Eighteen (18)(46)

“You will not. He’s picking me up right now and if you so much as look at him funny, I will never talk to you again.”

Mateo sighs, runs his fingers through his hair, and then walks away and goes back inside.

I told him.

I tap my foot as I smoke.

Yup. Told his ass right off.

I blow some rings.

He can take his Hawaii trip and shove it up his ass.

Ten minutes later my cigarette is long gone and I’m calming down when Danny pulls in to the parking lot. I get in the passenger side and hug my backpack to my chest.

“Bad night?”

I nod.

“Did you fight with him?”

“Yes, a little. But that’s not the half of it. I wanted to take a test today to try and make progress in this class, so he gave it to me, and goddammit, Danny, it was the longest f*cking question ever.”

“So you gave up and walked out?”

“How’d you guess?”

“You’re riled up.”

“I’m calm now.”

“So you didn’t understand the question? Maybe Mateo needs to change his teaching methods?”

I can’t tell if that’s a dig or not, so I assume it’s not. “It’s not that. I understood the question, but I don’t think I know the x and y coordinates of the unit circle from memory. I remember glancing at that section and seeing all this square root shit, and I said, f*ck that.”

Danny laughs. “I didn’t realize ‘f*ck that’ was an option in school. Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong? Did you study it?”

“Study it? I don’t study, Danny.”

“Oh.” He laughs. “Excuse me, Miss Einstein. Most of us dimwits have to study to pass tests.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just mean, usually I can remember enough from homework to get by. But this question was ridiculous, you know?”

“Ah,” he says as he drives. He probably thinks I’m emotionally unstable and a snooty bitch on top of it. “You wanna go out to eat with me? I’m buying.”

My stomach grumbles, that’s how much I want to go out to dinner. “I can’t. Jason is waiting for me and I can only guess the next fight will be the best all day.”

“Want me to come in with you?”

“No.” I sigh. “That will just piss him off more.”

“OK,” he says, turning into my alley and stopping in front of my patio door. “Want a ride to school tomorrow?”

“I’ll walk, but thank you so much.” I smile at him. “Really. I think you’re my only friend in this stupid town.”

“An honor I cherish. I’m just down the street if you need me.”

“Thank you,” I say, getting out of the car and waving as he drives off.

“I told you not to come home,” Jason says from the open patio door.

My anger is back. I hate everyone but Danny right now. “Hey, if that’s how you feel, let me grab my clothes and I’m outta here.”

I push past him and go inside, glance down at sleeping Olivia in that stupid swing, and go into my room. Jason appears in the doorway, hands on either side of the jamb, blocking me in.

I spy the window and calculate my chances of opening it up and squirming my way through if he comes at me.

Not good.

“What?” I hiss, turning to face him. I find attack mode generally defuses things with men. They are constantly surprised at the amount of venom I can spew from this little five-foot-tall body. “You want to be pissed off because I was sick too? Fuck you.”

He watches me shove clothes into my pack until it’s bulging so much, I can’t pull the top drawstring closed. Then he says, calm as can be, “Put your shit back. I’m sorry I didn’t take you to the doctor, OK? I was stressed that day.”

“You were drunk that day.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ve heard that so much lately, I want to puke.” My eyes start watering and I do not want to cry in front of this *, but those tears just come spilling out. “I hate you,” I snarl. “I hate you so much, I dream up ways to get you out of my life forever.”

He turns to leave.

“But I’ll watch Olivia because I love her more than anything. She’s the only thing I have left. So go to work and leave me alone.”

“Wish granted, Shannon,” he says with his back to me. “Wish granted.” A few seconds later the front door opens and closes and I’m right where I belong. Alone.





Chapter Twenty-Six




Olivia’s eyes are open and she’s staring up at me as she sways back and forth in her little swing. I stop it and lift her out, snuggling her to my chest. “Do you want to take a bath tonight, Olivia?”

She blinks at me.

“I never give baths, but I’m sick of seeing you in that swing. And I never get to pick your clothes, and your dad does not have the most fashionable taste.”

She doesn’t have an opinion on that either.

I grab the little blue plastic thing Jason uses to bath her and have a pang of guilt for being such a bitch to him. He does take care of her.

I fill the tub up with warm water, take Olivia’s clothes off, and place her inside it. She blesses me with a small smile and some bunched-up fists.