“Look at me, Laiken,” she whispers, and I turn, my glassy eyes searching hers. “If you love someone, don’t ever let them stop talking, don’t ever stop fighting for them.”
One rogue tear rolls down my cheek, and she catches it with her free hand, palming it away. “Fight for them if they can’t fight for themselves.”
The sound of dirt shuffling to our side has my mother slipping her hand from mine, pushing to her feet. She steps off the cinder block ledge and meets Jade with a one arm hug and forced smile. I watch them chat and the sorrow in Jade’s eyes is obvious. I can tell she’s trying hard to hide it when my mother wipes the leftover tears from her eyes with the back of her hand mid conversation.
The sun has given way to the darkness, spotted light coming from the other trailers, the only illumination now. Though a set of headlights moves toward us, the rumble of an engine I know well, vibrating louder as it rolls closer.
The flick of high beams has me shielding my eyes, then sticking my middle finger high in the air.
A hand clasps around it, my mother pulling it away. Jade laughs beside us. “Don’t worry, it’s just Chase,” she states.
I watch my mother visibly deflate, her hand slipping from the hold she had around my finger.
“S-s-sorry,” she stutters, not looking at me.
I try not to shiver.
I’m still sitting down. Jade and Mom are standing beside me as we watch Chase and Harlen step out of Chase’s red truck, both doors slamming behind them. They are laughing, and I’m palming my ponytail when Chase races toward me.
I jump to my feet with a squeal, and attempt hiding behind Mom, my hands on her shoulders. Mom chuckles and it's the first real laugh I’ve heard from her in a long time.
It stirs something warm inside my chest.
Chase stops in front of Mom. “Mrs. Campbell,” he says, opening his arms for a hug.
And Mom accepts it, her small chin sitting over his shoulder as she rubs over his back.
“Gosh, you make me feel old, Chase,” she tells him with a laugh.
“Only young and beautiful,” he says, and I watch Mom’s cheeks flush pink.
They’re still hugging, though Chase’s eyes are locked on mine, and I grin, flipping him off again. He is quick to mouth the word “brat.”
And I smile wider.
He’s laughing when he pulls back from Mom, who turns to see my finger still in the air. She tries to reach for it again, this time though, not out of fear, out of manners, but me and Chase were far past being polite.
Chase gives her his full attention when they sink into conversation, and I’ve always loved that about him, the time he gives my Mom. He knowseverything, and without judgment, he treats her the same way he had before we lost Dad, before she started using.
Harlen claps his hands together. “We thought we’d head to Devil’s Diner and grab some food before we go.”
Jade holds up the casserole dish Nan brought over earlier. “How about pasta bake?”
Chase snorts, shoving a hand through his hair. “Not if you made it.” He walks over to her, and roughs up the dark hair she’d finished styling earlier.
“You asshole!” she scolds, taking a swing at him with her foot. She catches him on the shin, and he doesn’t flinch, instead he steps back in, his large hand wrapping around the handle of the pot's lid, opening it. He shoves his nose into the center, taking a whiff of its contents.
“Fuck, that smells unreal,” he confirms.
Mom moves for the door. “I’ll get some plates.” She disappears into the house and the four of us begin walking toward the back of the trailer.
Chase falls into line next to me, nudging my arm with his elbow.
“She looks okay,” he says.
I snap my gaze toward him, and he does the same, running his thumb across his bottom lip, his dark eyes widening.
Jade and Harlen’s laughs circle ahead of us.
