“You’re your own worst enemy.”
“Why does it matter, anyway? In several months, we’ll never see each other again. After college, you’ll marry your high school sweetheart then pop out a few brats.”
He might as well have thrown a glass of cold water in my face like the night we first met. I can’t stomach the thought of never seeing him again. I’ll always wonder it he’s hurting, using cocaine again, or worse.
“Your uncle is marrying my mom, so we’ll see each other again.”
“I’m not going to the wedding. I’ll be a legal adult way before then, doing whatever the hell I want, with no one getting in my way.”
“You can visit for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays.”
I’m grasping at straws, and I know it.
“Do you think I’m going to carve the turkey while Trevor holds the fork in it? Wake the fuck up. While everyone’s watching football, are we going to sneak to the bathroom for a quickie? You’re living in a dreamland.”
I drop the burger on the plate, suddenly losing my appetite.
“Are you done?”
I nod.
“Good, let’s go.”
“Can I ask you something?”
Now what?My hands clench the steering wheel, turning my knuckles white. “You said you were tired, so go to sleep.”
“How old were you when you started using cocaine?”
“Thirteen.”
“How does a thirteen-year-old get introduced to a drug like that?”
“One of my mother’s associates.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“I shit you not.”
“That’s child abuse!” Cin says in outrage. “Does your mom know?”
“Nah. She introduced me to sex, too.”
“The bitch is a pedophile? Art, you should’ve told someone. You still could.”
“I liked every minute of it.”
“Duh, at thirteen, I’m sure your hormones were running wild. But she took advantage of you.”
“What’s done is done.”
“When did it stop?”
“We continued to fuck until Cole’s death.”
“You haven’t seen her since?”
“I’ve seen her.”
