It had been a little over a month since Nikolaj had passed away, and Kaj was trapped in a drifting boat that was constantly rocking in a sea of apathy and despair. Sometimes sad. Sometimes angry.
Steps stomped closer to the door, and words became clearer.
“You’re right. I have no idea what you’re going through—you won’t talk to me—but your grades speak for themselves!”
“They only show that I didn’t study.”
“Fine, be as stubborn as you want, but tell me why I shouldn’t ground you for skipping classes. The course has barely started—”
“Because you’re not my mother.”
“How dare you talk to me like that? I’m feeding you, taking care of you. I’m trying to love you the best I can, but you won’t let me.”
Kaj snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Look, just because you’re going through a midlife crisis, doesn’t mean I have to deal with your bullshit.”
“Your father must be writhing in his grave right now.”
“Doubt it,” he said with appalling calmness. “He was cremated.”
“Kaj!” Katja screeched. “Don’t you dare leave the house until we’re done with this conversation.”
“I’m done with it.”
The door opened and slammed. Noah looked at him wide-eyed, afraid to say the wrong thing. Kaj had been quite snappy the past few weeks. Aside from the things Katja had mentioned, he’d also dropped the swim team and was late for rehearsal most days, even though they still met at his house. But this was a new level of fury.
“Hey…”
“Hey. Sorry about that.” He tipped his head to the side, pointing to the house while zipping his coat.
“I, hmm... It’s alright. Nothing to apologize for. Wanna talk about it?”
“No. She’s just being a cunt.”
Noah’s mouth twisted.
“She thinks because she signed a paper with my father, she gets a say about what I do with my life now that he’s gone,” he scoffed, kicking a small pebble on the ground.
“But... isn’t she, like, your legal guardian?”
“Not for long.”
“What do you mean?” Noah asked as they walked away.
“She thinks she can manipulate and control me, that I’m stupid or something, but she knows all she has is my father’s money. I’ll have access to my part, and she won’t have the power anymore when I turn eighteen.”
“I…” Noah bit the inside of his cheek, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets as the wind blew around them. He knew better than to pull the trigger, but he couldn’t help himself. “That’s a little too harsh.”
“You wouldn’t think so if you were living with her. She doesn’t really care about me, just how I make her look, and lately, the bottle of wine she always has in her hand.”
It was true Katja worried too much about her makeup, clothes, and making a good impression wherever she went. Even after Nik’s death, not missing a meeting with her girlfriends at a fancy café in Fredericia was still a priority of hers, along with being a good host when she had people over. To Noah’s understanding, none of that was necessarily bad. Plus, she’d always been kind to everyone. But what did he know? He wasn’t even aware of the immoderate drinking.
“Not so sure about that…”
“I am,” Kaj said curtly. He hadn’t looked at Noah since coming outside and still wouldn’t. It was as if he was trying to disconnect from the world. “Can we stop talking about her?”
