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She blew out a shaky breath. “Anyway, we got in the car. My mom was in the backseat. I rode shotgun and he drove. In the cupholder between us was a half-drunk bottle of Rebel Yell and his gun.
Cam’s breath lodged in his chest but he didn’t interrupt her. He swallowed the churning and let her continue.
“First, we stopped by her school. She went inside and came back with a Ziploc bag full of the petty cash. Then, we drove for a couple of hours and went into a convenience store. He told me to go down all the aisles and pick up chips and a drink. And then we got out and drove some more. He said we would go back and I was going inside with him and my mom would drive when we got out. My mom plead with him not to do this, that I was just a kid. But he told her to shut up and that’s when I got it. He was planning on robbing the store with me and forcing her to drive the getaway.”
“Shit.” The word slipped out of Cam’s mouth.
“It was a stupid idea. We would’ve gotten caught. Except, he was still drinking like he always was and had to pee. So, he stopped the car in the middle of nowhere. He must have been half drunk by then because he made us get out of the car, but left the gun in the cupholder. Mom didn’t notice but I did. I reached in and grabbed it. By the time he realized it, I was pointing it at him. Mom ran and took it from my hands. He advanced toward her. She told him to stop. He didn’t. She shot him on the side of his stomach.”
“Fuck, Adri.”
She continued like he didn’t speak. “He kept screaming thatMomwould go to jail and he would tell them she helped him escape. We ran. Mom let him keep his phone and told him that if he called the cops he would end up back in jail because he was a fugitive. We hoppedinthe car and drove back home. Mom and I talked. On the drive back, she told me everything, the verbal abuse, his threats to take me from her, how he hit her in places people couldn’t see…”
Her lips trembled a bit. “How the cops were no help. When she tried to file a restraining order when he’d threatened her at first, they’d said he had to hurt her first. After that, the abuse turned physical but she couldn’t go to the police because he threatened to take me. She’d never see me again. Anyway, after we left him, we went to her job first. Mom went in and put the money back. Then we drove home, talked, and decided to keep it a secret. They called us a few weeks later. Fausto died in a hospital from complications from the bullet wound.”
Cam was reeling. He wouldn’t believe what he was hearing except it was Adrianna telling him and the truth was in her pale skin and spooked eyes. “Jesus, no one can blame you or your mom for doing that.”
“He still messed us up. We left him the phone and he used it to call your father. He still has the tape.” She came around the desk to stand in front of him. “You see why I have to pay him? My mom can’t go to jail because of me.”
Heat flooded his face and he took her shoulders in his hands. “Because of you? You didn’t do anything. You and your mom were victims.”
“It was all my fault. I let him in. She told me like a thousand times, but I had this stupid idea of a family together. He made me believe it was possible and I let him in and ruined everything. I should have called the cops.”
He couldn’t let her beat herself up like that. Not when he could understand what it was like to want your parents to love you and be together. He would have done the same. No, he probably would have shot Fausto himself. “You were not dumb. You were a kid. You wanted your family together and you didn’t know your dad was an asshole. Your mom didn’t tell you. That’s not dumb. It’s normal.”
He wrapped his arms around her and this time she let him touch her. Her skin cold and clammy, she burrowed closer.
“Cam, if something should happen, you have to take care of Bron…” Her voice broke and she buried her faceinhis chest.
