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Scott made great eggs when I was a kid. Too bad I told him I hate them.
“Your mom wanted one. She talked about driving into Louisville to get one several times. ” Mom liked to talk to Scott while Scott raised me. She moved into Grandpa’s trailer when Dad knocked her up and her mom kicked her out. Scott was twelve when I was born.
My heart sinks. Mom never told me she wanted a nose ring. She never even noticed when I pierced mine. Why it bothers me, I don’t know. Mom doesn’t tell me a lot of things. I tap my fork against the counter. Screw it. I’m eating the eggs. Who knows when I’ll get another decent meal. Scott flashes a smug smile when I fork eggs on my plate.
“Is that a baseball thing?” I ask.
“What?”
“Ryan has that same I-know-everything smirk when he thinks he’s one-upped me. ”
Scott sips his orange juice. “Have you and Ryan been hanging out at school?”
I shrug. Hanging out. Annoying the piss out of each other. Same thing. “Kind of. ”
“He’s a good kid, Elisabeth. It would do you good to make more friends like him. ”
Noah’s a good guy. Isaiah is the best, but Scott doesn’t want to hear that. “I go by Beth. ”
As if I hadn’t said anything, he asks another question. “How’s school?”
“I’m gonna fail. ”
He stops eating and I shove food into my mouth. I’m beginning to hate these silences.
“Are you trying?” he asks.
I contemplate my answer while savoring a piece of bacon. On my last bite, I decide to go with the truth. “Yes. But I don’t expect you to believe me. ”
He tosses his napkin onto his empty plate and stares at me with sincere blue eyes. We both have Grandma’s eyes. Dad did too, except Dad’s never looked kind. “I’m not smart. I can throw a ball, catch a ball, and hit a ball. It made me a rich man, but it’s better to be smart. ”
“Too bad for me, I can’t do any of that.
Smart included. ”
“Allison’s smart,” he says and he holds up his hand when I roll my eyes. “She’s real smart. Has a master’s in English. Let her help you. ”
“She hates me. ”
Scott falls into one of his long silences again. “Let me handle that. You focus on school. ”
“Whatever. ” I glance at the clock: six forty-five. We managed to have a conversation without yelling for fifteen minutes. “Shouldn’t you be heading to work?”
“I’m working from home today. We’re going to do this every morning. I want you up at six and out here for breakfast by six-thirty. ”
If he’s going to cook, I’m not going to argue.
“Okay. ”
Scott gathers his dishes and goes to the sink.
“About last night. ”
And things were going so well. … “Let’s not discuss last night. ”
“You were shaking. ”
I stand, feeling suddenly fidgety. “I should get my backpack together. ”
