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“They have so many bills, especially João with his mother and Ana …” I sucked in a sharp breath, unsure if I should tell her about Ana’s sickness. But I needed to tell her something to get her to help me. “His sister is sick. Really sick.”
“I know,” Mom said.
“You know?” I asked, brows furrowing.
“I wasn’t going to let my daughter run off with those three all night without figuring out who they and their families were. I know more than you think about those three boys,” she said. “And still, I let you run off with them.”
“Because you know that they’d protect me,” I said. “You’ve seen them do it.”
Mom stayed quiet. “What do they mean to you?”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, knowing that if I told her I had a thing for all of them, she wouldn’t understand. I didn’t even know how she’d react. Her daughter was a slut for Poison. I couldn’t stop myself.
“I don’t understand this,” I whispered, glancing nervously back at the screen. I had been researching hundreds of insurances that they could get on. “They have their own problems that they’re taking care of. They don’t have time to look through all this stuff, and the window where they can get insurance is closing at the beginning of December, isn’t it?”
Mom parted her lips and pressed them back together, glancing from the screen to me. Suddenly, she pulled me into a hug and held me to her so tightly, tighter than she ever had. I hesitantly rubbed her back, unsure why she was now hugging me.
“You’re so much better than me,” she whispered when she pulled away. “Don’t ever lose this about yourself.”
“Do you know how I can sign them up? What kind of documents do they need?” I asked.
“I don’t like them. I don’t trust them. But …” She gently grasped my chin and gave me a soft smile. “You’re serious about helping them, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
She grabbed a sticky note from her desk and scribbled a couple things on it, then handed it to me. “Tell them to gather these documents. I will bring you all to the mall this weekend and help them sign up at one of those stations advertising health care.”
My eyes widened, surprised. “Really?”
“Yes.”
I smiled and hugged her back. “Thank you.”
After a couple moments, my phone buzzed on the table, and Allie’s name popped up.
Allie: Football game starts in forty minutes. I know that we have so much shit going on, but I thought we could go to … you know, relax for a bit? If you wanna go, can you pick me up?
Mom glanced at my message and gently nudged my back. “Go pick Allie up. Have fun. We’ll talk more when you get home.”
