Saylor stands next to North out of nowhere, looking around confused before he sees my panicked expression. “What the fuck is going on, Slo? Why are you scared?”
“What are you doing?” Hunter rushes toward us, concern etched on his face, Nash following closely behind. Their presence offers a glimmer of hope, even though I should know better.
“I knew it! I knew it from the first second I saw her. She’s a damn gold digger, and all she wants is our money. She doesn’t give a fuck about us!” North shouts so loudly that the glass in the old front door vibrates with the intensity.
“That’s not true,” I whimper, my voice barely above a whisper, tears streaming down my face as I instinctively back away from him.
“Fuck, you told him?” Saylor turns to look at North’s furious face, grimacing before he turns to Hunter. “You have to make them believe you, Slo. Hunt will believe you.”
I let my bag fall to my feet with a thud as I turn to face Hunter. “Hunter, please. You have to get Lio to the hospital and have him checked again. He doesn’t have asthma. He has cystic fibrosis. It’s rare, and it can be treated, but if it’s not treated properly, he could die. You’ve already noticed how much worse his condition has become.”
“Wait, what? Fuck, what did I miss again?” Saylor mutters, but I can’t look at him right now. My eyes are fixed on Hunter while I grip his shirt on his upper arms, his fingers clasping my forearms with a frown and worry in his eyes.
“Okaaay,” he begins, sounding unsure. “I mean, we can get that checked, North. She’s right. Lio has worsened a lot lately, and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have him thoroughly examined once more anyway. I don’t understand what the problem is here. If she’s wrong, it’s not the end of the?—”
North interrupts him with a frustrated exhale, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes shooting daggers at me. “Ask her how she thinks she knows that.”
Hunter’s gaze shifts from North back to mine, and I find myself looking down at my feet, releasing my grip on him, prompting him to let go of me as well. His tone softens as he asks, “Why would you know that?”
I’m just about to open my mouth, the words catching in my throat, but North mockingly interjects with his cynical tone, “She knows it because mydead wifetold her.”
“Wait, Jess is here?” Saylor asks, turning around himself to look for her.
North continues, “Jessie’sghostcame to her and told her that Lio is sick and needed treatment. I bet she’ll tell you even more details if you give her enough cash. Or better yet, let’s hand over our credit cards. I’m sure Jessie has a lot to say, and we wouldn’t want to stop her just because we can’t keep the money flowing.”
I steal a glance at Nash, who meets my gaze with a frown I’ve never seen on his face and a painful hurt shimmering in his eyes. The ache in my chest deepens.
Please, believe me.
“I never told you that I wanted money. I want you to bring Lio to a doctor. Lio needs—” I begin, but North cuts me off again.
“So, the first ghost message is for free? And every other costs extra after? You could open a hotline, then. I guess there are other ghosts just waiting to contact us,” North retorts sarcastically, his words stinging like daggers.
“I can’t deal with this,” Saylor seethes in frustration, his voice trembling with anger. “Tell him that Say is here. Tell him that he has to stop acting like a complete thundercunt and listen to you. Tell him you know about Dad’s car. I’m the only one who knows about that. That has to make him listen to you.”
While Saylor is talking, North abruptly opens the door and pushes me onto the porch, causing my heart to lurch in my chest as I stumble backward. They all spill out of the door too, their expressions ranging from Nash’s hurt to Hunter’s confusion and North’s seething anger. The weight of their skepticism presses down on me.
I knew it was too good to be true.
Everyone leaves when they get to know the real me.
“You get the fuck out of our house, now. And don’t think for a second that you still have a job,” North declares, chest heaving.
As if I’d care about that stupid job now.
The tears continue to flow uncontrollably. “I’ll go, but you have to promise me to get Lio checked as soon as possible,” I plead between sobs.
“North, let’s talk about this. I still don’t know what you’re even talking about. I’m sure she can explain,” Hunter argues, but I can feel that even he’s unsure about being on my side.
Nash remains silent, his watchful eyes fixed on me as the tears continue to fall. I can sense his inner turmoil, but he doesn’t make a move.
“She claims to be able to talk to ghosts just to get money out of us! Do you need it spelled out?” North now turns to Hunter, yelling in frustration, “She googled us, found out shit about our family, and now she’s using it against us!”
“Tell him! Tell them I’m here, Slo. They can ask me anything. We can set this straight right now, make them believe,” Saylor pleads.
I know I’m just getting myself into the deep end with this, but I need to try.
For Lio.
