Aggro - CoraLee June Page 0,68
see Dad’s seething face once more. The veins in his neck were bulging in anger. I understood that he didn’t like his baby girl spending the night somewhere else, but he hadn’t exactly been around. Besides, didn’t he trust me?
“I don’t want you hanging out with Kai,” Dad said when Mom started hugging me.
“What?” Mom and I said at the same time.
“He’s dangerous. You’ve seen who his family is.”
“If he’s so dangerous, then why do you know Kai’s brother? Lex?” I asked, thinking back to the time he showed up at the surf shop. Lex had said he and Dad went way back. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?
“He comes into the surf shop occasionally.” I squinted at him in question. Lex said he didn’t surf. Was my dad doing drugs? Oh God, what if he was? That would seriously kill my mother. She was adamantly against them. Lex mentioned something about investing in the business, but that didn’t feel right either.
“It’s not that big of a deal. Kai is really nice. Kind. He understands what I’m going through.”
“I’m sure he does. I don’t like it, Breeze. I want you home every night. No excuses. No more sleepovers. Nothing. You stay here, or I’ll ground you.” Dad puffed out his chest.
Anger boiled in my gut. “It’s not like you’re ever home. Mom is off working doubles. I barely see you anymore. I know the shop requires a lot of work, but I don’t like being in this house alone all the time.”
Mom went rigid and chewed on her cheek. I knew she felt guilty about working all those extra hours, but we needed the money. This wasn’t about her. She went above and beyond as a mother to support me—to support this family. “Obviously, we aren’t going to have a healthy conversation about this right now. Why don’t you and I go have lunch, hmm? We haven’t had the chance to catch up in a while.” Mom smoothed my hair while trying to smooth over this conversation.
Dad opened his mouth like he wanted to argue but closed it again. “Fine. I need to go to the shop anyway.” He then stormed out of the house, not sparing Mom or me a second glance. I didn’t get it. Why was he so mad? My parents were very trusting of me. I haven’t had a curfew or rules really since I was sixteen. I understood being overprotective since Violet’s death, but that didn’t mean he could take it out on me. And I definitely didn’t like that he knew Lex on a personal level. If he was doing drugs, it was bad.
Mom sighed when the door slammed before wrapping an arm around me. “Go shower. Get dressed. I’ll take you out to a nice lunch, okay?” she offered in a soft voice, compassion bleeding from every syllable.
“Okay,” I murmured back.
Mom took me to my favorite diner. It was a little further away than some of the others, but it was worth the drive. There were neon lights around the outside of the restaurant and little working juke boxes on all of the tables. When I was younger, I used to love putting in a nickel and picking out a song.
The bright red booths were well loved, but clean and comfortable. The floor was checkered in black and white tile, and the servers all wore pink dresses with white aprons. We slid into our favorite booth, and when our waitress came to take our order, my mom asked for two root beer floats.
“I’m sorry that I have been at the hospital so much, honey,” she said once we were alone.
“It’s okay, Mom. I get it,” I told her. And I really did understand. Hospitals were twenty-four seven; people didn’t stop needing care just because my world was turned upside down.
“How are you dealing with everything?”
That seemed like such a heavy question to ask in a place that had a pie wall. I got a temporary reprieve while our floats were delivered and we gave our orders for a tuna melt and turkey club. I thought for a moment and then answered my mom truthfully.
“Not great. I’m so confused. It’s like everything I’m feeling is wrong. I can’t be what anybody needs me to be, and I feel like I’m letting everybody down.”
My mom looked back at me with empathy in her eyes, and she took my hand over the top of the table and squeezed.
“You are doing great, baby girl. You