If I called, she’d answer.
“I’m not asking you to call her. I don’t want you involved, but could you send her a text, have her download an app. Say it’s because you want to share your college photos with her.”
I almost laughed at that.
Again, not our first trip down this path.
He wanted me to send a tracking app to her, and she would know it was a tracking app, and she wouldn’t download it.
“I gotta call her, you know that.”
I heard his soft sigh and curse this time. “I just don’t want her to do anything stupid.”
I almost cracked a grin at that one. “Wishful thinking, Pops.”
“Yeah.” Another deeper sigh from him. “I shouldn’t have called. You asked for a semester free, and I’m sorry.”
He wasn’t apologizing for calling. He was apologizing for letting me know what was happening, because now I knew. Now I’d be tense, waiting for a call from him or the Vegas police or a Vegas hospital telling me something worse had happened. The other silver lining in this doom and gloom is that my dad had divorced her, but he hadn’t divorced us. He was still involved, the other partner in our ‘team’ of trying to handle her. He still cared. He still loved her. She just couldn’t legally take his money anymore.
“Do you want me to answer her if she calls me?”
He gave a wry laugh because we both knew she would. And I heard his resignation on the other end. “No. I’m sorry. I’m going to make some calls and see if I can find her.”
“Dad.” It was a waste of money. This shit was on a recurring loop. She’d do what she was going to do until she crashed and burned, and then she’d call him. And because he loved her, he’d swoop in and try and do what he could for damage control.
“I know. I know. You know how it is.”
“Yeah.”
We had parked, and I became aware of Miles watching me, his features tight and his lips pressed flat.
“I’m going into a party, Dad.”
“Okay. Have fun, sweetheart. I love you.”
“I love you.”
We hung up, and I didn’t move.
All the pressure was slammed back down on me.
She was out there, doing who knows what. If she was on a tirade, she could get pregnant, raped, gangbanged, or… I had no clue. Rob a bank if she was drunk enough. Some of it was out of her control, but some of it wasn’t. Some of it she did knowingly and manipulatively to control whoever she wanted attention from, and judging by the amount of blocked calls, it was me.
I knew Dad was regretting calling me because he was right. Now I knew.
I expelled a ragged curse, hitting my head against the dashboard.
“You—” Miles caught himself. Oh yeah. He’d gotten the memo about my personal shit. And I said shit on purpose because that’s what it was, truly a bowel movement type of shit.
I glanced to the house, seeing Taz and her boyfriend walking down the sidewalk. So that answered one of my questions. It was the only house that was lit up. It wasn’t a crazy kind of party, but there were ten people on the porch hanging out, drinking, laughing.
I nodded to get out of the truck, and Miles followed my actions. He came around as I rested against the door. He was standing on the sidewalk, his hands going into his back pockets. I knew what I needed to do and waved my phone at him. “You can go in. I’m—uh—I’m going to make a call.”
He frowned, but was nodding. “Sure, sure. Do you want me to wait for you inside?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve got family stuff to handle, so I might, no. I could call Solana to meet up with you?”
He laughed, and held his hands up. “Nah. I got it.” He dipped his head toward my phone. “Hope that all works out okay.”
He headed in, being greeted by the porch people as I checked Cruz’s last text message.
Cruz: Second floor. End of the hallway. Bathroom is across from me.
Me: I’m coming in. Gotta make a call first.
I was pulling up my mom’s number when he responded.
Cruz: You outside?
Me: Yeah.
Then I pressed call on my mom’s number.
She answered in a rush, “HONEY! SWEETHEART! Oh my God. How are you?” But she was off, not letting me answer, “Oh good Lord. Don’t tell me your father got you to call me? Not after how many times I’ve tried to reach you. But noooo. One call from your father.” She bit off, growling. “I can’t believe this. But sweetheart, oh sweetheart. How are you? How’s college? Have you met someone there yet? Tell me everything.”
I could hear the announcements of arrivals and departures in her background, and I had my answer.
“Actually, Mom. I’m about to go into a party. I was just calling to tell you that I love you.”
“Oh Mara, sweetie.” I heard her starting to sniffle. “Thank you, baby. I’ve been so worried about you. I almost considered coming to Oregon to check on you myself, but I’m glad to hear you’re doing fine.” Her voice dropped because now she was going to get into what she wanted from me. “I’ve been struggling so much since you left, and I’ve been worried because you haven’t been returning any of my calls. Sweetie—”
I noticed someone was walking down the side of the house. It was dark, but he/they were hunched over. Hands in their front pockets.
My mom was still talking.
She wanted me to call her every day. Every hour, if I could. She wanted to tell me about a guy she met, and a new friend she met, and an investment deal she was thinking of giving money to, and a place she was thinking about renting because her landlord was an asshole and it was high time she moved out, and then I stopped listening.
The guy stepped out past the porch, and its lights hit his face. It was Cruz, a little grin on his face as he was watching me, slightly frowning.
“I have to go, Mom. Love you. Be smart. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t want you to do.” I hung up, blocked her calls again, and sent a text to my dad.
Me: She’s at the bar in the airport.
He’d know which bar because she had three that were her favorites. And also, he’d handle it from here.
I pushed off from the truck and went to meet Cruz. “Hey.”
My phone buzzed back.
Dad: Thanks, sweetie. She still thinks you’re going to college in OR, so you don’t have to worry she’ll show up. Just have fun tonight. Enjoy college. Love you.
I didn’t respond, but Cruz was looking from me to my phone. “I know your rule, but I’m still going to ask if everything okay?”
“You came out the back to get me?”
His grin widened, showing off the side indents of his face. “I was hoping to show you a shortcut to my room, because you know.”
Yeah. I grinned back. I knew.
We went down the side alley. His house had a fenced-in backyard, but he opened a side door just before the fence’s door and we slipped inside. A set of stairs ran up the side of the house. He opened the second-floor door, then took the first immediate right and we were in his room, which was big too. I started to migrate toward the back window, it was a large one like a living room would have, but he said, “That overlooks the backyard. I’ve got the shades drawn, but people are out there. A lot of people.”