Lei opened the door to her house and gestured for Mali to follow her inside. The whole house had a warm, welcoming ambience with bright furniture.
Mali stepped in and marveled at the brightly lit living room. "Wow, I'd forgotten how homey and peaceful your place is."
Lei snorted. "Just wait until the little monsters get back from school. It won't be peaceful anymore. You want to put your stuff in your room or grab a drink first?"
"Room first," replied Mali.
"Okay." Lei then groaned, carrying the large suitcase. "God, this bag is heavy as fuck."
Mali paused and glanced at her. "Lei, that's a rolling suitcase."
"Yeah, I know." Lei stared at Mali like Mali was the one who'd gone bonkers.
"Then why're you carrying it?"
Lei's expression remained blank for a few seconds, and then she put the bag down. "Well, shit."
"I think you need help, Lei," Mali teased her. "Serious help."
"Shut up," she grumbled. "I'm exhausted, man. I can't think straight when I'm this tired."
Mali just hmm-ed. She didn't want to tell Lei that it'd be weird if she actually started thinking, because that'd just lead to a squabble. She wasn't in the mood; she just wanted to rest on a big, comfortable bed.
Lei led her towards the guest room, harping on about how the hospital was over-working them, and how lucky Mali was for getting three days off of work.
The guest room was done in varying shades of blue and burnt oranges, the curtains were white, and there was little furniture. The overall result was airy and light, exactly what Mali needed.
Mali dropped her bags and plopped her down on the neatly made bed.
"Aaaah," she sighed in contentment. "This is the best thing ever. I'm never moving out of this place."
Lei crossed her arms over her chest. "Great, I'll draw up your rental agreement before I go to bed tonight."
"You're going to make me pay rent?"
"Yes."
"Leilani Sommerdahl, I'm Maliah Manghini, your sister."
Lei raised her well-nurtured brow. "Your point?"
"You cannot make me pay rent!" Mali exclaimed dramatically.
"I can and I will," Lei told her, all serious. "I'm a businesswoman at heart, Mali. And I love money. Like seriously, when I see money, I get eyegasms. So, you're paying, sister."
Mali's face was contorted in what looked like disgust, but it was all a facade. She schooled her expression, sighed and said, "Just... go away now so I can take a nap."
"Alright, you rest for a bit," Lei told her. "In the meantime, I'll go cook something for you."
Mali stared at her in horror. She probably did a poor job of hiding her fear because Lei burst out laughing until she snorted. "You should see your face."
"Don't even joke about cooking, Leilani," Mali whispered.
Lei looked at Mali again then bent over, giggling uncontrollably. "Don't worry, I won't go anywhere near the kitchen. Nenna's here."
Lei was a smart woman, but even from a working recipe, she couldn't make a simple dish. Mali had even been witness to her scorching canned soup. It was weird; the woman could save an extremely critical patient, but couldn't cook soup.
Lei left, and Mali got under the bed sheet spread on the bed. She curled her body into a ball.
A silence followed, tense and heavy; the room was too quiet. Mali sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a while. She tried, really tried to sleep, but she just couldn't. They were so many thoughts racing and ricocheting in her brain.
Her throat tightened as she thought about her son, and Peter's betrayal, and the hurt suddenly transitioned to anger. Her brain started weaving and concocting ideas on how she could, and would, get her revenge on both Peter and his fiancée. Even Amanda deserved punishment. The wench!
She got her smartphone from her sweatpants and dialled Napo's number. She needed to collect information first, before anything else. Then she'll strike.
She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but eventually, her mind stopped spinning, and she was just about to catch some sleep when Lei walked in.
"Hey," she said, "I'm going to get Zac and Aura from school."
Mali sat up. "Can I come?"
"If you want to," replied Lei with a shrug.
"Gimme two minutes to freshen up a bit," Mali spoke as she got up from the bed, grabbing a suitcase as she walked towards the bathroom. She paused, took in Lei's flowery outfit and said, "You look... summery."
Lei curtsied, smiling. "Thank you."
Mali freshened up in record time and the two best friends made their way to the kid's school. Their usual driver told Lei he had a family emergency, but Lei knew what the guy actually had was 'idontwanttoworkitis'.
Lei played soft music as they drove to the school, and was glad Mali didn't turn off the car radio. She glanced at her friend and a ghost of a smile touched her lips. Mali was now looking much lighter.
They picked up the kids, stopped by an ice cream shop called Sugar Rush for some time, and then made their way back home.
Along the way though, some bastard or bitch honked at Lei for going at the speed limit. And the crazy woman didn't take kindly to that. Mali smiled subtly as Lei gripped the steering wheel tightly; she knew Lei was trying to rein in her frustration. Seriously, they could just overtake her if they had no regard for traffic laws.
The honking continued, so Lei reduced her speed and asked Mali to hold the wheel. Amused, Mali did as ordered, while Lei turned to her kids at the back.
"You two, cover your ears." Zac and Aura did so without question.
Lei snuck her head out of the car, rising from her seat a little. Then she yelled, "Hey! Hey, stop honking at me, you fucking fucktard! I'll park this car right here, right now, and none of us will be going home anytime soon!"
As much as Mali would've liked to say she was surprised by Lei's behaviour, she wasn't. Lei would pick a fight with just anyone, but she particularly liked fighting on the road.
She sat back down, and turned to her kids, "It's okay, you guys, you can uncover your ears now."
"We could still hear you, you know." said Zac.
"Well, I did my duty as a mature, grown-up parent and told you to cover your ears before swearing. That has to count."
"It does count, Mommy," said Aura softly.
Lei smiled. "Thank you, my baby."
Mali giggled.