Instead, I take the camera from her and toss it to him. “Take a picture of me and Mom.”
He can’t touch me anymore. I’m out of his reach now. And once I get on that plane, I don’t plan on seeing him ever again. My mother is the only thing I care about in this world, and once I’m stable enough out there, I’ll convince her to move to California with me.
What will the abusive man do with no one left to abuse? I can’t fucking wait to find out.
I squint into the sun and try to look happy for my mother so she has a nice picture for her wall.
“Will you be going out with the boys tonight?” Mom asks.
“No.” Now that lacrosse is over, there’s no point to pretend like we’re all friends off the field. Not with high school behind us. I’m letting go of everything and everyone from this place.
“Oh, look.” She lifts her hand and waves. “There’s Ainsley.”
“Mom.” I grit my teeth as I lower my voice. “Stop. What are you doing?”
She shoots me an apologetic glance. “Sweetheart, her father isn’t well.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Guilt coils itself around my stomach as I spit my words like venom. “I told you, I have nothing to say to her. Stop trying to force this.”
Mom sighs. She’s been on me all week about reconciling with Ainsley before I leave.
As ifI’mthe one who needs to apologize.
Ainsley made her choice. It was me or lacrosse, and she chose to stab me in the back.
“Well, I’m going to congratulate her,” she says. Dad wraps his arm around her shoulders, as if he’s some doting husband.
“You do that.” I turn in the opposite direction and walk toward the parking lot.
I need to get the hell out of here.
A familiar voice stops me in my tracks. “Landon.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I force a tight smile. “Hi, Mr. Morgan.”
Ainsley’s father takes a moment to walk toward me. He moves slower every time I see him, his skin a sallow color, his eyes sunken in like hollowed out holes.
This might be the last time I see him.
Emotion lodges itself in my throat, but I try to swallow it down.
Robert claps me on the back. “I just wanted to say congratulations. I heard you’re going to Cali.”
I nod once, stealing a glance at Ainsley as she laughs with my mother. “Yes, sir.”
He rests his hand on my shoulder. “I’m proud of you. I know how hard it’s been for you, but you’re going to move on and do great things.”
My chest aches. “Thank you.”
I should say something...anything. But I let the words linger in the silence between us. There’s not much I can say to a man who doesn’t have much longer to live.I’m sorryjust doesn’t cut it. I can’t imagine the things he’s feeling, knowing that he’s leaving his daughter behind, or how scared he must be for the end.
I wish it wasn’t him. I wish it was my own father, sick and dying, being taken from us so we can be rid of his evil.
“I want you to have this,” Robert says, slipping a thin white envelope out of the inside of his jacket.
My eyebrows pinch together as I take it from him. “What is it?”
“Don’t open it now. I just wanted you to have it for when the time comes.”
