“Hey,” he muttered, then spun on his heels and charged off.
Disappointment fell heavily around me, which I didn’t manage to hide before Cara noticed.
“Did I interrupt somethin’? Y’all weren’t fightin’, were you?”
“No. No, it was nothin’. What’s up?” Jack disappeared around the end of a booth, and I turned to Cara.
“Sasha’s at the face-paintin’ tables.”
On cue, Sasha’s laugh pealed across the hum of conversations. She’d been blowing up my phone with texts. The last thing I wanted to do was see her, much less talk to her. She ranked lower than Momma and Daddy right now, and that was saying something.
Cara hadn’t asked what was up after being dragged into Sasha’s bullshit, but she was smart enough to figure it out.
If only Sasha would. I’d repeated it over and over. We were done. I’d keep my word and hadn’t said anything—like I’d go run my mouth about our breakup anyway—but Sasha just wouldn’t accept it.
I pulled Cara’s ponytail and smirked at her, forcing myself to be normal for her sake if nothing else. “Thanks, sis.”
“No problem, bro.” She glanced around, jumping on her tiptoes as she peeked around Nick and Michael, who’d joined us. “I lost Kitty somewhere. You seen her? She needed a ride home.”
The guys helped me search for Cara’s friend, taking one side of the festival so I could stay away from Sasha. We found Kitty not long after, and both girls were ready to leave. I fist-bumped the guys as we made plans for them to come over later to discuss the homecoming game tomorrow, and then we were gone, home before our normal time, which apparently Momma hadn’t thought of.
“What is she doin’ here?” Cara said as I pulled onto the driveway and around Momma’s car.
Snooping was my best guess. She did that sometimes when Daddy wasn’t around. They’d argued about it once, Daddy threatening to change the locks, but Momma had said she needed access to her kids. Ha! Yeah, we’d go with that.
She was already at the door, unlocking it, when she turned around. The relief on her face said she’d been up to no good and happy it hadn’t been Daddy catching her. She kept going too, opening the door like she had every right to be here, and wefollowed shortly after her. Momma gave Cara a hug, but I didn’t bother with it.
She held a file in her raised hand when I met her glare straight on. “I brought some paperwork for your daddy to look at.”
Paperwork. Right. She’d used that excuse too many times for me to believe it.
Momma headed toward Daddy’s office, scanning every inch of the house as she passed it. Did she think it’d changed? Did she think we’d had the motivation to do anything besides live here?
I hated when she caught us alone like this. Should I make her leave? As the kid, could I do that? I ground my molars. Why did they put us in the middle like this?
Cara and I exchanged a glance before she rushed upstairs, and I followed after Momma.
I leaned into the doorframe of Daddy’s office while Momma thumbed through the papers in the folder she brought but stared at everything on his desk.
“You don’t have to watch me like a hawk,” she said.
“I’m not—”
“Save it. I’m sure your daddy puts you up to it.” She slapped some papers onto his desk, then pinned me with a glare, eyes narrowing. “Does he stay home every weekend?”
I only shrugged. I didn’t know or care what Daddy did unless he let me know in advance, which he didn’t.
Momma huffed. “You’re gonna be just like him. I can see it. So wrapped up in football and your friends, you’ll forget about this family.”
I worked my jaw back and forth to keep from saying anything. It wouldn’t matter anyway. If I didn’t say shit, didn’t tell her she was wrong or throw it in her face exactly who taught me how to neglect family, then she’d leave sooner.
She glanced around the room again, then moved from behind his desk. Not that I felt any more protective of the details of hislife versus hers, but I relaxed a little when she stopped scoping out the place.
“Are you taking care of Cara? Why’re y’all home so early? Did you skip school?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “I was depending on you to step up. Cara needs a responsible older brother.”
“Today was the fall festival. Did you stop by?” I asked, knowing she didn’t but hoping she’d feel bad about accusing me of shit, maybe apologize or, hell, wince about it.
I got neither of those reactions.
