AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The curse feels clumsy on his tongue. But when he steps towards Piper, I don’t care how much he reminds me of a younger version of myself. I tuck Piper behind me and block the kid’s path.
“Don’t do anything stupid, son.”
“Or what?” he hisses. “You’ll take me away? It’s a little too late for that.”
God, it’s like looking at a picture of me at his age. I was right to stay outside. I shouldn’t have come in here.
“No one is taking you anywhere,” Piper says.
I turn my head to her, my voice low enough so only she can hear. “Don’t lie.”
Her attention snaps to me just as Grant turns around and kicks the hell out of a lawn chair sitting in his room. The plastic bends and deforms under his foot, but he whales on it a few more times until it’s limp and useless in the corner.
When he turns to face us, he’s breathing heavily. “You’re not taking us today, but you will. Get out of my room.”
Piper looks at him with her eyes pinched together in sympathy. She might as well toss acid at the kid. He doesn’t want her sympathy. Fuck knows I didn’t want any from the man with the mustache who yanked me out of my home.
“Get out!” Grant screams. “You’re not welcome here. Leave!”
The moment Piper steps back into the hallway, Grant kicks the door closed in our faces.
“That went well,” Piper mumbles. She shakes off the interaction and looks down at the little girl standing next to her. “Where is your mom’s room?”
The girl points to the end of the hall. “Is Mama in trouble?”
“No, honey.” Piper kneels down to the little girl’s level. “I just need to talk to your mama about how she takes care of you. It’s boring, grown-up stuff about her job.”
“Mama doesn’t have a job,” the girl says. There’s an innocence to the way she says it. No judgment or understanding of what it means. Talking to her is a manipulation. She doesn’t know what she’s saying or what it could mean for their case. “Grant takes care of us. He taught me how to make bottles for Olivia and—”
“Enough,” I growl.
The little girl shrinks away from me. Good.
I grab Piper by the shirt sleeve and drag her towards the back door. “You’re here to talk to the mom.”
“I’m here to talk to all of them,” she hisses. “It’s my job. You’re just watching. Let me do what I need to do.”
“They don’t want to talk to you.” I rap my knuckles hard on the wooden door. No one answers, so I throw it open. A woman is lying in bed, her hair matted against her head. Her pajamas are dingy and almost transparent from constant use. The room smells like sweat and must.
The scent, more than anything, takes me back.
I see myself standing in my mom’s doorway, begging her to get up. To do something. It didn’t work. It never did.
If I don’t leave now, I’ll walk into this strange woman’s room and shake her. I’ll try to slap some sense into her, even though I know it won’t do any good.
I push Piper through the door ahead of me. “Talk to her.”
Then I walk away.
54
TIMOFEY
I pace in the hallway for a few seconds before I realize the little girl is trembling at the idea of being left alone with me. With nowhere else to go, I push open Grant’s door and step inside.
“Get out of here!” He jumps up, on the defensive even though I can tell he’s terrified.
“Sit the fuck down,” I order.
