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)
“Maybe if you hadn’t been a shitty mother, your daughter wouldn’t be a worthless piece of trash!”
Nana jerked back in surprise, staring at Pop like she didn’t recognize him.
Hands shaking, I stepped out of the hallway. “Everything okay out here?” I asked, trying to keep my voice level.
“Mind your own fuckin’ business,” Pop barked, pointing at me.
“It’s okay, Nova,” Nana tried to reassure me. “Go on back to your room.”
“You guys are being really loud,” I replied tentatively.
“Everything’s okay, honey.”
“Did you guys just get home?” I asked. My voice came out timid even though I was trying really hard to seem calm and collected. Maybe I could defuse the situation.
“What part of get back in your room don’t you understand?” Pop asked nastily.
“Why?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. I was far enough away from them that I got a little twinge of courage. I’m not sure where it came from, but I wrapped it around myself like a cloak. “I can still hear you from my room. I bet you’ve woken up all the neighbors by now. Someone’s going to call the cops at this rate.”
Pop’s eyes narrowed, and he took a step toward me. I stood my ground, ignoring every ounce of self-preservation I had.
“You’re right,” Nana said, moving away from Pop. “We can finish this conversation in the morning.”
“What fuckin’ conversation?” Pop said to her back. “You think I’m gonna listen to you bitch at me tomorrow? You’re fuckin’ high.”
He threw the keys in his hand and they flew past Nana and hit the wall. She didn’t even flinch as she came toward me.
“Come on, honey,” she said softly, gripping my forearm. “Go on back to bed.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked, letting her lead me back to my room. I didn’t want her going to their room and getting cornered by Pop in there. They had a lock on their bedroom door. She’d be trapped. A thousand scenarios played in my head and every single one of them was terrifying.
“I’ll be alright,” she said, patting my back. “Go on now. Go back to bed.”
When I opened my door, Bird was standing in the center of the room, his hands in fists and a look of indecision on his face.
“You okay?” he asked Nana, his voice cracking.
“I’m just fine, Birdman,” she said gently, coming inside to put her hand on his cheek. “Don’t you worry about me, kiddo.”
“He shouldn’t be yellin’ at you like that.”
“I got some of my own yelling in,” she said, winking at him. “Go back to sleep, huh? Sorry things got so loud.”
Bird continued standing in the center of the room as Nana said goodnight and left us. We stared at each other, both terrified and confused.
“What the hell is happening?” he asked painfully.
“I don’t know, bud,” I replied, gripping my hands together to try and stop their shaking.
“I’m really freaked out.”
“You and me both,” I murmured, going to my bed.
“Are we just supposed to sleep now?” he asked doubtfully.
“Just lay down, yeah? Might as well try. I’ll stay up for a while and make sure everything stays quiet.”
“It’s not like I won’t hear them if they get loud,” he muttered, lying back down on my floor.
I picked up my phone from the bed and noticed that Rumi had called two more times.
“What is wrong with Pop?” Bird asked.
I didn’t answer since I figured the question was rhetorical.
“Why would he say stuff like that to Nana?”
“I have no idea.”
“He loves her,” Bird said softly. “He worships her.”
“He’s drunk,” I muttered.
“Still,” Bird whispered. “He’s been drunk before.”
“I gotta call Rumi back real quick,” I said, pulling up his contact information. “He’s probably drunk, too. He called three times. Give me just a minute.”
Chapter 15
Rumi
Nova had asked for space. I knew what that meant. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that she wanted some time away from me and that she wasn’t going to be happy that I was calling her in the middle of the night. She was probably sleeping, which was why she hadn’t answered the first time. So I called back. Twice.
She probably didn’t want to hear from me, but I’d had a really fucking terrible night and I needed her. That’s it. I just flat-out needed her. I needed to hear her voice, and I needed to feel her arms around me, and I just needed her fucking presence.
Some loser had shown up at the club during the barbecue looking for my brother’s girlfriend Emilia saying that she’d stolen money from him. It turned out that she had taken the money, but he’d owed it to her anyway, so it was all bullshit. Our club president and my gramps and dad had sent the fucker on his way and told him not to come back—and we’d thought that was it.