AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I did.”
“You watched your mom die,” he says. “I have no idea how hard that is. How hard that must have been, as a kid.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“I wasn’t fair to you,” he says.
“You didn’t know me.”
“I judged you,” he says.
“Everyone judges everyone.”
“I told myself I was better than that.” He takes a long sip. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I judged you, too.”
“I’m sorry anyway,” he says.
“I’m not.”
His smile breaks up the pain on his face. “Good. You wouldn’t be you if you were.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“You know it’s a compliment.”
I do. That’s the weird thing. I know he really, truly likes me the way I am. “Thanks then.” I take another sip of my tea, even though it’s too cold. “How did you end up here, with your grandma?”
“The guy ended things because he wanted to recommit to his wife. Mom never found a better way to cover the rest of the rent. We got evicted and Mom was running out of money, so she came to Grandma. After that…I know her story and Mom’s, but I don’t know the truth.”
“What’s her story?” I ask.
“Grandma says Mom came by, asking for money, and she made a deal: six figures for her parental rights. Mom could go off and do whatever she wanted with the money, but she had to make Grandma my legal guardian.”
“Do you believe that?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?”
Yes, but it’s not really my place to say. “Your mom’s story?”
“Grandma was vindictive. Angry. She threatened Mom. She’d call CPS. She’d call the police, with evidence of neglect, of drug use. She had friends on the force, power she wasn’t afraid to use.”
“If your mom didn’t leave you with her?”
He nods.
“Do you believe that?”
“Grandma has good intentions, but she’s driven.”
“And driven people will do anything for what they want sometimes.” I know that better than most.
“It’s probably somewhere between those two things,” he says.
“I, uh, thanks.”
“Thanks?”
