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“You heard me. I said, pull over.”
“Now, hold on—”
“Stop the fucking car.”
Nelson flinched, his hands twisting on the wheel. He slowed and pulled over, trees rising on both sides of the winding road. “This is the middle of nowhere. Look, Ronan, maybe I spoke too soon—”
“Thanks for the ride.” I climbed out and slammed the door behind me.
Nelson rolled down the passenger window and drove the car at a crawl to keep up with me, desperation in his voice. I guessed he needed me more than he let on.
“You going to leave all your shit in my trunk?”
“Yep.”
“Be smart, Ronan. You got nothing here.”
I’ve always had nothing. I kept walking.
He leaned across the passenger seat, his tone softening slightly. “Look. I wouldn’t have been no kind of parent to a little kid. But I’m here now and we’re family. This situation works for both of us. Right?”
Family. That damn word again. I stopped walking.
“There you go,” Nelson said. “Now get in and—”
“She was going to leave him.”
He blinked stupidly. “Huh?”
“You asked what Mom did to set Dad off,” I said, turning my stare—flat and hard—on Nelson. “He came home after a night in jail for roughing her up. Because they never kept him long enough. Never protected her.”
I didn’t protect her…
I cleared the thickness from my throat. “She told him she was taking me and leaving. So he fucking killed her.”
Nelson hunched his shoulders, his eyes anywhere but me. “Yeah, okay, okay.”
“Don’t talk about her ever again. Not her name. Nothing.”
“Whatever you say.”
“And I’m going to finish school.”
Nelson’s eyes widened. “Full of demands, aren
’t we? Watch yourself, boy.”
I didn’t move.
He spat another curse. “It won’t work. You’ll see. Hard for you and harder for me with the tenants.”
I started walking.
“Okay, okay, if you insist, Einstein. Now will you get in the damn car?”
I climbed back in, my bag on my lap, and slammed the door.
“Christ,” Nelson muttered under his breath as he pulled the car back onto the road. “When has anything been easy? Never, that’s when.”
