Page 48 of Finding Noah

“No,” I answered point-blank, no hesitation to be found. “They weren't.”

“And how do you know?”

“Because when they were our age, my dad was selling drugs to keep a roof over his head, and my mom was raising me. They didn't have time for this shit.”

In fact, I knew neither one of them had actually ever been high. Dad had been too smart because he'd watched his mom fall under the spell of addiction, and Mom had been too scared, too busy to even think about it.

“Ah, that's right. Drug-dealing Daddy,” she purred, shifting and settling back against my chest. “Did I ever tell you I looked him up? What a bad boy he was.”

God, like I said, everything that came out of her mouth held some sexual meaning. Most times, I either let it turn me on or roll off like she'd said nothing at all. But I drew the line when those comments were made about my parents.

“Okay, that's enough,” I grumbled, pinching my brow.

“He's big too, right? God, I wonder what he's packing—”

“Ash,” I warned.

“Do you ever hear them? Like, on a scale from one to ten, how satisfied does your mom sound?”

I couldn't help but laugh. “You can shut up now. Oh my God …”

But she kept going until she was pushing too far. “I mean, you heard her with your bio dad too, right? Would you say Daddy Drug Dealer satisfies her more or less than him? He was bad too. Like, real bad.”

I slowly looked toward her to find one black brow raised suggestively, excitement alight in her eyes.

“Mommy knows how to pick ‘em, huh? I wonder if she regrets not getting them both at once—”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” I finally said, reaching out and gripping her chin in my hand. “If you say one more word about any of them, this is done.”

Her lips quirked. God, this was turning her on, and she was loving it while I struggled to keep the image of my mom's shaking, naked body out of my head.

“Tell me, Noah, who did she scream louder for?” she whispered, waggling her brows.

And as if on cue, the sound of my mother's bloodcurdling scream drowned out the world.

I pushed her off my lap, sending her to the grassy ground. I stood, brushing off my thighs, as if to wipe away the mess she'd left behind. Then, without a word uttered, I bent to reach into her purse and grabbed the joint she'd taunted me with earlier that day, back when I’d thought we'd smoke it together before I eventually found myself buried between her legs somewhere other than my parents' house.

“Hey!” she shouted, reaching out to grab it from my hand, but she was too slow.

I tucked it behind my ear and walked away, knowing I'd be smoking it alone.

But it was better than being with her.

Maybe I'll actually sleep peacefully tonight.

***

“The sky looks like cosmic tar,” I mumbled to nobody, tipping my head back further to stare into a cloudless night.

The moon was absent, and only a smattering of stars could be seen with all the streetlamps lighting the way along Main Street's sidewalks.

But it was so big. The sky, I mean. Huge actually. And it went on forever and ever and ever and ever, and who the fuck even knew what else was out there?

I didn't think there were aliens within our solar system.

No, I thought, giving my head an adamant shake. Definitely not. There are aliens outside of it, and they’re looking in on us like … like … like …

“Like fish,” I mumbled. “Like we're … in an aquarium.”