“Okay.” Ez swept a couple of black strands out of his eyes. He looked so tired.
Worry tumbled through my gut as I left the library. My brother couldn’t keep doing this to himself. It’d kill him. But what could I do to stop it? Absolutely nothing. I felt as powerless to change his denial as he probably did about my weight.
I wanted both of us to get better, but I didn’t know how. It seemed as simple as just making a decision, but neither of us wanted to. I felt as helpless over my own condition as I did Ezekiel’s.
At some point, everything was going to boil over.
On my way to the lunchroom, I saw Ivy, Opal and Kallie sitting in Commissary. Ivy waved me over, and I sat beside him. All of my friends had various meals placed in front of them, which they’d grabbed from the cafeteria.
Ivy peeked at the wrap he’d gotten. “Ugh. It’s turkey. Ihateturkey, but I don’t want it to go to waste. Ava, would you eat it?”
“Sure.” I grabbed the wrap from Ivy and took a bite. Mayonnaise filled my mouth, and I chewed lightly.
“We have to go to therapy this afternoon,” Kallie said. “I heard we have a new counselor.”
Disgust churned in my gut at the thought of going to a therapy session with my ex. Sounded about as pleasurable as a cactus up the ass. I didn’t want— or trust— a new therapist. No one was as good as Professor Takahashi.
But it was a mandated part of our sentence, so it wasn’t like we had a choice but to show up. “Do you know anything about the new social worker?” I asked.
“No.” Kallie shook her head. “Apparently, she was a last-minute hire.”
“She had to be, if she wants to work here,” Ivy said disdainfully. “She has no idea what she’s getting into, counseling a bunch of kids with criminal records and bad tattoos.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I moaned. I gave another distasteful glance at Charlie’s name scrawled across my skin. You know what was worse than splitting up with the love of your life? Having their stupid name tattooed on your wrist, and being forced to look at it every day. Charlie got off easy.
“Hey precious, we’ve all made bad decisions with men. Yours is just permanent,” Ivy joked.
“I want this ugly thing gone. It was a terrible decision at the time,” I said.
“You could ask Marcus to cover it up,” Kallie suggested.
“Or I could putis an assholeafter his name,” I said with a shrug. “Either works.”
Ivy and Kallie laughed, but Opal didn’t even crack a smile. She was being really quiet.
Kallie nudged her. “What’s up? You seem bummed.”
Opal poked at her salad. “Ez can’t keep anything down,” she muttered. “Every time he eats something, it comes right back up. All he consumes now is those magical drinks, because it’s the only thing his stomach can handle.”
“How do you know about it?” Ivy asked suspiciously.
“He tells me everything,” Opal said. “He doesn’t hide stuff from me.”
Well, he was certainly hiding stuff from the rest of us. Anxiety knotted in my chest as Ivy let out a sarcastic noise. “Girl, you need to ask him out already.”
“I do not!” Opal blushed so red that her cheeks became more vibrant than a rose.
“Well, you obviously care about him, or you wouldn’t be telling us this,” Kallie pointed out.
Opal’s mouth twisted. “It’s just… it’s really bad now. He’s worse than before. I was holding his hand yesterday morning as he threw up in the men’s room. I was worried he’d start coughing up blood.”
Images of Opal sitting on the bathroom floor as my brother vomited into a toilet assaulted my mind. This had gone too far. My chair screeched as I stood up from the table. “I gotta go. See you guys later.”
I tossed the empty takeout container box into the trash— I’d actually finished my meal— and stormed down to the prison phones. I paid the guard for extra time, then yanked the receiver off the holder as I dialed my father’s office number.
He picked up almost immediately. “Hel—”
“Daddy, you need to talk to Ez.” I cut him off before he could even say a greeting.
