AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Casey can’t be trusted alone by himself?” The kid hadn’t struck me as the irresponsible type or the type to throw a wild party when his parents were away.
“No. I mean, yes. Usually, he can, but he was really sad today.” On the way here, I sent a text to my neighbor to check in on him periodically, but I thought I would only be out for about an hour or so. It has now been almost double that.
“Do you watch him every day?” I asked.
“Yes,” she responded immediately.
“So, let me get this straight. You work at least two jobs almost every single day of the week, and then you go home and take care of your parents and watch your nephew.”
“Yeah, pretty much. Oh, great, it’s on.”
“Then when do you have time for yourself?” I asked with a frown. “To go on dates or out with friends?”
She glanced up at me, pausing in the act of turning on her phone. “I don’t know. I don’t really do any of that stuff.”
“Never?” I asked, feeling shocked.
“Nope,” she said. “The day you met me was kind of an off day for me. I was having a party with the other people from the gas station to celebrate not getting laid off.”
“Ah.” When I bought the place, I heard that employees had been let go, but I never really thought hard about how it affected their personal life.
“What does that mean?” she asked. I just shook my head.
“Nothing,” I finally said after a moment. “I just think it must be hard on you to carry all that responsibility at your age, is all.”
She smiled. “I’m their daughter, you know? It’s kind of what you’re supposed to do for your parents.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I said pensively.
She frowned at me. “You never had parents?”
“Nope, never knew them. I was told they both died in a car crash when I was born. I was raised in foster care.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”A range of emotions crossed her face before settling on sympathy. “That must have been horrible.”
“Not really. Some foster homes were better than others,” I responded just as her phone immediately started ringing, barring further conversations.
“Hey, Casey, are you okay?” She waited tensely, and then her shoulders dropped as she answered, “Oh, Mom’s home. Thank God.”
She listened intently, and her shoulders grew tighter again.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it when I get home.” There was a pause as Casey said something before she added, “Yes, soon.” She waited again, apparently listening, then gave a little smile. “Love you too. I’ll explain everything when I get home, okay? Alright, bye.”
After she hung up and traipsed back toward me, I could clearly see the sadness on her face again, her shoulders sagging as if they were holding up the weight of the world. I didn’t even think about it before opening my arms wide.
She snuggled into my arms and sighed as she laid her head on my shoulders. I instantly felt a sense of contentment spread through me. This was a dangerous position to be in, but I couldn’t bring myself to care much about it right now.
“What you did to Casey today was shitty,” she chastised. “I know you’re probably going through your shit, and I sympathize, but you don’t cancel on kids like that. Casey is really sensitive, and he’ll think you don’t like him. You should have seen him today.”
I imagined the cheerful boy losing his smile, and I felt like a scum of the earth. This was why I wasn’t fit to be his father. I would hurt him without even knowing it.
The same way I always hurt Toby.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly and felt her freeze like she’d been shot.
“Did you just apologize?” she asked, her eyes wide with amazement.
Her shocked tone nearly made me smile. “I guess I did. Is it that shocking?”
