From the Desk of Zoe Washington(28)

I stared ahead at all of the people walking around Davis and licked my ice cream before it could melt all over me.

“So, when are you going to tell us more about your internship?” Dad asked me.

I shrugged.

“Ari says you’re doing a great job so far.” Mom smiled and licked her ice cream.

I nodded, suppressing my own smile. Kids Bake Challenge! audition, here I come.

“C’mon, Zoe. Talk to us,” Dad said, gently nudging me with his shoulder.

I turned to Mom. “I want to write a letter to Marcus.”

Mom looked taken aback. “What? We talked about this.”

“But you’re not letting me have a say.”

Her mouth formed a straight line. She glanced at Dad before looking at me again. “Because you’re not ready to have a say.”

“I disagree,” I said.

“Why don’t we talk about this when we get home,” Dad said.

I ignored him and asked Mom, “Why are you so scared of me writing to him?”

“I’m not scared,” Mom said. “I’m concerned.”

“Why?”

“He’s a convicted murderer.”

Convicted, yes. But guilty? Maybe not.

“Do you really think he did it?” I asked.

“Did what?” Mom asked.

“Do you really think Marcus killed someone? He said he was innocent. During the trial,” I quickly added.

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“Um . . .” I thought fast. “I looked him up online. I was curious about him. I read that he pleaded ‘not guilty’ before the trial.”

“You can’t trust him. He’s—”

“How do you know?” I asked. “Do you really think he could kill someone?”

Mom looked down at her ice cream. Finally, she said, “I didn’t want to believe it at first. But I was at the trial and I heard all the testimony. Marcus was the last person seen with Lucy.”

“What if that witness got it wrong?”

“He lied to me about hanging out with her at all. I couldn’t trust him anymore.” She paused and then said, “I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t mean to do it, but I still think he could’ve.”

“But you don’t know for sure!”

“You’re right,” Mom said. “But I have to go with my gut on this.”

Grandma had said the same thing about her gut. Except she believed Marcus.

I turned to Dad. “What do you think?”

He thought about it. “I know this stinks. But I think your mom knows what’s best for you.”

All of a sudden, I felt trapped, sitting on that bench between the two of them. I stood up.

Mom stood up too, and her voice got louder. “Zoe, I’m only trying to protect you.”

Dad, still sitting on the bench, grabbed Mom’s wrist, but she shook him off.

“I know you’re curious about him,” Mom said to me. “I get that. But please don’t be mad at me. None of this is my fault. Marcus being in prison is not my fault.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a few people staring at us. I ignored them.

“It’s your fault I can’t write to him,” I said. “My own father! You’re keeping him from me!”

“Yes. And I’m doing the right thing,” Mom said.

I stared at her, my eyes filling with tears, as she stood there breathing heavily. I turned away from her, and then felt something cold and wet on my fingers. My ice cream cone was dripping everywhere. I walked to the nearest trash can and threw the cone into it. Dad came up behind me and handed me a couple of napkins, which I used to wipe my hands off. He tried to put his arm around me, but I wiggled out of his way.

“Let’s go home,” Dad said quietly.

Without a word, I followed him back to where we parked the car. Mom trailed behind us.

On the drive back, part of me wished I hadn’t ruined the night by bringing up Marcus at all. But most of me was determined to prove them wrong.





Chapter Nineteen


The Ari’s Cakes kitchen was really quiet when I walked in the next morning. Vincent, wearing a red bandanna, was overseeing the mixer, and Rosa was setting the timer on the wall of ovens. Liz was at the big metal table in the middle of the room, using a piping bag to pipe shimmery dark-blue icing onto what looked like vanilla cupcakes. Corey, on the other side of the table, carefully placed fondant decorations on the iced cupcakes. The finished ones each had a small, silver crescent moon and three mini gold stars. Ariana was helping Liz with the icing, and I watched in amazement as she piped a whole row super fast.

Everyone was so focused on what they were working on that nobody noticed me walk into the kitchen. I went up to Ariana and cleared my throat. “Um, good morning.”

“Oh—morning, Zoe,” Ariana said as she continued piping.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“We have a huge rush order this morning. Five hundred decorated cupcakes need to be ready by noon. It’s all hands on deck.”

“Cool! What should I do?” I asked.

Ariana paused her icing just long enough to glance at everyone else around the kitchen. “Why don’t you help Corey with the fondant. He’s cutting out moons and stars, so super simple, but there are a million of them.”