Listen When I Speak

Hello again, readers. This week, I wrote a modern version of Phikul Thong. I was having trouble coming up with this story until I realized that, like any good writer, I could make things metaphorical. Enjoy this story about family and curse words.

Now imagine this, metaphorically, coming out of your mouth.

My sister, Daisy, has always been able to charm people by talking to them. When she's feeling or acting sweet, it's like flowers fall from her lips. Always the right turn of phrase to appeal to whoever she's talking to. Always the golden child.

Me? I was okay. Unless I was angry. That's when I got eloquent. I could curse someone for several minutes, in ways that would make a sailor blush, as long as they understood English and Spanish. And the curse words were just emphasis for what I was saying. It was like bugs were coming out of my mouth. I despised people calling it my Latin temper.

One important thing about Daisy and me. We're identical twins.

She got married to a man who was a great catch. Handsome, rich. Some folks joked that she charmed him into dating her and it went from there. I figured he was the one doing the charming, but either way I was happy for her. He seemed nice enough and she was certainly happy.

My date to her wedding didn't last long after their wedding. I didn't really think he would. I wasn't looking to settle down and although he said he wasn't either, I was pretty sure going to a wedding would put him over the edge. Sure enough, about a month later, we sat down and talked it out and realized we weren't right for each other anymore. I saw it coming, so I didn't get mad. I think he was scared of what I would say, but we parted pretty nicely. I just yelled at the wall after I was sure he was gone. Just because I knew we weren't right for each other didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Awhile after Daisy and Wayne got married, they started a business together. Daisy became a motivational speaker, which was something I had always said she should do. She loved it. Wayne handled the back end, so Daisy was free to go in front of a crowd and say beautiful things to them. I bought a ticket to one of her events. It was inspiring. When we were done, I was ready to go out there and paint that masterpiece I'd always meant to. But first I had to see Daisy.

I managed to get backstage just by acting like I belonged back there. Daisy wore her hair long these days and I had mine short with blue highlights, so we didn't really look like twins. Still, either I looked enough like her, or the people who were supposed to keep me out didn't think they needed to. I managed to get right to her dressing room. I listened to see if Daisy was inside. It sounded like she was having an intense conversation with a man. It was probably Wayne. I backed up a little. Maybe I should go snag some snacks and bring them back as a peace offering.

The door opened in front of me. Wayne walked out, looking triumphant. Then he saw me. "Hey, Luna. I didn't know you were coming."

"That's why it's a surprise," I replied with a smile. "Don't worry. I'm sure you've got a lot to do. I can see Daisy by myself." I said that with a smile too, but Wayne got the message.

"You're right. We should all go to dinner tonight, though."

"Sure," I replied. I walked into Daisy's dressing room and shut the door behind me.

Daisy looked up, her makeup smeared down her cheeks. "Oh, Luna."

I sat down on the chair next to Daisy. "What happened?" Looking around, I found the tissues. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course," Daisy replied, taking the tissues and wiping the tears and makeup off of her face.

"Daisy, I know when you lie to me," I replied. "But it's pretty obvious you're lying now."

Daisy blew her nose and sighed. "I'm just getting so tired. We do so many shows and we're not home anymore."

"And you talked to Wayne about that just now?" I remembered this triumphant little strut and my fingers started to curl into fists.

Daisy nodded. "We've got too many commitments. We can't back out on them."

"Horse shit," I replied.

Daisy looked at me, shocked.

I grinned at her. "Did you need that? You looked like you needed that. People back out of things all the time, or reschedule. There's got to be some of them you can reschedule. Is it about the money?"

"No, we're actually doing pretty well. But Wayne said there weren't any that we could back out of," Daisy said, dabbing at her face with the tissue.

I spotted her cold cream on the table, and swiped a bit of it onto my fingers, before putting that on Daisy's face. She let me help take her makeup off, like the old days.

I waited until we got all of her makeup off and she seemed to have a bit more control of herself. "Wayne said he wanted to have dinner with both of us tonight. I think that's a great idea. Especially now."

"You're going to yell at him," Daisy stated. She looked a little hopeful. Good.

