Corruption - Leigh Lennon Page 0,35
knew I’d be busy most of the day, and this will buy me some time. I don’t want to lead him on, but it’s been Maddox. In a year, it will still always be Maddox.
I pick up my phone, opening the only text he’s sent me today, and I can feel every part of me smile. It’s a weird analogy, but goodness gracious, it’s what he does to me.
M. S.: Good morning. Hope you are well.
I didn’t know how to have him programmed because Dad takes my phone to screen my calls. He always questions me when he gets the bill, and I’ve become very good at little white lies.
Maddox must have known this was the case with the very generic text. But since I can erase anything he sends me, I begin a text conversation.
Me: I can’t talk, but I can text. And your text was very polite.
The dots appear instantly, and I await his response.
M. S.: Oh, believe me, I don’t want to be polite. But I wasn’t sure if your father would get ahold of your phone.
Yep, I was right, and as I begin to reply, another text appears.
M. S.: Can I be as impolite as I want to be right now?
This makes me laugh, and it’s a turn-on at the same time.
Me: Be downright rude, if you’d like.
M. S.: Well, I still need to rein in a little of myself. There’s Danner to think about, and I won’t be that man.
I don’t want to tell him my choice over the phone, but there has never really been a choice.
M. S.: Can I see you today, just to chat about us?
This makes the smile on my face fade into a frown.
Me: The warden has me under house arrest. He doesn’t want me at Tori’s, and that was my only way out of his house.
M. S.: What time do you have to be at work, and what is the earliest you can leave?
Me: I start work at two. I may be able to get out of here around noon-ish.
M. S.: Give me the address. I will find someplace within ten minutes where we can meet. Try to be there by one.
I send a quick text with the address and await his instructions—too giddy of this little rendezvous.
M. S.: Hell, that’s in the middle of BFE. But I found a couple of gas stations five miles from there. Let’s meet at one. I’ve included the address below.
It’s twelve noon, and I sneak down the stairs, willing my father to be nowhere in sight. I pull out my keys from my purse, wearing the uniform Mr. Hallet gave me yesterday. The words behind me make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Halt, Juliana.” I stop and turn around slowly, the eyes of my dad’s boring in on me. “Why are you leaving so early?”
I’d been prepared for this. “The only boots I have are a little slippery. I thought I’d stop at the Walmart on the way to the dairy farm and get me something with more traction. And because I don’t want to be late on my second day, I thought I should leave early to account for something like an accident or a bottleneck.”
He pulls out his wallet, giving me two twenties. “Oh, thanks, Dad, but I had some money I saved from my birthday.”
“Nonsense, if you need something for work, I can pay for it.” He walks away without as much as a kiss on the forehead or a hug or even an I love you. He hasn’t always been like this, but it makes me want to leave this house, all the sooner, even though it’ll break my mom’s heart. I pass by my mother in the kitchen.
“I’m leaving to get some good work boots. I love you, Mom.”
She pulls me tight to her. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”
It’s a good thing I left a couple of minutes early because now I need to stop by and get work boots. I don’t care if they fit or if they are comfortable. I only have to show my dad I bought some.
My hands are shaking when I pull into the gas station around the rear of the building as Maddox had explained in the last text. A black Camaro is the only car in the few parking spots, which screams Maddox. For as little as I know him, I feel like I truly know him, and this car has to be his. Through