Twenty Pounds Gone: A Homecoming Mystery

Synopsis

When I saw Nina at the airport exit, I almost didn't recognize her. She was wearing a faded hoodie, her collarbones jutting out, and her chin was so sharp it looked like it could poke someone. When I left three months ago, she weighed 121 pounds, which was just right. Now she was standing at the arrival gate, smiling at me, her eye sockets hollow and sunken. I asked her how she'd gotten so thin. She brushed it off, saying she'd just been busy and hadn't had much time to eat lately. I didn't believe her. When we got home, I found three random kids sprawled out on the living room sofa, and the coffee table was littered with sunflower seed shells and orange peels. The kitchen was filled with smoke and the smell of cooking, and my mom's voice carried through the wall. "Nina! Where's the soy sauce? How many times have I told you to keep it by the stove?" My mom never called her by name, just called her "Hey." Today, she actually used her name because there was a strange man in his forties sitting in the living room, feet up, watching TV in my slippers.