Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Boy, would they be disappointed when they got inside,” he joked, walking away.
A few minutes later, I heard him leave the house, and I closed my eyes in relief. We both knew that it was weird I’d asked to stay. I’d spent the night on plenty of weekdays, and I’d always left before Rumi when he had to go to the garage. Sometimes I’d left before he’d even gotten up for the day. Getting up early had become second nature for me and even when I didn’t have to work, I rarely stayed in bed. There were always things to get done.
I brushed off the worry that Rumi was probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me and decided to just be grateful for the fact that I could wait until everyone was gone before I went home. I wasn’t ready to see Pop and I couldn’t help the anxiety that pulsed in my chest at the thought of repeating the morning before.
I’d told Nana to make sure Pop knew I wasn’t coming home, but still.
Eventually, I got out of Rumi’s bed and made it—he’d be pleasantly surprised when he saw that—and then headed back home. It looked like it was going to be an overcast day but it didn’t smell like rain, which I was happy about. We were setting out the start of the summer line at the craft store and I’d be outside all day fixing displays.
When I pulled up outside the trailer, I was happy to see that Pop’s Harley was gone, but surprisingly Nana’s car wasn’t. I made my way inside carefully, every sense on high alert, but the house was quiet.
“Hey, honey,” Nana called from the kitchen table.
“Oh, hey,” I said in surprise as I turned to look at her. “Why are you still home?”
“Day off,” she said easily. “I brought Bird to school and came home to sit on my ass.”
“Sounds like a good time,” I joked. I stood there for a moment, debating on whether or not to tell her about Pop’s outburst. She beat me to it.
“Did somethin’ happen yesterday?” she asked, watching me closely. “You seemed upset when we got home from the grocery store.”
“Well, Pop was in a bad mood,” I replied, almost jokingly, even though I didn’t find any of it funny.
“He’s been a bear lately,” she agreed, nodding.
For some reason, even though I’d tried to play off the whole thing, the calm way she said that he’d been acting like a bear made indignation roar through me. I think it reminded me too much of the way my mom had downplayed the shit going on at her house.
“He threw me up against the wall,” I said flatly, making her freeze. “When I got home, he was pissed that I hadn’t told you guys that I was staying at Rumi’s.” I paused. “Except I know I texted you that I wouldn’t be home.”
“You did,” she said faintly. “I told Samson that.”
“Well, somehow he fucking forgot,” I replied sarcastically. “Because he was pissed.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t an accident?” she asked in confusion, getting to her feet. “You know he’d never hurt you on purpose.”
Disbelief and betrayal burned through me like a forest fire and I yanked off my cardigan, pulling up my sleeve to show her my arm. “Didn’t feel like an accident.”
“Oh, honey,” she whispered, hurrying toward me. “Oh, my god.”
My eyes filled with tears and I cleared my throat, trying to stop them. “He was waiting when I got home and he was—” My voice broke. “He threw me into the wall and then he was screaming in my face.”
“What?” Nana murmured in disbelief, still staring at my arm. “Why would he do that? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I have no idea,” I replied, getting my tears under control. “But if he ever does it again, I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”
It was nothing but bravado and we both knew it.
“I’m going to talk to him,” she murmured angrily, raising her hand to my cheek. “That motherfucker. How dare he? I’m going to find out what the fuck he was thinking and then he’s going to apologize. On his goddamn knees.”
The thought of it was comforting, and I felt my shoulders slump with relief that she was going to stick up for me, but I shook my head. I couldn’t bear the thought of her pissing him off. If he shoved Nana, he could really hurt her. She was built like a damn sparrow.
“Don’t,” I ordered. “Just let it go.”
“The hell I will,” she sputtered.
“It’ll just make it worse, Nanny,” I murmured, unconsciously using the pet name I hadn’t uttered since I was around five years old. “I wanted you to know, but I’m not asking you to do anything about it.”
“What kind of mother would I be if I let something like this happen and did nothing?” she shot back. I didn’t correct her, because for all intents and purposes, she was my mother—but as we looked at each other, we both realized exactly what kind of mother she’d be—her daughter.