Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Brian shrugged again. “I don’t know. They asked me about you. I told them you’re not like that. I vouched for you, if you wanted—”
No. I knew. I so knew.
I turned to Zeke. “Start looking for a house.”
He stared at me. One blink. Then he smiled. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “No fucking way am I dealing with that asshole’s problems.”
“I was going to pledge. You?”
I saw all the plans Zeke was making. We’d be fraternity brothers, roommates, the whole nine yards. “No.”
“What?” His smile fell.
“That was my plan last year, but not now. I’m not going the fraternity way.”
“But…” Zeke swallowed. “We can’t be roommates then.”
“Dude.”
He looked like he was about to cry.
I patted him on the shoulder, holding it there a second. “It’ll be fine. I can get my own place.”
“Yeah, but…”
“You gotta make sure you can get in the school,” Brian said.
I gave him a cocky smirk. I wasn’t valedictorian or salutatorian, but I was in the top seven. Plus, Cain had already reached out, offering a soccer scholarship. I’d just said no because of my non-bio dad’s history with Columbia. Those plans had all been made before the divorce, before everything, and I hadn’t thought to change any of it.
I hadn’t thought much about next year.
I liked Cain. I felt good about the decision.
“Wait. Where’s your girl going next year?” Zeke asked.
Oh.
Maybe not?
I was driving to Aspen’s after school when my phone rang.
The ring came through my sound system, and I glanced down.
Marie calling.
I hadn’t been looking forward to this call, but I’d assumed it was coming. I’d been dodging the house all week while non-bio was there, and graduation was in three days.
I hit accept. “Hey, Mom.”
“I want your ass home now. Enough of this. I’m done, Blaise. Do you hear me? Done!”
“Did he tell you about the lawsuit coming against him?”
She was silent.
A full five seconds, and then a sniffle. “What are you talking about?”
I gritted my teeth. “Is he there right now?”
She was silent again.
“Am I on speaker?” I turned the wheel, heading north.
“No,” she said tightly.
“Then walk away from him. Pretend to hang up and go to the bathroom.”
It sucked that we had to lie like this. He’d helped raise me all my life. She said he’d always known about me, that I wasn’t his son, but he’d chosen to marry her anyway. He chose to adopt me. Then he used her money, invested it well, and hit it big with a product. He moved east, taking us with him, and after that, our lives blurred.
I grew up.
Sports. Parties. Privilege. Everything that life entailed.
Until he derailed it. Until he got caught. It wasn’t even that he cheated, because I knew he’d cheated long before she caught him. She knew too. I was the one who told her, but she hadn’t believed me. She hadn’t wanted to believe me, and I knew she felt guilty about that. It was the reason I got away with so much shit, but my mom wasn’t a bad mom. She was just caught up in her own guilt, her own shame, an ex that had crushed her spirit, and the potential for a new family, because Stephen was a good guy.
He was also a fucking patient guy, but then again, I’d not been around. I didn’t know how he’d been handling having Griffith at the house all week.
I heard her saying, “Okay. See you soon. Love you, honey.” A shuffling sound.
Static.
Her voice from a distance. “I have to pee.”
He said something.
I gripped the steering wheel, hearing his tone. I couldn’t make out the words, but he was griping about something.
“I know. I will,” my mom said. “Hold on.”
More static.
More shuffling sounds.
The sound of a door squeaking. A click, then a buzzing.
Her voice came back, hushed, but clearer. “What lawsuit?”
I told her about my conversation with Brian. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
She hadn’t interrupted, not once. She’d always been good like that. She’d listened through the whole spiel, and now there was silence, only sniffling coming from her end.
God. I couldn’t— I saw a gas station and swung in, parking at the far end and turning the engine off. I hit the lights and slumped back in my seat.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” It was worth repeating.
“Twelve women?” Her voice sounded so tiny, strangled.
“That’s what he said.” I pulled the keys out and held them in my hand.
She cursed softly into the phone. “You know if that many women are coming out at once, there are so many more who haven’t come forward. This is going to be—”
“No, Mom.” A knot was in my throat. I shoved it down. “We don’t live out there anymore. We don’t run in those circles. You are not to blame for his mistakes.”
“He asked about money. Jesus Christ! Money, Blaise. That’s why he’s here.”
Yeah…
“I’m going to—I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I hate him. I shouldn’t be saying this to you. You’re our son—” More sniffles. “I’m so sorry, Blaise. I kept you for myself all these years.”