“Yes,” Margaret said.
“Well, that was for work. It was for an interview. Do you know what that is?”
Margaret shrugged her shoulders.
My heart stopped beating and sank. “It’s for a job.”
“That’s right,” Dr. Bill said. “I was lucky enough to interview for a really important position at a different hospital.”
“In Arizona?” Margaret asked.
“It’ll be a change,” Donna said. “For all of us.”
My hands started to sweat and shake. “You’re moving to Arizona…”
Dr. Bill slowly nodded.
“What?” Margaret asked. “Who is? Dad? You’re leaving?”
“No, Maggie Girl,” Dr. Bill said. “We all are.”
“Amelia too?” she asked.
Donna lowered her head.
“No,” he said. “I wish we could.”
You can! Just say the word! I don’t have anything to pack! I don’t take up any space at all! I’ll confess to smoking! I’ll apologize! Take me with you! I bet if you ask my father he won’t care! Please, Dr. Bill, don't leave me…
My bottom lip quivered.
“This is so hard,” Donna said.
“We’re going to keep the house here for a little bit,” Dr. Bill said. “Just to make sure things work out there. We’re going to rent it out. I already have someone lined up to live here.”
“Then what?” Margaret asked.
“Well, it’s simple,” Dr. Bill said. “If things work out there, then we sell this house and buy something there.”
“Where are we going to live out there?” Margaret asked.
“We’re going to rent a house,” Donna said.
“What about Amelia?”
Donna looked at me. “She can come visit anytime.”
I forced a smile.
My parents had no money.
They couldn’t afford to put gas in both vehicles.
“We’ll pay for her to travel,” Dr. Bill said.
Under the table, Margaret reached for my hand.
Donna cleared her throat and secretly wiped away a tear.
She didn’t like this.
Neither did I.
Nobody did.
So why was it happening?
Why are they letting this happen?
“I know you’re wondering why this is happening,” Dr. Bill said. “And that it’s unfair. That it’s bullshit.”
“Bill!” Donna snapped.
“Sorry,” he said. “But it’s true. They’re best friends. And distance sucks. But you two can make this work. I will fly Amelia out anytime she needs to come out. We will make sure everyone stays close.”
“And the job might not even work out,” Margaret said.
“Right,” Dr. Bill said.
He smiled, but I knew that smile.
It was a lying smile.
This job was going to work out.
They were moving to Arizona.
And I was never going to see Margaret again.
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.
