AllFreeNovel
Share Us
To me, and about me…
It made me feel weird then, but I didn’t understand. I do now. And it makes me want to punch him even more. Especially now that I know he had another kid, and has likely been putting them through the same crap he put us through.
Except…
I had Mom.
Did Squirt have anyone? Was his mom nice like mine? Or was she like our Dad…
Overdosed.
I know what that word means.
“I don’t get why he’d bring him here of all places,” Mom says. “And to drop him off like a fucking package on our front porch. Couldn’t even be bothered to stay long enough to say hi to the other kid he abandoned.”
She lets out a frustrated noise, and I shift from foot to foot, unable to bring myself to leave.
“I know, I know,” she rushes out quickly. “It would’ve just made things worse. I guess I just…I guess I still had hope that one day, he’d get his act together. For Mason’s sake. Not mine. I’d be fine with never seeing him again. But—Yeah, I know.” She sighs.
It’s quiet for so long this time, I wonder if maybe she hung up.
More smoke billows out the window, disappearing into the gray sky.
I haven’t seen Mom smoke in years. I know she still does it once in a while, when she’s really stressed. She keeps a pack and matches hidden in the back of our junk drawer of our hutch. I wonder if she even knows I know it’s there.
“Thank you,” she says softly. There’s a sniff, then, “Of course not. Hell, him leaving the kid with me was probably the best decision he’s ever made. I can’t even imagine…” Her voice trails off with another sigh.
I wet my lips, tucking the bottom one between my teeth.
“We’ll figure it out. I know we will. I just…” I picture her shaking her head. Linda must ask something, because she says, “I don’t know. He might. You never know with Travis. He could show up a month from now, and demand his kid back. And then what? How do I in good conscious give him up?” She says roughly. “He’s just a child. He’s not mine, but?—”
I hold myself tighter, my eyes stinging.
I don’t want him to go.
Squirt needs to stay here.
“Yeah, I guess I could give them a call. But what if they put him in the system instead? Yeah, yeah, I know that would at least protect him from his dad, should he come back. But…”
I force another hard swallow, and take a step back, then another.
There’s that weird feeling inside me again, one I haven’t felt in years, like something’s digging and clawing at my insides, and I’m finding it hard to breathe.
Turning away from the kitchen, I all but run back upstairs.
Squirt’s still fast asleep in my bed, my old Marvel blanket wrapped around him, covering every inch but his long, wild platinum hair. The stuffed turtle must be tucked to his chest underneath, because I don’t see it anywhere.
My breaths stutter out of me, sharp and forced.
They can’t take him.
He’s my brother.
I can’t lose him when I just found him.
I spot my cellphone on the nightstand, and quickly, quietly grab it, before taking it to the bathroom with me.
It’s Mom’s old flip phone that she gave me a couple months ago—said it’s for emergencies only, because it’s paid by the minutes used. So far, I’ve only ever used it to play games.
