Now I just needed to lie to her, so she didn’t feel the way I did knowing the truth.
I walked up the porch steps and wiped the tears off my face.
I lied to Donna and said my mother was outside to pick me up. Which meant I walked the three miles from Margaret’s house to mine. From the big and fancy houses on the hill all the way down to the crooked and beaten up houses near the river. The streets were dark, and they were scary, but I didn’t really care.
Margaret was leaving for Arizona over the weekend.
They were flying out as a family to spend a few days there. Dr. Bill wanted his family to meet the staff of the hospital, see the new house and check out some sights. He wanted Margaret to feel comfortable. He even arranged for her to meet her new teachers at the private school she would be attending.
Private school.
That meant Margaret would be with other rich kids like herself.
I’d become an afterthought in no time.
And that was okay.
Margaret deserved to have really good friends. Friends that had money too so they could do fun things together. I hated that Donna and Dr. Bill had to pay for everything with me. My parents never did a thing for Margaret.
I hated my parents.
I hated everything.
When I got to the porch, I heard yelling.
‘Don’t you fucking talk to me like that!’
‘This is my goddamn house. I don’t see you doing anything but getting fat!’
‘How dare you…’
Then came slamming.
Thuds against the walls. Glass hitting the floor.
I was frozen, unsure of what hell waited for me.
When the front door opened and my father came barreling out, I didn’t move in time.
He crashed into me and sent me down to my butt.
He stepped over me and stared down at me with a rage in his eyes that made me numb.
“What did you do?” I asked him.
“What needed to be done,” my father said. “Speak out of line again and I’ll do the same to you.”
My father walked down the steps and was gone into the night.
I rolled to my belly and watched him go.
It took me a few minutes to get to my feet.
I lost my best friend. Forever.
Nothing was going to be the same.
Now I had to go inside and see what my father had done to my mother.
“Mom?” I called out from the open front door.
“Amelia,” her voice said from the dining room. “Don’t come in. Fly… baby… fly…”
I swallowed hard and turned away from my own house.
I had nobody.
Unless…
I could go find someone… the boy I was in love with.
Chapter 37
Hide and Run
THEN
(Josh)
“I know this house,” Murph said to me. “And why you do what you do.”
I stood with a knife and was ready to slash every tire on my father’s van.
“You have a problem with it?” I asked Murph.
“No. I just think we have bigger things to handle.”
“Like what?”
“Like that prick Derrick telling everyone he fucked Cassie. You know, that’s not even her real name, right?”
“Of course I know that,” I said. “We never use real names. That’s part of the fun. For them and us.”
“Still… he’s running around talking shit about Cassie.”
“Does it matter? Nobody knows who that is.”
“It’s about respect,” Murph said. “Give me that knife.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to cut Derrick’s tongue out.”
“And I’m the fucked up one?”
“Hey,” he said, grabbing my shirt. “I have a real fight. You have a made up one.”
“Fuck you, Murph.”
“Fuck me?” he growled. “Your father doesn’t love you, man. Oh well. Neither does mine. Get over it. He’s fucking someone else. He’s got a family. A good family too. Look at the way you are. You think he wants to raise your sorry ass.”
“I’m going to knock you out, brother,” I said.
Murph backed up. “That’s my point. That’s what we do. We fight. We drink. We control the streets. So, come fight me, you pussy.”
I moved toward Murph and the porch light of my father’s house came on.
The door flew open and Murph and I ducked behind the van.
“Who’s out there?” my father’s voice yelled.
“Shit,” I whispered. “You go. Run. Go up the hill to meet with Nash and Abel. I’ll catch up.”
“Give me the knife,” Murph said. “I’m going to find Derrick.”
“Don’t kill him,” I said.
“I won’t. You going to be there with us?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You sneak away, and I’ll distract this asshole.”
“I’m sorry about your father, man. It sucks. And I was serious about my father. These guys are fucking pieces