We’re a pretty tight family, even with me living in Chicago, my brother being on the West Coast, and my sister and mother having relocated from New York to LA. We lost our dad three years ago to complications from diabetes. “Listen to you, sounding like Dad.” Even though she laughs, there’s sadness in her voice. “I have a date tonight, so I need to try on half my wardrobe before I decide nothing is good enough, and then I’ll need to run out and buy something new.” What about you? Any plans this afternoon?” I need to move the conversation away from dating, because my little sister always has an opinion on my lackluster love life. “Not everything about my life is exciting.

Well, that makes it a lot less exciting.” The party is for my teammate’s kids, and his brother-in-law used to be the team captain, so it’s a good idea for me to make an appearance.” She’s referring to an incident that happened when I was visiting our older brother, Kyle, in LA earlier this summer. “Why are you going to a birthday party for toddlers anyway? Is this some kind of new dating strategy? Like you’ll pick up more women if they see you interacting with small children? Oh! Is this like when we went to visit Kyle, and we took Max to the zoo, and, like, five women slipped you their numbers?” slim to none?” My sister’s voice crackles through the car speakers on a scoff. “What are the chances there will be booze at a birthday party for a pair of three-year-olds?”

Helena hunting a lie for a lie