Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

at the ache they cause, taking a step back, wondering if I should go back
inside and leave her be after all.
“This is your problem, Kal. You want to force a relationship by fixing
what you feel are problems. I didn’t ask for your help, and I know damn sure
my dad didn’t, either.”
I bite the inside of my cheek in silent protest. Her dad.
Not ours.
I don’t reply, letting the weight of her words pull them down between us,
anchoring them to the space where I once stood.
Finally, she exhales, mimicking my movement backward, shielding her
eyes from the sun with one hand. “Did you... did you really kidnap that girl?”
“Keeping tabs on me, sister?”
She scrunches up her nose. “You can’t go anywhere back home without
hearing about it. She’s a mafia princess, Kal. What are you even thinking?”
Part of me almost laughs again at the condescension seeping from her
tone.
Like I’m afraid of the fucking mafia.
“I know who she is, and I didn’t kidnap anyone. Elena married me of her
own volition. If you want the sordid details of how she pursued me, then I
her, I’ll give them to you as soon as you cash one of my fucking checks.”
“Wasn’t she supposed to marry someone else? Some news reporter, or
journalist?” Violet tilts her head, studying me. “You know they found his
body, right?”
Annoyance burns hot on the back of my tongue. “I’m not sure why that
would concern me.”
She presses her lips together, glancing down at the Birkenstocks on her
feet. “It probably doesn’t, and that’s part of our problem.”
Slipping my hands from my pockets, I reach up and tug at the collar of
my dress shirt, shaking my head. “Actually, we don’t have a problem. In fact,
per your request, we don’t even have a relationship.” I start to head in the
opposite direction down the street, pausing once to see the astonishment
coloring her features.
“I’ve been poor, you know. Most of my life, that was my identity. It
sucks, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Not even on the man who still to
this day won’t recognize me as his own.” Violet blinks, reminding me so
much of the little girl on the doorstep all those years ago, staring up at me
like I was a stranger.