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“Yup.” Dad’s chest puffs out like this house is something to be proud of.
The gray carpet is nearly black from dirt and tobacco, the linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom is pulling up, our furniture is whatever we found for free on trash day, and there aren’t any decorations on the walls, unlike my friends’ houses.
Laura must see something different, though, because she oohs and aahs over everything she passes. Finally, he leads her down the hallway to the bedrooms.
“This is little Vivi’s room.” He opens the door for the mother and daughter.
The rest of the house might be full of secondhand crap, but the second Laura agreed to move from Colorado to Reno, he opened up a new credit card and spent a mint on all new shit for his and Vivi’s rooms.
Never mind that I sleep on an old mattress on the floor.
“Oh, Ray. This is so sweet.” Laura takes in the princess room, complete with a white vanity and canopy bed.
“Gotta make my girls comfortable,” Dad says, bending down to Vivi’s level. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
“I hate pink.”
“Vivi,” Laura admonishes. “That wasn’t polite. Ray went to all this trouble for you.”
The girl sulks. “Sorry. It’s a nice room.”
I prepare for a violent storm as the wind in Dad’s sail deflates, but it never comes. He takes the insult in stride, standing to his full height and running his hands down the suspenders that keep his jeans from falling due to his flat ass and huge beer gut. Maybe if he wore his jeans backward, they’d fit right.
I almost smile at that image.
Almost.
“It was wrong of me to assume. Why don’t you try it for a few days, and if you still hate it, we’ll trade it all in for something different?”
What the hell is going on?If I complained about something Dad spent his “hard-earned money” on, he’d slam my head through a wall. Matter of fact, last weekend he made me patch all the holes from him doing just that.
Laura swoons, kissing Dad on the cheek. “You are the best man I’ve ever met, Ray Brown. Why don’t you show me your room while the kids get acquainted?”
Get acquainted? I’m sixteen. What do I have in common with a six-year-old? Then, it hits me: I just graduated from Dad’s punching bag to the built-in babysitter of a stepsister I didn’t ask for. Fucking perfect.
“Ourroom,” Dad corrects, his hand returning to my shoulder with a threat I feel but Laura doesn’t see. “Colin would love to hang out with Vivi. Right, son?”
“Yeah. Sure,” I say with zero enthusiasm.
Laura giggles as Dad drags her to his room at the end of the hall and shuts the door behind them. These old houses have thin walls, so when we hear the dramatic moan Laura lets out, I know I gotta get this kid out of here before she’s scarred for life. Living in this house will ruin her soon enough, but it doesn’t have to start on day one.
“You wanna walk to the gas station and get some candy?” I ask her.
“I don’t have any money.”
“It’s cool. I got you.”
Once outside, she slips her hand into mine and beams up at me. I don’t know if that’s normal for kids to do since I’ve never spent time with any, but I’m surprised at how good it makes me feel. This tiny thing I just barely met is trusting me, counting on me to keep her safe in a place she doesn’t know anything about.
I don’t know if Dad and Laura will work out, but I know, in this moment, that I’ll always be there for Vivi. Someone’s got to look out for her, and it sure as shit ain’t her mom. That bitch moved her child in with a man she’d never even met in real life. How fucking stupid can you get?
“Were you sad to leave your old house?” I ask.
“I was sad to leave my friends.”
“I get that. It’d suck if I had to move away from mine.” I think about the crew I’ve grown up with since I can remember—Aiden, Jackson, and Wilder. I can’t imagine moving away from them. “I’m sure you’ll make new ones. Your new school is just over there.” I point to the top of the hill. “That’s where I went when I was a kid. Pretty good teachers and a wicked cool playground.”
She looks up at me in wonder. I realize I’ve never had anyone look up to me before, and I don’t mean because of our height difference. She thinks I’m worth something, which feels damn good.
