âYour mom would know how to handle this.â
He just doesnât get it. âMomâs gone,â I tell him. âSheâs gone. When are you going to get it through your head that sheâs not coming back?â
Dad stares at me. His face is pale and he has dark baggy circles under his eyes. He looks like hell. I feel a flicker of pity and, beneath it, some crazy mixture of feelings, anger and sadness and I donât know what else, all bubbling up inside me and threatening to spill over.
I take a deep breath. âItâs just us now, Dad,â I say, more softly. âItâs just you and me.â
âIâm tired,â he says. âIâm going to bed.â He starts to turn away. Then he hesitates and looks back at me. âIf you decide to forget about the gay thing, I guess you could move back in.â
Itâs so stupid I almost laugh, except I feel more like crying. So I just nod and keep on packing.
Chapter Fourteen
After a few days of having me in the spare room, Gabiâs folks ask if Iâd like to stay with them more permanently. Theyâve got a basement suite and theyâve been thinking about renting it out but donât really want a stranger living there.
The amount they want to charge me is ridiculously low. Pocket change. I know what theyâre doing. They donât want me to go back to my dadâs place unless things between him and me change a whole lot, and they knowme well enough to know that Iâm starting to worry about overstaying my welcome. Itâs exactly the kind of thing that Gabiâs parents would do.
I think it over for about three seconds before I accept.
Gabiâs mom gives me a big hug. To her, Iâm still the little kid who fell out of Gabiâs tree fort in the second grade. Sheâs still trying to put Band-Aids on my scraped knees.
I squirm away, but not too quickly. The truth is, her hugs feel pretty good.
Mom used to hug me like that
. I usually try not to think about Mom, but the thought just pops into my mind. Maybe, I think, I will try to find her after all. Not hitchhike to California or anything too crazy, but just make some calls. You never know. Maybe Iâll get lucky.
And maybe Dad will change.
But Iâm not holding my breath. For now, Iâm pretty happy to stay right here.
That night, my mind keeps drifting back to Aaliyah. Itâs bad enough to be stuck in abody that doesnât work the way it should, the way it used to. But to be stuck in another prison as well, with someone like Francine controlling every little thing about your life... The thought makes my stomach twist with angry frustration.
I canât sleep. Finally I get up and go to the computer. For once, Iâm not thinking about Ethan.
A few minutes later Iâve found a web page for the local health authority. Residential programs, housing, assisted living. Program manager.
Francineâs boss.
When I sneak up to see Aaliyah after my next shift, I tell her Iâve made a complaint about Francine. I donât know what reaction I expected, but it wasnât this.
âWhat the hell did you think you were doing?â she snaps, spitting the words out like they taste bad.
I step back, startled. âI just...I donât know. I just thought it wasnât right, the way she treats you.â
Aaliyahâs eyes are narrowed. âHow she treats me is my business, not yours.â
âItâs my business too. Francine accused me of, you know, being involved with you.â
She spins her chair around to look out the window. Her back is stiff, shoulders drawn up tightly, sharp prickles all over.
âDonât lie to me, Derek. Thatâs not why you did it.â
âSure it is.â Iâm feeling a bit lost here. âI didnât mean to upset you.â A little late, a thought occurs to me. âWill it...are you worried that itâll make things worse for
Theodore Taylor
Tamara Lejeune
Annmarie McKenna
Bette Adriaanse
Catherine Hart
Blake Pierce
Jon Ronson
Michael Jecks
Bruce Hale
L. Ron Hubbard