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“I’m not sure about anything anymore,” I quip.
nine
Callie
Then
It’s beenover thirty minutes, and I know he’s not coming. My dad was supposed to give me a ride to Concord for my science fair today. I reminded him, texted him, and even had his secretary at the bank put it on his calendar. I figured he’d be home in time to take me. I checked my watch again. I pulled my phone out of my backpack and called him. It rings, and finally, I get his voicemail. I hung up and called my mom. She answers, and it sounds like I caught her mid-laugh. “Hello. . .” She’s loud and I can tell she’s probably at the club with her friends and likely already several glasses in.
“Mom, do you know where Dad is? He’s supposed to give me a ride.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you know he has a work thing. He can’t make it.” I suspect there’s no work thing. He’s probably drinking at the same club, too.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying not to cry. “I have to go, Mom.” I hang up, and tears fill my eyes. They forgot about me. Again. And this was important to me. I’ve been working on this project for months. It’s all I’ve talked about. I can’t rely on them for anything. Time and time again, they leave me to figure out everything on my own, yet they still put all this pressure on me to do well in school.
I take a deep breath and call SJ.
“Hey, what’s up, Cal?” SJ answers.
“He forgot about me.” I sniff, trying not to cry. “And I can’t get it loaded by myself without breaking it.”
There’s silence, and I hear shuffling, then he says, “I’ll be there in ten minutes. I’ll bring Dad to help load it. Don’t worry, I’ll get you there on time.”
“Thanks, I really appreciate it. Bye,” I say as I hang up the phone. I worked on this project at Sam’s shop for a month, and then it took two of us to get it to my parents’ house so that I could be ready for the science fair.
I sit with my knees to my chest and try not to cry. It’s fine. I’ll get there, I’ll have a smile on my face, and it’ll all work out. This doesn’t matter.
I hear them before I see them. SJ pulls up in his dad’s older model green truck, and Sam and Bear are on their bikes and pull in and park in our circular driveway behind the truck.
SJ jogs up to my front door as I open it. “I’m so happy to see you,” I say with relief, giving him a hug and kissing him.
“It’s okay. Road trip, it’ll be fun,” he says as he reaches for my backpack and carries it to the front seat of the truck. “I should have just planned on taking you anyway.” He’s right, but my parents would have had a fit if they knew SJ had taken me, so that was why I had asked my parents months ago. Now, it doesn’t matter. I won’t be asking them for anything, and I’ll be taking care of myself from now on, just like I usually do.
“Hey, girlie,” Bear calls, and Sam squeezes my shoulder as they enter my front door and pick up my science project, a paper mâché replica of the human body with all the organs and bones labeled and painted. It’s super fragile, and they bring it to the truck and slide it in the back seat, careful not to let it bend.
I look at SJ, and he snorts. Apparently, we both find it funny to see these two bikers arguing over how to keep my science project safe by trying to buckle it in. It looks like they just carried a human body out to the back of the truck. And then seeing them at my parents' big ostentatious house is funny too. My parents would have a coronary if they saw them here. They should have thought about that before they forgot about me and how much this day means to me. Jerks.
“You should be all set, Callie,” Sam calls. “Drive careful, son,” he calls over his shoulder to SJ.
“Thank you,” I call as they swing their legs over their bikes, straightening their leather vests and sliding on their helmets. Both give a wave as they take off from the driveway. Tears prick my eyes as I wave back, and I think about how Sam and the club show up for me, and I’m not even Sam’s kid. That makes me feel wanted and safe when I’m with them.
“Ready?” SJ calls from the driver’s seat of the truck.
“Ready.” I slide into the seat beside him.
* * *
“I can’t believe I won!” I say excitedly as we drive back to Freedom Valley.
“I can. You deserve it. You worked so hard.”
“I couldn’t have done it without your help and your dad letting me work on it at the shop,” I say gratefully.
He looks over at me. “Can I ask you something? Why did you want the scholarship money so bad? Isn’t your dad going to help you with school?”
I shrug. “I can’t rely on them or trust them. I’m also not sure they have as much money as they’d like people to believe,” I say quietly. I don’t want to tell him, but most of my parents’ fights of late have been over money and their lack thereof. I don’t want to take anything from them or owe them down the road.
“We don’t need them anyway,” he says.
