With a shaking hand, I grab onto his warm one. Still alive. But is he? Does the old Terrence live deep inside or were they only able to preserve his broken body?
“I’m so sorry,” I choke out. “My God, Terrence. I am so sorry.”
A chair creaks and then shuffling footsteps approach. I get a whiff of peppermint before a gentle hand touches my back.
“Terry and I used to fight all the time,” the elderly woman says. “Over a lot of things. His behavior at school. His mouthy attitude. His deviant ways when he’d be around those boys he calls Hoodlums.” She chuckles. “But the thing we fought most over was sleep.”
I turn to look down at the old woman. She’s obviously Terrence’s grandma Rhetta. I’ve heard them talk about her over the years, but never formally met her.
“Sleep?” I rasp out, confusion in my voice.
“That boy loved to sleep in. Couldn’t keep a job if it was a morning one because he’d always be late. Always missed the bus and couldn’t get to school on time.” She sighs. “And yet here we are again. Me telling his big ass to get up every day and him not listening.”
“Rhetta, I—”
“I heard you, honey. You’re sorry. How many times are you going to say it? You think we don’t know how sorry you are?”
I swallow hard, blinking back tears. I’m emotional today. Since the night before last with everything that went down with Ryan, I’ve been wrecked. Yesterday, after school, I made Penny take me straight home. I stayed in bed until Mom brought me supper. She ended up sleeping next to me, holding me all night. I managed to make it through another school day, this one without even speaking to Cal, who was being overly broody, and asked Penny to drop me off at the hospital after school while she and Tierra played basketball at the park again.
I just needed to see him.
To face the consequences of my actions.
“I don’t know how to fix it,” I whisper. “I just want to fix it.”
“Have you started with yourself?”
I turn to look down at her. There’s no hate or anger in her expression. Only peace. Her features are strikingly similar to Tierra’s. She must have looked a lot like her as a young woman.
“I’m trying,” I admit. “I got help. Therapy. Rehab. I’m back in school, trying to do right by my life. It’s just…I want to fix this. Him.”
She gives me a grim smile. “Unfortunately, darlin’, this isn’t your battle anymore. It’s Terry’s. If he wants out of this state, he’ll figure out a way to do it. If he doesn’t, that’s God’s will. I’ll be by his side either way. He’s loved and cared for. That’s all that matters.”
“He wouldn’t be fighting this battle had I not gotten in that car,” I explain, wanting her wrath. Wanting her to lash out at me. “He’s like this because of me. Sure, it’s his battle now, but I forced him into it.”
Rather than getting angry, she shrugs. “You did. He’s here. Nothing changes the past. All you can do is get a handle on the present and secure a better future.”
“It’s not fair, though,” I argue, tears welling. “It should have been me.”
“It should have,” a cold, baritone voice agrees from the doorway.
“Stop that nonsense, Calvin,” Rhetta snaps. “You’re letting your anger change you into someone you’re not.”
I chance a look at him. Of course he’s hot, just like he was this morning in class, but his glare is icy. I shiver under his intense scrutiny. His jaw works hard with fury, but he keeps back the words he wants to say. Just barely. Probably cracking a few teeth trying to keep them in for Rhetta’s benefit.
“Who brought you here?” Cal demands. “Wes?”
“Lord, this boy is trying my patience,” Rhetta grumbles at his outburst.
I frown in confusion. “My teacher? Why would he bring me here?”
Cal’s nostrils flare as he approaches, violence in his eyes. But unlike with Ryan, this isn’t directed at me. Sure, he’s pissed I’m here, but it’s something else. He stops just a foot away from me.
“He’s accommodating like that,” he growls. “Penny?”
“Not that I have to explain anything to you, but yes.” Irritation chases away my remorse as I face off with him. “If you’ll excuse me, I was just leaving.”
“And how are you going to get home?” he demands, ignoring Rhetta’s bitching at him to stop being an asshole.
“Wait for Penny. Call Hollis. Walk. Hitchhike. What’s it matter to you? You’re not my keeper, Mr. Hutton.”
Rhetta laughs. “You tell him, girl.”
The fire bleeds from his expression as he fights a smirk. I’m mad at him, but something has shifted and he’s amused. It annoys me, but I’m no longer ready to punch him in the throat.
“What?”
“You’re right,” he agrees with a one-shouldered shrug. “You have claws.”
“I’m not afraid to use them.”
“I’ve seen your handiwork.” He winks at me. “Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride.”
When I glance at Rhetta, her eyes are wide with surprise, but she’s smiling. “Come visit again sometime, sweetheart, and we’ll grab coffee or a bite to eat afterward.”
“Really?”
She pushes Cal out of the way to take my hands, squeezing them. “I like you.”
A blush creeps up my cheeks. It’s not that I’m not used to parents or grandparents liking me. I’m a good girl, aside from that year of horror. Popular. Well-liked. I just don’t expect to get that from Rhetta. Not after what I’ve done to her grandson.
“I’d like that,” I murmur. “I really would.”
She brings my hand to her mouth and kisses it, reminding me of the affectionate way Tierra is. I’d never noticed with Terrence, but I wonder if he’s the same as them.
“Good,” she says. “It’s a date. Now go cheer up my other boy.”
Cal makes a great show of rolling his eyes, clearly every bit the little boy she still sees him as despite his massive presence.
I pull my hands from hers, take one last long
