got up and checked the kitchen cupboards. I kept a few things on hand—easy stuff—for times like this. Tonight was going to be boxed mac and cheese, unless Mom had already fed everybody before Dad fucked up everyone’s night.
Not more than five minutes later there was a knock on my door. My feet hurt and I wanted to sit and stare at the TV, doing nothing. But instead, I had to play fucking babysitter to a bunch of teenagers.
“It’s open,” I said.
Bowie came in first, wearing a baseball cap and a Bootleg Springs High School t-shirt. Scarlett was right behind him, her long hair in a ponytail. Her freckled nose was scrunched up, like she was annoyed about something. Growing up with three older brothers, she was probably annoyed more often than not.
Behind her was Jameson. His hat was pulled low over his forehead, as if he was trying to hide under it. He towered over Scarlett, and I realized he’d somehow gotten to be almost as tall as me and Bow. Made sense. He was sixteen, now.
Jameson shut the door with his foot, then he and Scarlett put their fingers on their noses and simultaneously said, “Not it.”
“Dang it, you guys,” Bowie said.
“Bowie gets the floor,” Scarlett said. “Jame, you wanna flip a coin for the couch?”
“I got it.” I pulled a quarter out of the change jar I kept on the counter. “Heads or tails, Scar?”
“Tails.”
I tossed the coin in the air, caught it, and flipped it onto my forearm. Removing my hand, I let them both look.
Scarlett did a fist pump. “Yes. Tails.”
Jameson just shrugged, like he didn’t care either way.
“Y’all hungry?” I asked, dropping the coin back in the jar.
“Starving,” Scarlett said.
No dinner, then. I met Bowie’s eyes and he raised his eyebrows. He followed me into the tiny kitchen, and I got out a pan.
“What happened?” I asked, keeping my voice low. None of us liked talking about it when they fought. What was the point? And it just upset Scarlett more.
“I’m not sure,” Bowie said. “Dad got home real late and then they went upstairs for a long time. I heard raised voices, but not like they were yelling. I don’t know what’s going on.”
I filled the pan with water, put it on the burner, and turned on the heat. “Whatever. Y’all can crash here. It’s quieter at least.”
He got the milk and butter out of the fridge and set them on the counter. “Yeah, thanks.”
Anger at my dad ran hot through my veins. Why did he have to make things so goddamn difficult? Why couldn’t we just be a normal family?
“Go play cards or something with Scar, will ya?” I asked. “I’ve got this. And y’all can have a piece of pizza if you want, too. It’s from earlier.”
Bowie nodded and dug out the pack of cards I kept in the junk drawer. Like the boxed mac and cheese, they were here for nights like this. When my siblings had to sleep over because my parents were making the whole family miserable.
I glanced out into the other room. Jameson was huddled up in the corner of the couch, his legs bent, drawing something in that notebook of his. He hadn’t said more than two words since he got here, and I’d probably be lucky to hear two or three more before he left tomorrow. Looking at him over there made my chest hurt a little. He was a good kid. He deserved better.
Bowie was dealing cards on the crate while Scarlett sat across from him, perched on the edge of the couch. Her purple cardigan hung off one sunburned shoulder. I noticed she’d replaced the top button with a yellow butterfly. All the girls Scarlett’s age had started doing it. Callie had started the trend.
Thinking about Callie made me crack a smile as I ripped open the boxes of mac and cheese. That girl was something else. Sweet as sugar with a voice like an angel. I wondered if Scarlett, or any of the other kids in town, knew she could sing. I bet they didn’t. Callie was like that, only showing certain parts of herself to the people she trusted.
And I was one of them. That was pretty fucking cool.
I’d missed her today. She’d probably been hanging out at the lake with Scarlett and Cass and the rest of the kids in town. Not only had I been busy at work, we’d taken too big of a risk yesterday to chance being