“You have connections. I’m not worried about it,” he shrugged.
“Those connections won’t mean a damn thing if you don’t shape up.”
The kid actually laughed at me. “You saved me from dear old Mom and Dad. You won’t let me end up in jail.”
I was gonna reach into the back seat and strangle this kid. Seriously, I had only known him a few days and I was already looking at doing hard time because of him.
“Maybe you won’t end up in jail, but you’ll sure as shit end up in the military if you don’t shape the fuck up,” Parker snapped.
“You can’t make me join the military.”
“No, but I can enroll you in boot camp for kids,” Parker threatened. “With your attitude, your drill sergeant will have a field day with you.”
“I’ll run away.”
“And end up where?” I asked. “Seriously, you have no one other than us trying to help you. Your parents don’t give a shit, kid. They gave up on you a long time ago. No one else in town is trying to help you, and with all the trouble you’ve been causing, I doubt anyone will step forward to take a chance on you. We’re all you’ve got, kid.”
“Blake—” Parker cut in, but I wasn’t done yet.
“We’re trying to give you a chance, to show you that people won’t let you down if you give them a shot. But the more you push, the quicker you’re gonna find out just how cold and lonely it is on the outside. And if you lose us, if you keep pushing us, that’s it. No one else is coming. No one’s going to save your ass, and you’re gonna end up with the shittiest cellmate in the world. And let me tell you, the things that happen in prison would make your skin crawl. So make a fucking decision. Either you’re gonna listen to us and help yourself out, or you can end up in a cell with some guy named Bubba who will make you his bitch.”
The bored expression on his face didn’t change in the slightest, but there was a hint of fear in his eyes. Maybe I had gone too far, pushed too hard. But I didn’t know any other way. I took a chance on this kid, and if I failed him, I wasn’t sure what kind of mother that would make me to my own kid.
He didn’t acknowledge me in any way. His eyes drifted to the window and he put his headphones back over his ears, effectively shutting me out.
“Well, that went well,” I muttered.
“You might have laid it on a little thick.”
Maybe, but I didn’t know another way to handle a situation like this. Growing up without a mother hadn’t exactly given me a soft touch.
“What the hell?” Parker murmured as we pulled down Jeff’s driveway to where our house should have been.
Getting out, Parker marched around the front of the truck and stared at the empty space where our house had been just this morning.
“Hey, guys!” Jeff grinned as he walked out of the house.
Parker scowled at him, his hand pointed at the empty lot. “Where the fuck is my house?”
“Wes! Let’s go!”I shouted, though it really wasn’t necessary in this tiny house. Hell, if I took two steps out of the room, I would be just a few feet from the loft.
I couldn’t wait to have our house back. This tiny house was cute, but way too small for three of us, which became increasingly clear with every day that passed.
It had been a month since our chat in the car. Every day, Wes scowled at me, refusing to say more than two words. He constantly had those headphones on, effectively shutting out the world. But I didn’t say a damn thing because things were better.
Not that he was speaking to me or even acknowledging my presence most days, but he was going to work and school. Parker had forced him to sit down and do his homework, which was half-assed at best, but it was progress.
So, yeah, I was still on the outside where this kid was concerned, but at least he wasn’t in juvie.
Grabbing my boots, I slid them on my feet, groaning when I bent over and my jeans dug just a little too tightly into my growing stomach. I wasn’t that far along, but my appetite didn’t know that. I was pretty much eating everything in sight. My hunger knew no bounds, and even after I was stuffed, Parker would walk through the door with something even more tantalizing.
I was going to be the size of a house.
Parker knocked on the doorframe, grinning at me as I struggled to tie my boots. “Problems?”
“Yes, you keep bringing me food.”
“Because you’re pregnant and you should enjoy this.”
