“Isn’t that enough?” her father shouted. “You don’t understand. As a judge—”
“I’m sure you’ve seen hundreds of kids exactly like him. And if you’re trying to tell me that they all got the same treatment as Ross, then I find your type of judgment disturbing. The only thing I don’t understand is why.”
The judge didn’t respond, and he didn’t need to. The answer was already clear enough to Mia. He had treated Ross that way because he could.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ross retrieved abottle of beer from his fridge. It was one of those nights which required a stronger drink, but there wasn’t one. The beer would have to do. He twisted off the cap, taking a long sip in his darkened kitchen while staring out the window.
This was precisely what Ross was trying to avoid. Why exhume all these unhappy events when he put so much effort into trying to forget them? Mia, the bespectacled eagle, swooped into his life, her wings sweeping away his carefully established walls. All he requested was a quiet life with Hermes and to make jewelry in his workshop. Sure, Mia’s presence delivered light and warmth. But at the same time, her massive wings also gathered the clouds overhead, bringing the memories roaring back like the current storm happening outside his home.
He remembered the scared sixteen-year-old Ross. The kid who was snatched by store security, handcuffed by local police, and a disappointment to his grandfather once again. Sitting on the hard wooden chair in the courtroom, he’d fixated on the plaque readingHonorable Vincent D. Russo. He had a flicker of hope in the man who was to be his judge. The person with the title ofHonorableknew Ross and knew he wasn’t a bad kid. In the end, it had been silly of Ross to hope for anything different. No one ever saw him as anything but someone lacking in potential.
Ross was jerked from the memories with the appearance of headlights pulling in front of his home.
What. The. Shit.
He plunked the bottle on the countertop and strode to the door, jerking it on its hinges. He hadn’t made it past the porch before a jacket-less Mia jumped from her vehicle, the rain coming down heavy around her.
“I’m done discussing this with you! Go home, Mia!” He jabbed a finger in the general direction of it.
She remained locked in place. “I know you’re angry. I don’t blame you.”
“I don’t even care anymore. You can believe whatever you want. Just leave me alone.”
The porch light basked Mia’s skin in a golden hue. Drops collected on the lenses of her glasses, obstructing her eyes. She removed them and lifted her face to the sky, her features scrunching as if in pain. He did his best to harden himself to it. What did she know about misery? Her whole life was one of charm and success.
“I care, and Idobelieve you.” Her tearful words reached him across the driveway.
It was too late. Ross’s anger wasn’t going anywhere, not this time. Tears would not soften him. He zeroed a cold gaze in her direction and steeled his voice. “As horrible as being put behind bars was, what you did to me afterward hurt even more.”
Mia ignored his previous command, trudging forward to where he stood beneath the covered patio. He couldn’t tell which drops on her face were tears and which were due to rain. Her arms were folded tight across her chest as she shivered, bowing her head. His ears caught the slight hitches in her breathing. “You’re right. I’ve been the worst kind of friend.” A hand pressed across her eyes as her mouth stretched in despair.
“I came back, Mia. After the two months, I came back. They told me you didn’t want to tutor me anymore.” When she had given up on him, it felt like everyone had.
“I’m so sorry, Ross. I was so focused on the possibility that you cheated, and how it may have reflected on me, it was all I considered. I allowed myself to be persuaded into thinking that talking to you was suddenly wrong, and that I didn’t know you at all. You weren’t the only foolish sixteen-year-old back then.” Her eyes remained fixed on the cement stoop beneath her feet. She tightened her arms more, her body trembling.
“You’re going to get hypothermia.”
“I don’t care. I’m not leaving like this. Not this time.”
The stiff line of his shoulders softened. He sighed. “Let’s go inside.”
She followed him into his home, and he left her in the entryway before returning with a clean towel. Draping it across her shoulders, he rubbed along her upper arms in an attempt to dry and warm her shaking limbs. Mia remained silent, allowing him to work the towel over her body and watching him with those big, warm eyes. When he finished, her hands clutched the plush fabric to her shoulders. “Thank you.”
“I thought you didn’t believe me,” Ross said.
“It’s not that I didn’t believe you, it’s that I don’t want to believe these things about my father. He’s always been someone who I’ve admired and used as my standard of morality. It’s why I thought I couldn’t work with politicians anymore, because they weren’t meeting these standards. It’s hard to get your brain to switch over and accept something so different than what you’ve always known. To find yourself disenchanted once again.”
“I think I went through a similar thing with you.”
She burst into a fresh crop of tears.
“Mia—”
“No, you’re right. The school failed you. The system failed you. And I failed you. I don’t blame you for hating me.”
Whatever anger remained in his heart seeped away, leaving nothing but weariness behind. He was so used to the anger, so used to pushing. For once he didn’t want to push. Rather he wanted to pull something toward him. And the person he pulled was Mia, right into his chest, wrapping his arms around her damp frame. Her body softened against him, allowing herself to be enveloped.
