29. About Us

                                    

                                          
Seth's uncle is doing questionable things in the corner of the room, his mom is standing on the coffee table thrusting her body to the music, smoke is practically our oxygen now and the smell of sweat is the new perfume. I frown at the scene in front of me. Puddles of beer paint the floor as I zigzag through the pulsing crowd. I need to find my family. Not a single familiar face registers in my vision as I scan the people around me.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I reach the landing and inhale a deep breath, absorbing the muffled sound of the downstairs bass. I can relax now that bodies aren't trying to fuse to mine. Shuddering, as if I can shake the filth off my body, I head toward the guest room and creep inside. I find my mom throwing clothes into a suitcase, my dad with glasses perched on his nose as he flicks through his computer, and Hope in the corner tapping away on her phone.
"What's going on?" I ask, confusion weaving into my forehead.
"Oh, Mercy!" My mom gasps as if she hasn't seen me in years. "I'm so glad you found us." She glances sideways at Hope, where she sits in a faded burnt orange recliner in the corner, and then steps closer, voice lowering. "We need to get your sister out of this madness. Your dad's trying to book us a hotel for the night."
"Oh."
"Yeah," she nods, glancing over her shoulder where my dad is sitting at the head of the bed, a pile of pillows behind his back as he checks something off a list in his hand. Then he dials another number, pressing his cellphone to his ear as the other hand continues scrolling through his computer. He looks up and gives my mom a subtle shake of his head. "We're not having a whole lot of luck with that. Everything's booked up, but we're gonna keep trying. Why don't you start packing up?"
I nod, ready to get away from all of the shady behavior going on downstairs. "Let me find Seth. He might want to come too."
"Of course." My mom nods, shooing me away as she continues packing.
I return to the chaos downstairs, but I remain on the third step from the bottom of the stairs, eyes scanning for Seth's brown hair. It feels like this home reached its maximum capacity an hour ago, but somehow, people keep streaming in. My eyes snag on a huddle of people around the coffee table and I squint to get a better view.
No, my eyes are not deceiving me. I watch as a woman uses the back of a spoon to literally crush mine and Seth's Christmas cookies into tiny crumbs, and then they each take turns snorting them up their noses. I gape at them, forgetting why I came down here for a whole minute as I watch them laugh like lunatics. One woman flops back onto the couch, missing the cushions and dropping to the floor. She curls up into herself, body convulsing as she laughs, stoned out of her mind.
Several people are sucking on their pot sticks, smoke bursting from gaping lips as they sway to the music. A risqué couple straddles each other on a recliner, oblivious to the world around them. It's not until she pulls away so she can flip her hair to her other shoulder that I catch a glimpse of the man's face. It's Hank, Seth's uncle, and when his eyes meet mine and he juts his chin in my direction—daring me to judge him—I decide it's time to move along.
I descend the last three steps and begin pushing my way through the buzzed, delirious, shameless crowd. I check the kitchen, but quickly retreat when I find another huddle involving one woman and several men. I shake away the images bombarding my thoughts as I try to dislodge the visual of their hands trailing across her body. Not a single person here has any decency. How horrifying to imagine Seth seeing all these things as a kid. I can barely handle seeing it as an adult.
Bounding up the stairs, I return to the guest room. Shaking my head, I tell my mom that I wasn't able to find Seth.
"Why don't you guys go on ahead," I tell her, glancing at Hope where she sits pretending not to be listening to us, "I'll stay here and look for Seth. I'll give you a call when I find him."