AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hid my face in my pillow. “Take it. Take all the food and forget this ever happened.”
Frankie shut the door. “Already forgotten!”
Maverick waited until the door clicked before leaning back down on me. “Where were we?”
***
Maverick jerked causing me to sit up in my bed. He looked childlike sleeping beside me, his lips opened slightly, his huge bicep lying across my stomach, pinning me to my mattress. He’d spent the first half of the night twitching, and mumbling something beneath his breath.
Biting my lip, I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and opened Google. I felt like a nosey girlfriend, but it wouldn’t hurt to do research would it? From what I remember Frankie mentioning, their mother’s name was Sherri Booker because she refused to let the boys have their father’s last name.
To say her history with the police was extravagant would be an understatement. Numerous news articles about drug charges, prostitution, and child endangerment were pulled up. She looked strung out on most of her mugshots. I couldn’t believe no one at school knew about this.
I went to turn off my screen when I noticed an article about her claiming to be beaten by one of her boyfriends. My mind wandered to the possibility of it happening to Maverick, but not Frankie. Maverick loved his brother, and most likely stood up for him.
The guy’s name wasn’t used in the article so I didn’t push it. If Maverick wanted me to know he’d been beat up by one of her boyfriends, he’d tell me,maybe. I put my phone back down and interlaced my fingers on top of Maverick’s arm.
What did that have to do with me? I tried to think. I was positive I didn’t know Maverick before school, and if I did, I didn’t remember it. Sleepiness beat me shortly after I started trying to put unmatched pieces together in my head. Maverick would have to tell me. I prayed his counseling sessions—if he decided to continue going—would encourage him to come clean.
And let me know what demons he hid behind that guarded heart.
Chapter Twenty
Maverick
I don’t know why I even came. It wasn’t like the counseling from the week before helped. Now I sat in the too-silent room, with too-bright windows and all-white furniture. Courtney cleared her throat after a few minutes.
“I’m glad you came back, Maverick. How have you been?”
I shrugged. I don’t know why her voice irritated me so much. “I’m okay.”
Courtney smiled politely and adjusted her glasses on her nose. “Last time you were here, you had a memory and panicked. Any more of those?”
“No. I had a nightmare the other night.”
She shifted her gaze to me. “What about?”
“My childhood, one of my mother’s boyfriends beating me.”
Courtney put her notepad to the side and curled her laced fingers around her crossed legs. “Do you often have nightmares about that?”
I shifted nervously, looking at the clock, which had hardly moved since I sat down. “Sometimes, yeah.”
“Did you ever tell anyone about it?” she asked. “Your mother? The police?”
I scoffed, scrubbing my palm down my face. “My mother didn’t care, and the police wouldn’t believe the son of a druggie. There was no use.”
Courtney frowned. “Anything else happened lately? What about school?”
“It’s fine. I got a new job at an antique store downtown to help with Frankie’s expenses after classes.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah, the old guy that owns it is laid back and pays decent, enough to keep food in Frankie’s belly and clothes on his back. I’m thankful for it.”
Courtney eyed me cautiously. “Have you told anyone about what happened? Your brother or … your friend?”
Here we go.
