“What the hell does that mean—”
“You’ll watch your mouth when you talk to me, and what don’t I mean?” He raised a hand. “First your sister and then the sheriff’s daughter? Mira? The whole town knows what he did to her.”
“That’s a lie. Mira was—”
“I don’t care if it was. I’m not going to lose another kid!”
I stepped back, his voice never raised at me.
Nor filled with so much emotion.
Which it was, his cheeks several shades in tone higher than normal. With a huff, Dad bent, picking up the box he’d been packing. At the same moment, one of the movers asked if he was done and if they could take it.
He gave it to them. “Now, go pack something. Get together your sister’s room or your room. I don’t care. Just get something and make things goddamn easier for once and not harder.”
Why should I? Nothing had ever been easier for me, and if it was, he’d never been the cause. I shook my head. “No.”
“December.”
“No!” I ran upstairs, getting my phone out of my room, then shoved my hoodie on. After, I raced right back downstairs, passing my dad along the way, before shoving past outside. He followed me to the walk, calling my name, but when I shot him a look he stopped at the moving truck.
“I’m not going anywhere!” I hollered over my shoulder, and as trivial as it sounded, he couldn’t make me. I’d been on my own before, and I’d do it again.
“December!”
His voice faded as I stalked away, but I wasn’t so bold to go back for my sister’s car. My dad would probably stand in the driveway and block my path anyway. Instead, I found some stable ground and sat, immediately dialing Royal from a curb to pick me up.
“Hey, this is Royal.”
I breathed. “Royal? It’s—”
“Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”
Fuck.
I hung up before trying two more times. I sent him a few emergency texts before going down the line to people who might be with him. I started with Jax and LJ, but after no answer, I got desperate and called Knight. He didn’t pick up either and it took me all of three seconds after that to realize why.
Today was Saturday, and though I usually went to all the boys’ lacrosse games, I didn’t today. It wasn’t a home game, out of town, and though Royal had offered to get me there, I’d opted out, not wanting to get up so early since the game was over three hours away.
I was regretting that now, picking up my phone again, and on a whim, I typed Ramses’s number. He’d be with the boys.
He answered immediately.
“What up, ’Zona! What’s the haps, kid?”
Oh, thank God. I stretched out my legs. “Hey, is Royal with you?”
“Uh, no.” He sounded disappointed for a second, but only a second. “No, I’m not with him.”
“What do you mean you’re not with him? You’re not with the other guys and the team?”
He said no again, sounding like he was getting up. “Dad got me out of today’s game. And I wasn’t at school yesterday for the same reason. Didn’t you notice?”
A chuckle followed the question, but it was a bit dry, and since I hadn’t noticed, I pressed my face to my hand. “I hadn’t. I’m sorry. What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Dad just said he wanted to hang out. He got us tickets to a concert last night, and we stayed overnight. He took off work and everything for it.”
Well, that was nice for him, but not nice for me. “That’s great, Ramses.”
“Yeah, it is. Everything okay with you? You sound kinda out of breath or something.”
Probably because I was walking now, in the middle of the ’burbs in a pair of shorts, hoodie, and flip-flops. Distracted, I started waving my thumb like a loon. Like someone would actually give me a ride around here.
“’Zona?”
I said nothing, and when I whined he said my name for real this time.
“December, you okay?” he repeated. “What’s going on?”
“We’re moving,” I cried, not able to hold it in. I squeezed my eyes. “My dad’s going crazy, Ramses. He’s making us move. Freaking out and saying we’re going to Chicago.”
“The fuck?”
“Right? I left. Just walked out. Told him I wasn’t going.”
“Okay, okay. Well, where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”
I waved what he said off. “You’re not about to leave where you are with your dad to come get me.”
“It’s not a problem. We just got back, early this morning actually. We just got in from breakfast. Tell me where you are. We’ll get this figured out.”
Seventeen
December
I swear to God I was the worst. I was the worst because I called my friend like a blubbering idiot, then proceeded to do the same on his couch for the better part of several hours. Several hours turned into all day, and not only did Ramses feed me, he let me gripe about my dad. I spilled everything, and around the third cup of hot cocoa, even Ramses looked exhausted.
Striding in from the hall, Ramses gave me that third cup in his living room, darkness settling in around his mansion. I’d literally been there all day and heard nothing from Royal. I’d called him several times.
“I don’t need to bother you anymore,” I said, tossing my phone on his couch. “As soon as he calls back…”
“It’s not a problem.” Ramses had his own cup of cocoa, setting it down on an end table. He looked so nice today, something I hadn’t really noticed due to my own self-involved blubbering. His dark polo and dress
