a step back when he pointed a finger in my face. “I love Nessa more than anything in this world…and if she doesn’t want to do this, I’m not forcing her to. You got me? She is not to get hurt.”

My head bobbed while the breath in my lungs turned stale. My heart started triple beating and then stumbling over itself. I swallowed and played with the hem of my shirt, tugging it down and hoping like anything that I could say the right thing.

What Jimmy didn’t understand was that ‘hurt’ was inevitable, because Mama and Ness had a past that needed mending and that didn’t come without its fair share of tears.

Nerves were wreaking chaos on my belly by the time we reached the door. Music blasted from the stereo inside. “Just Like A Pill” by Pink. We weren’t allowed Pink in the house, but I’d heard a little at school and I actually kind of liked her music.

I bit my lips together and followed Jimmy through the door. He stopped inside the entranceway and looked across the room at Nessa. She was at the drums, playing her heart out while the music blared.

A hook was attached to the stump of her left arm and a drumstick was threaded through the metal. My lips parted as I took it all in, from the prosthetic all the way up her slender arm to the pained look on her face. Her eyes were closed, so she didn’t see me yet, and I was desperate for her to open them so I didn’t have to look at her heartache anymore.

The chorus started up and words tumbled from Nessa’s lips. She was thinking about Mama as she was singing. I could tell. Memories of that awful summer and the dress she refused to wear surfaced in my mind, and I captured a small glimpse of just how harrowing that experience had been for my sister.

And maybe it helped me forgive her for never coming back home.

I suddenly wondered if trying to get her to return was the worst mistake ever. Maybe it was better to let sleeping dogs lie.

But then Mama’s pitiful murmuring came into my head, and I knew I had to stay. I had to see it through. She was suffering more than was fair, and I couldn’t let it go on.

Nessa’s eyes popped open and she caught me staring at her. Her lips clamped together and she stood, knocking the stool over on her way to the stereo. She flicked the music off and a cold, awkward silence fell into the room. My eyes skittered the open-plan kitchen and living area. Most of it was taken up by instruments and sound equipment.

The sound of Velcro ripping apart caught my attention and I glanced over in time to see Ness pull her prosthetic off and drop it on the floor.

Jimmy looked at me and flicked his head toward Ness, urging me down the two short steps and into the living space.

“You, uh…” I swallowed. “You sound really good.”

“Get to the point.” Nessa spun, flicking a dark glare over my shoulder. I turned and saw Jimmy throw her a ‘gimme a break’ kind of look. Nessa rolled her eyes then angled her death stare at me.

I shrunk away from it and stammered, “I-I-I know you don’t want to come. I know she hurt you, but you need to give her a chance to make amends…for both your sakes.”

Nessa huffed and placed her stump on her left hip. “I can’t believe she sent you here. It’s not some trick to punish me, is it? Is she honestly dying?”

I took another step back from my sister’s venom, annoyed that she would make that kind of accusation, but not quite courageous enough to challenge her on it. I needed her on my side, and fighting wouldn’t get her any closer to Mississippi.

I worried my lip and fidgeted with my clothing until a large hand landed on my lower back. Ralphie rubbed along my spine and bent down to whisper in my ear.

“Don’t be scared, you can do this.”

“But she is scary,” I whispered back. Obviously not quiet enough, because Nessa let out a loud scoff followed by a brittle laugh.

“We lived with the same mother. How can you find me scary?”

I crossed my arms and mumbled, “She just wanted you to do as she asked.”

“She asked too much! I couldn’t be what she wanted and she disowned me.”

I didn’t know anything about the disowning part, but Nessa didn’t know what it was like for Mama either. She had no idea how difficult she could be. Ralphie’s hand on my back gave me the courage to straighten up and argue. “She couldn’t control you, and she didn’t know how to handle it.”

“That bitch nearly ruined me.”

The cussing made me wince, but I managed to stammer, “Well that b-bitch needs your forgiveness.”

Nessa snickered as I stumbled over the swear word. It was probably the first time she’d ever heard me cuss. Her brown eyes twinkled for a second before she looked at her drum kit and started shaking her head.

“Ness, please. She’s hurtin’, and she ain’t leaving this world until she’s said her good-byes.”

My sister’s face bunched with agony, her eyes glassing over with tears. “Why are you doing this to me?”

I felt bad all over again, guilt tickling the nape of my neck. Since when did doing the right thing have to be so damn hard?

Letting out a soft sigh, I gave my sister the best pleading look I could. “Whether you want her to be or not, she is your mother, and she needs to see you one last time.”

Nessa’s jaw clenched tight and she sniffed. Jimmy brushed past me and walked across to her. She crossed her arms and acted like a wooden nutcracker when he slid his arm around her shoulder then kissed her forehead. He whispered something I couldn’t hear, and Nessa’s expression crumpled.

I glanced up at Ralphie and grinned.

I may not have seen my sister much in the last few years, but the expression she got on her face when she was finally ready to give in hadn’t changed.

Nessa was coming home.