"Do you want me to? I can hold back."

"Really?" Daisy asked with a smirk.

"Hey, only for you." I nudged her. "So?"

Daisy thought for a moment and sighed. "It's just hard to find the right words and reasons when I'm talking to him. You know?"

I nodded. "That's how I am when I try to say anything nice. I always mess it up."

Daisy chuckled. "And I would try to teach you how to say it better."

"It kind of helped." I shrugged. "So, you didn't answer my question."

Daisy sighed and, after a moment, nodded. "I'm going to bring it up again at dinner. If you could just back me up. Maybe help me remember some of what I want to say."

"Absolutely! And if he won't listen to you, then I'll get mad."

"It's not that big of a deal, right?"

I snorted. "Did you see how he walked out of here? He can't be treating you like that. He just needs a little help to get his head out of his ass."

Daisy chuckled. "Luna."

"What? He does. I know you're both excited about this company. I think he just needs a little reminder about how much work you're putting in. And don't tell me about how much he's working. I don't really care. It's too much for you, so he needs to help you dial it back."

Daisy sighed and nodded. "Thank you, Luna. You've always got my back."

"Hey, you've got the pretty words, and I've got the angry ones. I've got to do something with my skills."

Daisy laughed, a real, full laugh this time, and we started talking through how she was feeling, how their company was doing, and what their options were.

-

We ended up at a fusion restaurant. It was one I hadn't gotten to yet, so I was excited to try it. And it wasn't so fancy that I'd feel bad if I really ripped into Wayne. I waited until we ordered our meals and then said casually, "So, I've heard your company is doing really well."

"We are," Wayne replied with a smile. "We've got multiple speaking engagements every week for the next several months."

"That sounds like a lot," I replied honestly.

Wayne nodded. "Yes, but we're growing the brand."

"Still, that seems pretty taxing," I replied, with a look at Daisy. I didn't want to take over for her. Despite how much I wanted to help her, this was really her show.

"It is," Daisy said. "It's very taxing."

Wayne looked between the two of us. "I feel like you're going to gang up one me." He smiled when he said it, but I think he was hoping he was wrong.

"Only if we need to," I replied with a sweet smile.

Daisy took a deep breath. "Wayne, I know you're excited to grow our company, but I can't do this many speaking engagements for this long. It's wearing me down."

"Like I told you, we can't back out of any of these. And do we need to have this conversation again in front of Luna?"

"Apparently," I replied with a shrug. "Listen to her this time, Wayne. Besides, people reschedule things all the time. Some of your events are part of larger events, but some of them aren't. And they're far enough out that you could move them."

"So you are ganging up on me." Wayne sounded resigned.

"Wayne, I need you to listen to me." Daisy sounded serious. "I know myself and I can't do this pace. I'm not going to give good talks if I'm exhausted. And I might lose my voice. What are we supposed to do then? I'm telling you now that this isn't a good idea so we can still act to change it and make this better."

Wayne sighed and was quiet for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "I'm sorry for not listening, Daisy. I wanted to get you something really nice for your birthday and I was just looking at the money so we could afford to do that. But it doesn't help to get you something nice later if you're miserable now." He thought for a moment. "You're right. There are some we can move back. It means I won't be able to get you that present I wanted, but this is more important. I'm sorry I didn't listen before."

"Thank you, Wayne." Daisy could really give a dazzling smile when she wanted to.

"I knew you had a good head on your shoulders," I told him. "Although I'm a little bummed I didn't get to scream at you. I had some good curses lined up."

"I think I'm happier you didn't." Wayne was uncomfortable, but I could tell Daisy knew I was kidding.

I laughed. "All right, I'm happier too. I like when you two are happy together. Tell you what, dinner's on me. As the price for making things awkward."

"Thank you, Luna." Daisy knew she wasn't going to be able to talk me out of paying.

"Are you sure?" Wayne asked. "I mean, I appreciate it, but you don't have to."

I shrugged. "But you have to put up with having me as a sister-in-law, so it's the least I can do. So, what's going on besides having too much work for your business?"