AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
* * *
“I don’t feel so good.” Eli groaned, clutching his tummy as I hauled him out of his seat and into my arms.
“Come on, E. Let’s get you to bed.”
“Will you stay with me? I don’t wanna be sick.”
“How about we get your pillow and make you a bed on the couch?” He nodded against my shoulder, pained groans coming from him. “It’s okay, buddy. I’ve got you.”
I managed to get the door open without putting him down and went straight to the living room. The house was quiet with no signs of Mom.
“Here.” I laid him down gently, tucking a cushion behind his head. “I’ll get you pajamas and your pillow, okay?”
“Thanks, Ev. I loves you.”
I managed a strangled reply as I left him and went to get his things. Inside his room, I pushed his door and retrieved my cell phone from my pocket.
“Evan?”
“Where the hell are you?”
I could hear commotion in the background, voices and laughter. Mom sighed down the line like my call was a huge inconvenience. “I’m out with your aunt.”
“Didn’t you hear your phone? Eli’s pre-K called you.”
“They did? Oh.”
Oh?My blood boiled, and I dragged a hand over my head. “Eli is sick. I had to pick him up.”
“That’s good. Thanks, baby.”
Thanks? Was she for real?“Are you fucking kidding me?” I ground out. “I had to leave school, Mom. You’re not at the store. You’re supposed to be the one doing this shit.”
“Evan, I—”
I didn’t wait around to hear her bullshit excuse. “Just come home. He needs you.”He needs his mom.Hanging up, I collected the pillow and Eli’sPaw Patrolpajamas and headed back to him.
The poor little guy had fallen asleep hugging his favorite stuffed toy. I grabbed a blanket off the chair and covered him up. When I’d arrived at pre-K to pick him up, he didn’t bat an eye at me standing there instead of Mom. How fucked up was that? That this innocent little boy already knew not to rely on his mom.
I loved the little shit more than I loved anything else in the world, but I knew that my love would never replace the love of his mom. Yet she couldn’t be who he needed her to be. And unless things drastically changed, I couldn’t see things being different anytime soon. The idea ate through me like acid.
Eli would grow up knowing that one parent didn’t love him enough to stick around and the other didn’t love him enough to care. It was so unfair. Things weren’t supposed to be like this. It was my senior year. I was supposed to be focusing on college, on my future. Instead, I was juggling raising my younger brother and keeping the girl I’d fallen for out of trouble, all while appeasing my fucked-up family.
I was exhausted.
Besides Mellie, I had no one to turn to. Nobody was waiting on the sidelines, ready to step in and pick up the pieces when shit got too much. Dad had walked out and never looked back, and Mom… well, she spent half the time checked out of reality. Which left me.
I sank in the chair, watching Eli in his peaceful slumber, the steady rise and fall of his chest as he murmured nothings to his bear. Maybe if he didn’t exist, things would be different. Nothing would tie to me this place.Nothing except Becca. I didn’t know how long I sat there, watching, but the door opening and the sound of voices roused me from my thoughts.
“Evan? It’s me.” Mom sounded so casual as if she hadn’t dropped the ball again.
“In here,” I said flatly.
Her and Elaina shuffled into the room, their arms laden with bags. “We were out shopping.”
“Hey, sweetie, come over here and help us?” Elaina threw me a sickly-sweet smile, and I wanted to run—to get as far away from this nightmare as possible—but Eli stirred, reminding me that I couldn’t. I could never run.
