All These Things I've Done (Birthright #1)(13)

‘Co . . .’ Scarlet squinted at her hand. ‘Comedy. Yeah, that was kind of lame anyway.’

‘Definitely Little Egypt,’ I told her.

‘You’re only saying that because it’s close to your house,’ Scarlet said.

‘What of it? It’ll be interesting if he’s never been there. Plus, you’re planning to ditch me anyway, right?’

‘True,’ she said. ‘If all goes well.’

By the time Scarlet left, it was nearly five o’clock and I had yet to even consider my homework. The same was true for Natty. ‘Scat,’ I ordered.

Natty stood up. ‘You should tell her,’ Natty said.

‘Get started on your homework,’ I said. I sat down at my desk and took out my slate. ‘I should tell who what?’

‘Scarlet. You should tell Scarlet that you like Win.’

I shook my head. ‘I don’t like Win.’

‘Well, then, you should tell her that he likes you.’

‘You don’t know that,’ I said.

‘I was there yesterday. I saw,’ Natty said.

I turned to look at my sister. ‘Scarlet saw him first.’

‘That’s stupid.’

‘And I just broke up with someone so . . .’

‘Uh-huh.’ Natty rolled her eyes. ‘It’s gonna be trouble if you don’t tell her.’

‘What do you know? You’re a little kid,’ I said. I honestly had no idea why I’d been entertaining this line of discussion for so long.

‘I know some things, Annie. Like, it’s not every day a super-cute boy comes along that doesn’t care who our family is. Mostly, you end up with dummies like Gable. And Win likes you, which is practically a miracle. You’re not exactly the easiest person in the world to like, you know.’

‘Go! Study! Now!’ I ordered. ‘And close my door!’

Natty scurried to the door but before she shut it, she whispered, ‘You know I’m right.’

Other than the respective textures of our hair, the main difference between Natty and me was that she was a romantic and I was a realist. I couldn’t afford to be a romantic – I’d had to take care of her and Nana and Leo since I was nine years old. So, yeah, I wasn’t blind. I saw that Win probably liked me, and I can truly say that I didn’t care. He didn’t even know me; he probably just had a thing for brunettes or C-cup breasts or my particular pheromones or blah, blah, blah, whatever dumb thing made anyone like anyone. Romance was a complete waste anyway. My mother had felt romantic about my father, and look where that got her – dead at thirty-eight.

This isn’t to say I couldn’t imagine that there were probably a few nice things about falling in love.

I was about to start my homework when I remembered that I needed to call Dr Pikarski for Leo.

I picked up the phone. (We used phones sparingly because of how heavily they were taxed and the long-held belief in my family that our lines were being tapped.) I dialled Dr Pikarski’s home number. I liked her. I had spoken to her several times in the process of securing the position at the clinic for Leo in the first place, and she had always been straight with me. More important, she’d always been good to Leo. I felt like I owed her one.

Her voice was clearly stressed when she answered the phone. ‘Oh, Anya,’ she said, ‘I suppose you’ve heard. The guy from the DOH seemed to have it in for us!’

I asked Dr Pikarski for the name of the DOH employee. ‘Wendel Yoric,’ she said, and then I had her spell it. My family still had some friends spread across the various government agencies, and I hoped I could speed the process along a bit.

After I hung up with Dr Pikarski, I called my family’s attorney, Mr Kipling. (Two phone calls in one day!) Mr Kipling had been the family’s lawyer since before I was born. My father told me that I could always count on Mr Kipling, and Daddy didn’t say that about nearly anyone else.

‘So, you want me to cut this Mr Yoric a cheque?’ Mr Kipling asked after I had explained the situation.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Or, you know, an envelope filled with cash.’

‘Of course, Anya. It was just a term of art. I have no plans to literally cut anyone at the Department of Health a cheque. Incidentally, it still might take a couple of weeks to sort this out,’ Mr Kipling said. ‘So, hold tight, Anya. And tell Leo to hold tight, too.’

‘Thanks,’ I said.

‘How’s junior year treating you?’ Mr Kipling asked.

I groaned.

‘That good?’

‘Don’t ask,’ I said. ‘I got in a fight the first day but it wasn’t my fault.’

‘Sounds like Leo. Leo Sr, I mean.’ Mr Kipling had gone to high school with Daddy. ‘How’s Galina?’

‘Good days and bad days,’ I said. ‘We’re all getting by.’

‘Your father would be proud of you, Annie.’

I was about to say goodbye when I decided to ask Mr Kipling what he knew about Jakov Pirozhki.

‘Small-time guy who wishes he were big-time. Won’t happen, though. No one in the organization really takes him seriously, especially his own father. And since his mother wasn’t, you know, Yuri’s wife, Jacks is pretty much dogged by questions of whether he’s even a real Balanchine. I pity the kid to tell you the truth.’ Yuri, by the way, was Yuri Balanchine, my father’s half-brother and my uncle. He’d taken over the family after Daddy’s murder. Mr Kipling changed the subject. ‘Have you decided what colleges you’re applying to?’