Lucky Forever - Cee Bowerman Page 0,19

ever-loving life and I wouldn’t tell him.” The waitress came with our pie and I paused until she walked far enough away so that she couldn’t hear me. “One of the other guys wasn’t as stubborn as me and he spilled. Principal lost his fucking mind. Had to call all the parents back in for a meeting, each one alone, and tell them that there was an investigation pending and that detectives would be in touch soon.”

I glanced up from my slice of pie and saw that Sierra was staring at me wide-eyed, waiting on me to continue.

“So, the cops came to my house and asked me a million questions. By that time, I knew the jig was up and I had to tell the truth. I was honestly pissed that I wasn’t the only one. I felt fucking betrayed, as weird as it sounds.”

“Well, yeah, I can see that. You thought that this was all normal and everything, so you probably did feel betrayed.”

“She got fired, the investigation continued, and then the news that she was pregnant filtered down to all of us. That was a kick in the teeth right there.” I sighed, “But since she had all of us on a string and a husband at home, there was no telling who the father was. She was sentenced and at the time, I didn’t know why my dad was so fucking pissed, but she got sentenced to 20 years.”

“For all eight of you, over and over again? And she only got 20 years?”

“Her lawyer played on the fact that she was a woman, she lost her way, and we were horny teenagers who would take what we could get.”

“You. Were. Children!” Sierra was pissed and she wasn’t having any of that bullshit the lawyers tried to sell the jury. “Fuck her, fuck that lawyer, and the fucking jury that sentenced her.”

“Honey, it’s all water under the bridge now.”

“Okay, I’ll shut up. Go ahead.”

“They drew our blood and swabbed our mouths and tried out this new test thing the second the baby was born. She went into foster care until the results came back and you, my beautiful friend, are looking at the lucky winner of the DNA lottery.”

“So, they gave the baby to you?”

“Technically they gave her to my dad, but yeah, she was mine. Dad hired an elderly lady who lived a few blocks over to come and teach us how to take care of a baby. And with that, my childhood was effectively over. She was my daughter and if she was awake, so was I. If she was hungry, I fed her; if she was wet I changed her. You get the picture.”

“Makes sense. I did that with Lexi.”

“It was a small town and this caused major waves, so going back to school that fall sucked. Things got so bad that Dad moved us here to Rojo, where some of his old friends lived. I ended up dropping out of school when I was a sophomore because Leia was sick a lot and I missed too many classes. But all in all, she’s got a pretty good life as far as I can tell. She’s happy, always has food in her belly, and cool shoes on her feet.”

“She’s a great kid. Funny, too. You can tell that she is loved.” Sierra reached across the table and took my hand. “And now her mother is trying to see her? Is that what’s going on?”

“Yeah. She was sentenced to 20 years, but you know how that goes. Model prisoner, worked to help others get their education, volunteered for what the fuck ever, was always a good inmate - all that bullshit. She’s up for parole next month and sent a letter to me saying she had been thinking about me all these years. She sent one to Leia saying that she couldn’t wait to see her.”

“Can she do that?”

“Well, while she was stewing in prison, she furthered her education and got a degree in family law. So, she’s had a lot of time to plot out her case. Add to the fact that I’m a single Dad who works odd hours sometimes, doesn’t even own a fucking house, and has no education to speak of - yeah she might just have a case.”

“I’ll marry you,” Sierra said suddenly. “Even if we don’t find a way to get the money, I’ll marry you. We’ll have a happy family and that woman can kiss my entire fucking ass