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“She let you take the fall for her bullshit and she sat back while he used you as a fucking piñata. Your mom is a nightmare. ”
A car door slams in the parking lot, and we slink to opposite corners by the door.
“We need to talk, Beth. ”
I agree. We do. I nod toward the pinewoods.
“Let’s go over there. ”
Isaiah pokes his head out and scans the area. He waves his hand for me to go. We don’t run. We walk in absolute silence. Once we’re deep enough in, I turn, waiting for the question that has to be tearing
him apart.
“You lied to me. ” Isaiah shoves his hands into his jeans pocket and stares at the brown pine needles on the ground. “You told me you never knew your dad. ”
Okay. Not a question, but an accusation.
One I deserve. “I know. ”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want to talk about my dad. ”
He keeps looking at those damn needles. A few years ago, I told Isaiah the same lie I gave everyone else regarding my father. Isaiah was so moved that he told me something he’d never told anyone else: that his mother had no idea who his father was. The lie I told Isaiah bonded him to me for life. By the time I figured out what cemented our relationship, that he believed we both had huge question marks on the paternal side, it was too late to tell him the truth.
“You know how people are. ” I hate the desperation in my voice. “They love gossip and if there’s a story, they’ll dig, and I never wanted to think about the bastard again.
When I told you I never knew who my father was, I had no idea that was your reality. I didn’t know that was the story that would make us friends. ”
His eyes shut at the word friends and his jaw jumps as if I said something to hurt him. But we are friends. He’s my best friend. My only friend.
“Isaiah…” I have to give him something.
Something that will let him know what he means to me. “What happened with my dad…”
It hurts to breathe. “When I was in third grade…” Say it already!
Isaiah’s gray eyes meet mine. The kindness in them fades as they turn a little wild. “Is your dad around?” In the predatory movement of a panther, he takes several steps toward me. “Are you in danger?”
I shake my head. “No. He’s gone. Uncle
Scott and Dad hated each other. Scott didn’t even know Dad left. ”
“Your uncle?”
“He’s a dick, but he’d never lay a hand on me. I swear. ”
He blinks and the wildness fades, but his muscles still ripple with anger. “I trusted you. ”
His three simple words gut me.
“I know. ” I can give him honesty now. “I wish I could go with you. ”
“Then do it. ”
“She’s my mom. I expected you to understand. ” It’s a low blow. I stay silent, unmoving, waiting for him to swallow his demons.
“I get it,” he says in a hard voice, “but it doesn’t mean I agree. ”
