The Destiny of Violet and Luke(23)

It’s hot and my ankle is swelling from all the weight I’m putting on it, but I’m starving and I don’t have Preston’s car anymore because he only lends it to me when I’m dealing, so my only form of transportation is on foot. I’m counting how many blocks I have left in my head… five or maybe it’s six…

My phone rings and I answer, knowing the ringtone belongs to Preston. Part of me doesn’t want to answer it because I know he’s going to want me to do something I probably don’t feel up to and I won’t tell him no, because I owe him for taking me in when no one else would.

Before Preston came along, I was living with Mr. and Mrs. McGellon, a foster family who liked to lock me in the basement for hours whenever I smarted off or did something wrong. I would have been okay with sitting in the dark listening to the drip of the pipes, but I’ve hated basements ever since I was six. One time when Mr. McGellon threatened to put me down there, I’d shoved him out of frustration and when Mrs. McGellon threatened to call the police, I took off. I lived on the street for about two weeks, and then got busted when I stole some food from a grocery store and ended up spending time in juvie anyway. After I got out, when no one else wanted to take me in, Preston and his wife stepped up. They were young and I think social services was looking for a reason to get rid of me at that point, so they more than willingly turned me over to them. Still, they were there for me.

I answer the phone and put it up to my ear right before it goes to voicemail. “What’s up?”

“Kelley’s getting remarried,” he announces in an irritated tone.

“What do you mean she’s getting remarried?” I drag my foot down the sidewalk. “I thought she left you because she felt trapped.”

“Wow, thanks for painfully reminding me why my ex-wife packed her shit and left,” Preston says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Jesus, Violet, sometimes you’re too blunt for your own good.”

“Blunt?” I pause at the end of the sidewalk. “You’ve always told me what a liar I was.”

“You’re a liar when it comes to you,” he replies. “But with everyone else, you’re blunt. I swear to God you like witnessing people in pain.”

I cross the street and trip onto the curb. “Maybe, or maybe I’ve never been taught to censor myself.”

“You’re so full of it right now. You know exactly what you’re doing so don’t try to pretend you’re all na?ve and innocent.” His voice drops an octave. “And speaking of innocence, have you finally lost yours yet?”

I fidget uncomfortably, tugging the bottom of my T-shirt down, glad he can’t see me right now. “Don’t be a creepy old man.”

“I’m not that old, Violet,” he says. “And besides I was just making sure you’re okay and that no guys have f*cked you over. Asking about your love life would have been Kelley’s job but since she ditched us, I gotta step in and play the part.”

I shake my head. “Play the part of my foster mom?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“You’re such a sick freak.”

“Coming from the girl who refused to eat anything but pork ’n’ beans for two straight weeks when she first showed up at my house.”

I swing around a couple holding hands blocking the sidewalk. “What can I say? I was missing the foul taste of prison food.”

“You weren’t in prison,” he clarifies. “Just juvie. Don’t try to make yourself sound more badass than you are.”

“Hey, I’m badass,” I protest, not bothering to wind around water spraying on the sidewalk from some sprinklers in a yard. “I could kick your ass.”

He snorts a laugh and it gets under my skin. “Okay, I’ll tell you what. The next time you come here for a visit and we have some time, I’ll take you in my bedroom and you can try to show me how tough you are.”

I wipe water droplets off my arms. “Why would we have to go into the bedroom?”

His laughter drops to a deep throaty sound. “Think outside of your na?ve innocent brain, Violet, and maybe you’ll get it.”

“I’m not na?ve or innocent, just a little slow,” I say, catching on to what he meant. “And FYI, you’re disgusting and it’s never going to happen.” I don’t like it when he talks to me like this, but if I say anything serious about it, he’ll probably get upset. I saw him get that way with his now ex-wife Kelley and when Preston gets upset, he gets violent.