its way by Monday. I called Don again.
“Hello?”
Caught off guard by the female voice, I stilled.
“Hello? Who is this?” the voice repeated.
“Is … Don there?”
There was a strange pause. “How did you know my dad?”
My stomach twisted as too many realizations bombarded me at once. One, I never wanted to picture Don’s children or speak to them. Two, why was this woman speaking in the past tense? I knew why. On our last date, Don could barely cross a room without getting winded.
Oh God… He was dead, and I couldn’t do more than sit there in silence.
“Hello? I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.”
I hung up the phone.
Should I cry? Was there something wrong with me for not crying? My only regret was the loss of income his death caused. What kind of fucked up person thought like that?
Me. I thought like that. Don was my last resort, the one person I always felt better than even when things were at the worst, and I shamefully posed like a teenage girl as his fat, sausage figures snapped pictures and he panted.
God, I knew he masturbated to those pictures, and I didn’t care. I just wanted his money. Even Micah didn’t know how low I’d go when in a pinch and now I was out of options and probably crossing a line into that of a sociopath because I felt no grief over his actual death.
How could I when I was still panicked my mom would show up? I needed to do something.
Rubbing my head, I reached for my phone and dialed the only other person who might give me that kind of money, but it wasn’t the same as asking for it from Don. Don was gross. With him, I knew I earned every nasty penny. But asking Micah…
Micah already did so much for me. My debt to him was becoming top heavy, and my simple services no longer felt reciprocal to the many luxuries he provided. It was wrong to ask for more than he already offered, and I hated taking advantage of his generosity.
I sent him an email asking for him to call me when he had a free minute. My phone rang ten minutes later.
“Avery? You sounded upset in your email.”
“I’m in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Financial trouble. I didn’t know who else to go to, and I need a lot of money fast.”
“How much?”
“Two thousand dollars. Maybe more. I’m not really sure.”
“That’s nothing to get upset over, love.” My phone pinged. “I’ve just sent twenty-five hundred to your account.”
My eyes closed, but the relief was bitter. “I’ll pay you back. We can work out a trade or—”
“Stop. That’s not how this works. I’m sure you need the money, and I hate to hear you upset. Is it family?”
He had a very sketchy picture of my background but knew enough about my circumstances to discern I was running away from something. “Yes.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“They will be now.”
“Take care of things, Avery. See that they get what they need, but perhaps tell them this is the last time. You work too hard to take responsibility for those who aren’t there for you.”
“I know. But it’s … complicated.”
“You have such an empathetic streak.” If only he knew the real me, the side that didn’t show emotion over death and acted like an absolute sociopath. “It’s your nature to want to take care of others.”
Was it? Or was that who Micah thought I was? The role I played for him?
I wanted someone to know the real me but still believed anyone would be repulsed by what they found. There was simply too much truth in my past, and I didn’t want those secrets tarnishing my future. It would always be better to keep the carefully fabricated illusion in place instead of facing reality when it came to my background. Believing that allowed me to fall into my usual role.
“You always take care of me,” I whispered, realizing I couldn’t risk losing him right now.
“Until the day you no longer let me, Avery. That’s a promise. Let’s have dinner tonight.”
I was supposed to watch a movie with Noah, but after Micah bailed me out, I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. “I’d love to.”
After thanking Micah again, I made a call to alert my mother that I had the money. A few more calls and an appointment was set to replace her old boiler. Unfortunate didn’t begin to explain my disappointment that someone needed to be present for