AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I kick off my shoes because Benji’s kicked his off and bound in after him. “Cool. Do you have two controllers?”
“No,” he replies, holding two controllers.
I look around. Have I been in this room? I can’t remember. It looks different—I’m not generally here when the kids are, and it’s like they’ve exploded life in the space. Throw blankets and backpacks and video games—it’s not messy, necessarily, just… lived in.
“Dude,” I say, holding out my hands. “Why are we enemies?”
“We’re not,” he says, furrowing his brow.
“Why did you leave me out in thecoldthen?” I tease.
Benji huffs. “I just… I’m not some kid. Everyone thinks I can’t handle things, but I can.”
He hands me a remote. Silently, we sit on the couch, and he queues up a game.
“What kind of stuff?” I ask as the game’s music begins.
Benji glances at me furtively and then sighs. “Like, Dad didn’t even tell me about you. He waited till he was caught.”
I feel a pang of guilt.
“And other stuff,” he continues before I can think of a good response. “Like, I think Lewis is going to propose to my mom, but he hasn’t even told me.”
I frown. “Well, that can’t be true.”
Benji looks at me sharply. “How come?”
“Because Lewis ismybrother. I know he’d tell you. And, plus, he’d definitely tell me.” I am sure of this. “He might be thinking about it, but I promise, ifwedon’t know, then he’s just not ready to tell people.”
Benji seems to consider this. I can’t tell if it helps.
“And as for your dad…” I hesitate, but he’s looking at me, so I keep going. “That’s my fault.”
“What do you mean?” He asks while he turns fully, ignoring the game’s loading screen.
“Well, you know, your dad is… Your dad is a great guy. But relationships are tricky. And I didn’t want anyone to know yet. So that’s why he didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if he reallyliked me, so I didn’t want anyone to know.” The words come out quickly, tumbling out in an easy way like lies rarely do.
Thankfully, he looks to be believing me.
“Well…” he sighs. “My daddoeslike you. It’s gross.”
I smile. “Thanks, kid.”
“Ugh. Just for that, I’m choosing my Mario Kart character first.” He taps the controller, and it’s all the notice I need for the conversation to be over.
For the next two hours, we just played. I get a few texts from Jessi telling me Angie’s okay, and we break into the sparkling water since David has no soda pop here for some terrible reason.
All in all, it’s a good time. I don’t even notice when David gets home until he’s in the room.
David walks in, his eyes wide. “Um, hi,” he says, and I grin at him. He’s halfway taking his jacket off. In his one hand, he has a plastic bag.
“Dad, did you know Laurais the bestat Mario Kart?” Benji asks, turning with a smile. I feel a burst of pride in my chest.
“I did not,” David says, sounding genuinely bewildered. “I brought you your ice cream, Laura? Though I didn’t know what flavor and you didn’t answer the phone.”
“Sorry,” I say, hopping up. “Too busydemolishingyour kid as Yoshi.” I open the bag and grin. Inside of it are three small containers of ice cream: vanilla, rocky road, and strawberry. “Covered your bases.”
“Yeah, well, you were…” David’s eyes flicker to Benji. “Persuasive.”
