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“I’m not worrying,” I lie. “Well, not about that.”
“Then, what are you worrying about?”
“Where Dad is, the power getting turned on, getting ahold of the landlord.”
“So, the usual things.”
“Yep.”
Silence encases us, except for the soft sound of music floating from somewhere outside.
“Do you think we’ll ever stop moving?” Payton wonders. “I mean, while we’re living with Dad?”
I want to tell her yes, but I can’t bring myself to lie. “I’m not sure.”
Sadly, I can’t envision our dad suddenly becoming responsible again and taking care of the bills in a timely manner so we won’t get evicted. And honestly, in the back of my mind, where my imagination sometimes runs crazy, I wonder if perhaps our dad does it on purpose. That he moves us around so frequently because he’s running away from something.
“Night,” I whisper to my sisters as Payton turns off her phone. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” Londyn mutters sleepily.
“Love all your crazy asses,” Bailey mutters through a yawn.
“Love you guys, too.” Payton sneezes. “I don’t love this dust, though.”
“We’ll clean it up tomorrow.” I roll over to my side.
No one says anything more, and a handful of moments later, Payton starts snoring.
As my eyelids start to grow heavy, I swear I hear a thump from either in the house or just outside.
On edge, I turn on my flashlight app, climb out of the sleeping bag, and do a quick search of the house, but I stumble across nothing and it’s too dark outside to see much of anything.
Giving up, I climb back into my sleeping bag, and it ends up taking me half the night before my eyelids lower shut again.
5
HADLEY
“Hadley, wake up.”Someone shakes my shoulder.
I wish they’d go away. I’m having the best dream about going off to college. I live in a nice one-bedroom apartment that has adishwasher.
“Hadley, wake up.” They shake me again.
Ugh.
No, I don’t want to wake up. I want to stay here in my dream …
But the apartment fades as Bailey appears in front of me, a bruise on her cheek.
“Why did you leave us?” She pouts.
“What happened to your face?” I ask worriedly.
“Dad hit me,” she says with tears falling down her cheeks. “He smacked me across the face because I told him off.”
“That happened to me once.” My cheek begins to burn. “Recently actually.”
