Whiskey greets us, tail wagging enthusiastically, as we enter the apartment. Her silliness earns a laugh out of me.
“Seriously?” I ask as Eli tosses a bottle of water at my head.
Eli skewers me with a hard look. “She likes it here with me when Colby is working. What should I do? Leave her in the big house all by herself?”
“No. You should move into the big house so you can both be over there.”
Eli sucks on his teeth in thought. “It’s too soon.”
“My belongings are still in the guest room, but I sleep in Beau’s room every night.”
Shaking his head at me, Eli gives Whiskey a few pats. “You guys have been dancing around each other for over a year though. It’s different. Makes sense for you.”
“If that’s how you get yourself to sleep at night, honey.”
We toss our sweaty selves onto the small sofa in Eli’s apartment. Whiskey pants down at us, tongue hanging out of her mouth as she seeks our attention. I give her a few sweet pats on her head. Comfortable silence fills the room while we come down from our run, sipping at our ice-cold waters.
“Are you coming to the start of the fall festival this weekend?” Eli asks.
I press the cold bottle of water to my neck. “Yeah, probably. If Beau asks.”
“Colby’s working the event, so I’ll be there. Jackson and Benji were talking about trying to make the trip down. Asking if they can stay here.”
“Miss them,” I murmur. Whiskey tilts her head, so I give her a few gentle ear scratches. Must be a good spot because her leg starts to go, making Eli chuckle softly.
“Benji’s contracting with Nolan for like a year for that world tour. Anyway, he’s beenkind oftexting about it in the group chat. It’s all hush-hush, but you know how it is with Nolan.”
I rub a hand over my face. I remember exactly how it was with Nolan. “I’ve been bad about reading our group chat. Y’allneed to do updates at the end of the day for everything I miss throughout the day.”
“Like awhat you missed on Gleesort of thing?”
Such an Eli thing to suggest. “Yeah, like that.”
Eli salutes me with a playful smirk. “Ready for work, sir.”
We hang out for a while longer, but mostly just so I can give Whiskey more love.
She’s such a good girl. How much convincing will it take for Beau to let us get a dog?
The house is quiet when I walk through the back door. Just confirming the idea of us needing a dog. Us. Warmth blooms in my stomach just from thinking of me and Beau as an us.
My phone buzzes in my pocket as I wait for the shower to heat up. Thinking it’s just the group chat, I pull it out, only to be accosted with the caller ID of the number for my mother’s federal prison. Suddenly, I am just so over it all. Anger so fierce, so consuming rolls through me, that with one single blink, the mirror is shattered before me.
My phone lies amongst glass in the porcelain sink of Beau’s bathroom.
Fuck.
My hands tremble violently as I stare down at the scattered pieces of broken mirror around the bathroom. Oh, God. Suddenly, air can’t get into my lungs. The bathroom is too small, the air too thick from the steam. I don’t know how long I stand there, just staring at my cracked reflection in the fogged bathroom mirror.
No more running away. I won’t run away. There’s nowhere that I can go where the sins of my parents won’t follow me. Where they won’t reach me. I’ve just got to learn to deal with this head-on. I’ve got to… I don’t know what I need to do but it’s not this. Hiding myself away under the crumbling weight of their crimes is no longer an option.
Beau finds me staring listlessly at the broken glass shards.
“What happened?” Beau asks, voice full of concern.
I take a trembling, small breath. “I got a call from the federal prison. I just…”
“Alright.” Beau gently grabs my forearm, tugging me until I’m out of the bathroom scattered with dangerous glass. “I’m going to clean this up, then we’re going to talk. Can you go sit on the porch?”
