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Ocean
My head is spinning. I raced against death, I almost drove Kayla away, and I’ve given all my money to a conman?
Fuck.
Does that mean Mom isn’t sick? Or at least that the diagnosis is wrong? What does that mean for her? We’ll need to get another doctor, a real one this time, to have a look at her.
Which means more costs, goddammit. I drop my head in my hands and struggle not to howl in frustration.
A hand lands on my shoulder, startling the fuck out of me. “Breathe,” Raine says. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. I told you I don’t fucking trust them.”
“That’s because you’re a bitter motherfucker,” I tell him. Hey, I’m pissed as all hell right now, pissed and anxious, and he’s not helping.
“And you’re too damn trusting.”
I press my thumbs into my eyes. “This isn’t Mom’s fault.”
He says nothing. His hand disappears from my shoulder, and I stare outside, at the gray day. The trailer park isn’t far. Kayla parks at the usual spot, and I spill out of the car, striding into the park and heading for my folks’ trailer, vaguely aware of Kayla and Raine following me.
My heartbeat is so loud it’s drowning out every other sound.
Something’s off. It takes me longer than normal to realize. As I turn toward my folks’ trailer, I notice it’s dark and closed, the windows shuttered.
What the fuck?
“Blue. Hey. Over here.”
I turn to find Floyd seated on his porch, like always. The contrast between the familiarity of him on his porch and the dark, shuttered trailer of my folks throws the world into a spin, and I have to keep my knees from buckling.
“Floyd.”
“Your folks left,” he says, and his words make no fucking sense.
I repeat them inside my head—your folks left, your folks left—and I shake my head, hoping that will help.
“What do you mean? When?”
“A couple of hours ago. They had a huge-ass suitcase on rollers. A cab came and picked them up.”
“I don’t… This…” I don’t understand.
This can’t be.
“Come here.” When I don’t move, he gets up, climbs down the steps and limps over to me. He grabs my arm and hauls me to his porch, pushes me down on the steps. “You okay?”
“No.” I suck in an unsteady breath. Behind Floyd I see people gathering—not the people of the park, but Kayla, Raine, Ev, Shane, everyone else.
“Boy, did you give that doctor fellow any money?” Floyd asks, leaning over me. “Or your parents?”
Breathing is failing. “Yeah, I did.”
“Shit. Was it a lot?” When I don’t reply, he curses. “Listen, boy. This ain’t an easy thing to say, but here goes.” His brow wrinkles. “Your mother looked just fine when she walked out. And in the cab that drove up here to pick them up was that doctor fellow who came here a few times. I think… yeah, I think your folks set this up. To take your money.”
I bend over, trying to breathe. The truth is like a kick to the chest. “No.”
Someone sits beside me, and Kayla’s fruity scent hits me just as her arms wrap around me. “Hey.”
“Told you I didn’t trust our folks,” Raine says, kicking at a stone. “People don’t change.”
