Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“I…” Mom started and then dropped her head.
Stupid. I’d been so stupid. She was gonna get in trouble, and it was all my fault.
“Nothing,” Dr. Kingsley said. “This little boy is here with his aunt. They’re waiting for his mom in the ER, and the housekeeper was just going to take him back to his family now.”
Oh God. He’d lied…for us. He’d saved Mom her job, so we wouldn’t have to move again and she wouldn’t cry every night, trying to figure out what we were gonna do.
“Thank you for the help,” Dr. Kingsley told Mom.
“No problem. I… Thank you,” Mom said. She ushered me away, but I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder at Dr. Kingsley as we went.
I hated everything.
I hated this stupid city and my stupid grandparents for not letting Mom live with them because she had me.
I hated school and teachers, who either looked at me like I was nothing or with nothing but pity in their eyes.
I hated social workers and foster families and Mom…I hated her for dying. For leaving me alone.
And missed her. I missed her so much, I couldn’t breathe. So much that sometimes I wished I’d had a massive heart attack and died too. She was young, everyone said…so young, but I guess they’d never had a broken heart before. Age didn’t matter. I knew that was what killed her—a broken heart and exhaustion, for being on her own for fourteen years with me.
Anger ripped through me, mixing my sadness with fury.
I didn’t care, not about anything, and I never would. Not after losing her.
Eventually, I found myself in a grocery store. Was it weird that I didn’t even know how I’d gotten there? I’d run away from the foster family. They weren’t my family. I’d never have family. I didn’t need them or anyone else.
I walked up and down the aisles, ending up in one full of candy. I had no idea what made me do it—maybe because I hated the world, or was angry I had no money, or what—but I grabbed a candy bar.
A tall guy with dark hair stood about ten feet away from me but didn’t appear to be paying me any attention. My eyes found him, then looked the other way as I slipped the candy bar into my pocket.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the guy said.
“Fuck you,” I gritted out, then felt itchy and weird. I lowered my eyes. “I’m sorry.” I had no idea where that had come from.
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” I replied, and suddenly I was embarrassed of my jeans with the holes in them and the dirt on my hands.
“Look at me,” he said, and when I did, a gasp tore out of my throat and I stumbled backward. It was him, the doctor who’d saved Mom’s job four years ago. My eyes filled with tears, and I hated those too. What the hell did crying do? It didn’t help jack shit.
A worker came down the aisle, straightening product. I started to shake and wiped at the tears in my eyes, wondering if I was spreading dirt around.
“Can I help you guys find anything?” she asked with a smile, but I couldn’t look at her because I had a candy bar in my pocket. I was a thief, and that made me hate myself because I didn’t want to be a thief.
He should turn me in. Dr. Kingsley should tell her what I did because I deserved to get into trouble for it. I wanted him to say it, but he didn’t. He told her we were fine, and when she walked away, he said, “Give me the candy bar.”
My hands were still shaking when I handed it over.
“Come with me,” he said, and I followed him to the deli. He didn’t say anything as he ordered three sandwiches with three bags of chips, three apples, and bottles of water. He set the candy bar down and paid for it along with the rest of the food. They put it in a bag, and I followed him out of the store on shaky legs.
“Are you alone?” he asked.
“My mom’s dead,” I snapped.
His eyes softened, and something…I didn’t know what it was…passed over them. He handed me the bag of food.
“Eat one of those sandwiches while I call someone, okay? You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
The second he pulled out his phone, I ran, ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Ran until I couldn’t breathe. Ran until I was crying so hard, I couldn’t see.
He had saved me…again.
And I wanted to go back to him. Wanted to tell him I was scared and didn’t know what to do. It was lame and made no sense, but that was how I felt.
I also knew I didn’t ever want him to look at me with the disappointment he had when he saw me stealing.