Hood River Rat (Hood River Hoodlums #1) - K Webster Page 0,79
heavy sigh. “I know. But Mom will be here any minute to get you. We have to play this right. You have your phone, right?”
Roux nods.
“Good. Call me or text me if anything is weird. Captain Fitzgerald said he’d be the first to check on you if you needed anything. We’ll do this the right way this time.”
“I miss you, though. She stole all my birthday money, you know.” She huffs. “For bills she said, but I don’t believe it. I hate living with her.”
Who the fuck takes their kid’s birthday money?
“I know you do. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry,” Hollis says, patting her foot. “Tomorrow is another school day. Roan and I will pick you up first thing in the morning. Charlotte will talk your ear off and all will be right in the world.”
She laughs. “She does talk a lot in the mornings.”
“More than you,” I tease. “Seriously, though, everything is going to be okay.”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
We all three groan in unison. Mom allowed Roux to attend the hearing, but only because she was at work. Now she’ll take my sister back home. This fucking sucks.
I rise and stalk over to the front door. I swing it open and glare at my piece of shit mother. She reeks of cigarette smoke and her eyeliner is smeared. Her hand trembles when she waves for Roux to come with her.
“Are you high?” I demand. She hates when I ask her this.
“No, asshole, I’m tired as fuck. Been stripping to keep the electricity on because your stupid best friend killed my boyfriend. Now I have to pay for everything by myself.”
Testy.
“Aww,” I sneer. “Poor Mom. Actually having to be a fucking parent for once.”
“Get your shit,” Mom bellows to Roux. “I don’t have time for this. I’m ready to go to bed.”
It’s three in the afternoon.
“I’m coming,” Roux grumbles.
“See you tomorrow,” Hollis tells her.
Roux hugs me and I kiss the top of her head. “Take care. Call me later.”
Mom shoots me another nasty look before wobbling down the stairs in her stupid high heels. She and Roux climb into Alejandro’s Maxima. The bitch peels out, making a mess out of Mike’s yard. I shake my head in frustration.
“Come on,” Hollis says, taking my hand. “You need a nap.”
I’m numb and broken and sad as fuck. Jordy is going to prison. Ten fucking years. My eyes are blurry by the time we make it to bed. Hollis is gentle as he strips me down to my underwear. He does the same and then we crawl into bed. My boyfriend holds me, allowing me to just blank out for God knows how long.
It’s dark by the time I decide to speak.
“It’s all my fault.”
He runs his fingers through my hair. “Nope. You can’t take this on your shoulders.”
“If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have felt like he needed to rescue us.”
“Jordy is a big boy. He knew what he was doing.”
I sigh. “Maybe I should have been more adamant about my reasons for going there. Maybe that would have somehow reduced his sentence. I don’t fucking know.”
“It was hard for them to prove he killed in defense when he killed four people,” Hollis says gently. “So even if you told them you were there to take Roux, it doesn’t change that. Either way, ten years was a good outcome for him.”
“Nothing feels good about any of this.”
“I know,” he murmurs. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s done.”
We lie in silence for a while longer until his stomach growls.
“You need to eat,” I state.
“Yeah. I can make us something.”
It’s weird seeing Hollis eat now. I guess if I had a bleeding hole in my stomach, I’d never be hungry either. I’m glad they fixed him. He’s healthier looking than I’ve ever known him. It’s one less thing to worry about.
Neither of us gets up.
“Roan,” Hollis practically yells. “Phone.”
I squint against the lamplight and take my phone from him. “Hello?”
“Roan, it’s Carol.”
My blood turns to ice. “Where’s Roux?”
“I have her with me. She’s safe,” she assures me. But her voice is off. Something is wrong. “Roan, your mom…”
“What?”
“She overdosed on heroin tonight.”
The line grows quiet.
“Hello? Roan, did we get disconnected?”
“Is she in the hospital?”
Carol sighs. “She passed away. I’m sorry.”
I’m not.
I don’t voice that. Barely.
“I’m bringing Roux to you,” Carol says. “I’ll stay as long as you two need me to.”