Page 98 of The Logic of Loyalty

“Implying! You forbade me from leaving! Saying you’d cut me off⁠—”

“Bethany Rose Whitaker, you lower your voice⁠—”

“Insurance is under their policy. Right, Bethany?” I step out in clear view of my mother, holding the tire iron up and out.

Bethany blinks at the iron in my hand. “Um, yes.”

“Trevor, what do you think you’re—” Mother’s voice is not so calm anymore. She’s standing up and watching with wide eyes. When I tap the window, she squeals and races into the house. “Your name is nowhere near the car or the insurance?” I bounce it in my hand, grip tight, and swing it again. Perfect.

“No.”

“And they won’t let you back into it, and you have no extra key? Nothing to access it?” I take another leisurely stroll around the car, and this time, I tap the windows.

“No.” Her voice is small again, and my temper flares. I tamp it down and tap another window.

“All of your stuff is still in it?”

“Yes. Even my wallet and purse.”

Hmm …” My voice trails off as I raise the iron and tap the driver’s window a few times … harder.

“Oh, please. It’s not that big of a deal—” Our mother has reappeared and is coming to meet us at the car. Her voice cuts off when I bring the iron up over my head, aiming for the driver’s side window. “Stop! Stop!” I pause my swing nearly against the vehicle. “I didn’t realize—I thought it was a bunch of junk. I never knew that stuff was still in there!” Our lying mother interjects, turning tail and running back into the house.

“I told her it’s in there,” Bethany mumbles, gliding her toe across the ground.

I don’t let her dwell in uncertainty. “I believe you.” My words have a visible impact on my sister, and I look away and tap the iron against the hood of the car a few times. My body is bursting with emotion. I have to swallow it down as we wait for my mother to return. The car beeps twice and unlocks.

I ignore the slight disappointment in being unable to release unholy hell upon the car, and instead, jog back to the Suburban to see if we have any bags to load up Bethany’s belongings.

“Do you want this car?” I ask her quietly, as I pass off a grocery bag. She accepts it, then freezes at my question.

“I just got a job, Trevor. There’s no way I can afford⁠—”

“I’m confident I can convince our mother to hand you the title.”

She shakes her head. “No. No. I—it was never really my style. It was fine.” I nod like she makes sense, but I guess I can understand not feeling that a car fits right.

Paige, Bethany, and I pack up my sister’s car while our mother huffs and puffs off to the side. “I don’t understand why you’re suddenly icing me out like this, Trevor William. I’ve always been a good mother⁠—”

I stand with my arms loaded with an assortment of papers, receipts, and Pokémon. “You’ve been serving your own agenda for years, and I’m finally not playing along.”

“Trevor William⁠—”

“Stoppit, Mother. You undermined my marriage, ignored my family, including your grandson, and pushed another woman into my life because you knew that I did not have the power to refuse without catastrophic consequences. I’m done. This is over.” I turn to the other two, important, loving women in my life, but my mother isn’t done.

“I-I only ever wanted what’s best for you.”

I wheel on her. “Bull. Shit. Even then, even if that were true. What about your daughter? What about wanting what’s best for Bethany? You are her mother. No. I’ve had enough. I won’t speak for Bethany, but I will speak for my son. We are done with you. We do not claim you. This is over.”

I turn back to my sister and wife and stomp away, arms loaded. Bethany files in behind me, but Paige is suddenly jerked backward. When I spin around, I see Kennedy’s hand wrapped firmly around Paige’s arm. Paige jerks her arm out and goes toe to toe with her mother-in-law.

Mother’s electric blue eyes narrow on her, and she latches on again. The fuck she will. I drop it all to the ground, push my mother away from my wife, and step between them, raising my finger and shoving it in her face. “You will never put your hands on my wife again. Got it, Kennedy?”

She takes a step back, but straightens her spine, looking at us the way she does people she views as beneath her. “I’m very disappointed in your behavior today, son. Your father is going to hear about this, Trevor, and you will not like the consequences. Don’t expect this to end here.”

“Oh, it’s ending. We’re done here. For good.” I drape my arm gently around Paige’s waist and turn her to the car. “I can’t imagine what she hoped to accomplish there,” I mumble, but my wife snickers, to my immense relief.

I open the passenger door for Paige, then consider. “Do you want me to drive?” She nods, so I scoop her up and deposit her in the seat. She squeaks, and I grin, unashamedly pleased with how today has ended, until I see the frown on my sister’s face.