Documentary by A.J. Sand Read Free Book Online

like a foreign place. She didn’t want to go back for all those weeks. She’d go for Thanksgiving, but the longer she had to be in that house, the more she’d focus on his irreparable absence.
    Her m om gasped like a wind gust. “What? Your Meemah is coming all the way from Austin this year. She’ll be so disappointed. Dylan, I don’t know about this.”
    Her Meemah came every year, so she figured this was beyond just a visiting grandma. Her mom had broken down in tears at the airport when they had dropped Dylan off for her return to school. That had never happened before. “I know, Mom, but it’s a huge opportunity. I would be working wi th this singer named Kai White—”
    “Kai White?” Taylor was screaming. Her voice invaded Dylan’s ear and hammered through her ear canal. “Holy crap. Kai White? Like the Kai White?”
    “Who is that?” Mom said, but she was muffled which meant she was really asking Taylor. Dylan tried to jump in, but Taylor commandeered the explanation.
    “Mom, he plays the guitar and sings in this really sexy voice. He’s kind of a hot head though, and he sleeps around a lot. He’s a ho.”
    “Don’t use that word, Taylor.” Their mother huffed in offense. “How do you know he does that, Tay? Have you seen him sleep around? Checked out his bed? And so what if he does?”
    Taylor huffed back. “Mom, he does. You know that one show I’m always watching? All the girls on it. All of them. ” Taylor was grating her nerves, and Dylan had to fight the impulse to defend Kai. It felt personal.
      “Anyway, Dylan…what will you be doing if you get it?” her mom asked.
    “Mom, he’s slept with a bunch of actresses. Name an actress. Name any actress,” Taylor ordered. “Any one. Go for it.”
    “Taylor, this is inappropriate,” their mom countered. Their parents had been very candid with them about certain topics growing up, like sex and drugs, but she probably didn’t want to chat right then about a complete stranger’s love life.
    Dylan pressed the keys on her cell phone to redirect the conversation. “I’ll be filming a web series starring him. Not as an assistant, but actually filming and writing, and it’ll be my thing to do.”
    “Mom, name an actress. Come on…” Taylor’s demand was growing more and more petulant. She was the baby and it usually worked on their parents. But to Dylan, it seemed to have intensified in the wake of Mac’s death. “Name anyone. I bet you he’s slept with her. Just do it. Please.”
    Their mom sighed in defeat. “Sorry, Dyl. Fine. Meryl Streep.”
    Dylan burst out laughing, launching a piece of banana out of her mouth.
    “Oh my God, Mom. Meryl Streep? Seriously, Mom? Meryl Streep?” Taylor was angry now, which made Dylan laugh even harder.
    “You said to name any actress,” their mom answered. She barely got the sentence out without a teasing chuckle. “That’s the actress that came to mind. And she’s a beautiful lady.”
    “She is, but she’s—”
    “If you say ‘old,’ I will ground you so help me.”
    Dylan groaned and pushed the keys again until they got quiet.
    “Dyl, if you do that again, I’m going to fu—”
    “Taylor Price Carroll!! ” Their mom’s tone was serious now, and it edged up as a warning to Taylor.
    “I was just going to say that I’m going to forget to buy you a Christmas present,” Taylor whispered timidly. A notification buzz on the phone startled Dylan when it hit her ear. Was it the email? She didn’t want to check while on the phone. Her pulse quickened. This was how she had been reacting every time her phone made a sound.
    “Mom, I really want to go.”
    Her mom sighed. Their parents had never been clingy before Mac died, and they had all pledged to adjust as seamlessly as possible without uprooting or changing each other’s lives more than they had been forced to by the loss. But theory and practice were often polar extremes.
    Dylan peeled her second banana and bit it in half,