Scrunching up my nose at that, I sank deeper into my wicker chair. My butt hung off the edge, and I glared at my feet as I flexed them. Once again, I was sucked into my own thoughts, trying desperately to refute the points Terry had made. My dad was my dad, so he had to care about me... right?
I was obligated to endure because he was my only parent left, and I didn't want no one to be able to fall back on.
But the last time I asked my dad for help with something, he blew me off. I was moving into this apartment, and he'd promised— sworn up and down that he'd come help me move my stuff. In the end, though, I had to get the movers to help me with a very green incentive.
If my dad purposefully ran me over with a car, would I act the same way? That was basically what had happened. My dad forced me to go to that restaurant, wanted the best seat in the house— which ironically wasn't even inside the building— and ignored me. Even during my asthma attack, he just sat there expecting my inhaler to be a miracle cure.
"I know it's the same." My tiny voice squeezed out from behind the dense lump in my throat, and I inhaled a shallow, ragged breath. "I know."
Out of the corner of my vision, Terry climbed over the divider, and I blinked back the sting in my eyes. A horrible feeling clawed up from my gut, riding waves of bile that I forcibly swallowed down. Tightening my grip on my cat while Terry sat gingerly on the chair's arm, I closed my eyes and savored the feeling of his hand stroking my hair.
"You're a great person, Mel. I'm not gonna stop being your friend." The rough material of his work jeans rubbed my face when I rested my cheek on his thigh. "You'll be okay, even if it hurts for a while."
Chapter 6
Carl
Nervousness tingled my palms as I twirled my keys, staring up at the super nice, ritzy restaurant my mom had directed me to. I reached to swipe down my mouth, hoping to wipe away the nasty taste on my lips. Inhaling a deep, sharp breath, my heart rampaged against my ribs.
As the days dwindled to this night, my mom had talked more and more about Augustus, and I really didn't like what I was hearing. They went here, and they did this, and they talked about going to that European country...
There was far too much money being thrown around, and I had this gnawing, sickening feeling that it wasn't this guy spending much of the stuff. My mom was loaded after the death of her second husband, but this kind of spending wasn't how she operated. Sure, she liked nice stuff, but lately, all she seemed to do was spend on doing things with this guy.
"You look like you're gonna throw up, Carl."
I couldn't hide my frown anymore, and I sighed heavily as I hooked my arm around my sister. Not looking away from the glowing sign hanging above the front door of the restaurant, I grumbled. Laurie hugged me briefly, her own sigh tinged with foreboding.
"I take it you're hearing the same things I am?"
"This is gonna be torture." For a second or two, I mumbled unhappily like a teenager forced to eat a piece of broccoli, and Laurie huffed softly in agreement.
"All I hear about this dude is that he likes spending Mom's money. They went to a casino— a casino. Just decided one morning to get a private jet to Connecticut and bam."
"Yeah. I heard. Mom had a blast." Snorting roughly at that, I tensed.
Laurie sucked her teeth indignantly. "Let's just get this over with."
When I glanced over, surprise raised my brows. "You dyed your hair."
Laurie flashed me a dimpled smile. She flipped her professionally done, ocean blue-green hair, flashing silvery when it caught the flood lamps illuminating the parking lot.
"It's beautiful, Laurie. Really."
"Thank you. I passed my test. It's not the Bar or anything, but it was important, so I thought that I'd treat myself and do something crazy that didn't involve getting blackout drunk."
Taking a lock between my fingers, I tugged gently, grinning at her. "I like it."
Laurie blushed as she licked her lips heavily. "I thought... you know... I never do anything wild, so I deserve this. I haven't told Mom."
"You look amazing with blue hair. It's so out there, but it's still respectable."
Her face turned bright red at the blatant admiration in my tone, and she elbowed me swiftly before sauntering toward the entrance. This was the kind of place where all the waitresses wore three-piece, feminine suits as uniforms, and the valet would be sued into the ground if he so much as breathed in one of the cars.
What's worse— it was an Italian place. Of all the wonderful seafood restaurants we could be eating at, my mom decided to bring us to the most expensive place that didn't utilize the region. I'd been here once before, during my celebration-slash-entry-interview with the hospital, and there was zero seafood on the menu.
There wasn't even shrimp alfredo. Apparently, this Italian place didn't want anything to do with seafood because it meant competing with 'specialized' places. Jesus.
"Let me." Opening the door for Laurie, I couldn't help but smirk a little when she flounced past me. The smell of Italian food hit me like a brick wall, so thick and heavy compared to the lightness of living by the ocean. Gingerly taking Laurie's coat off her shoulders, I couldn't resist running my fingers through her long, wavy hair. "Whoever styled this did a really good job. How much was it for your whole head?"
"Almost four hundred dollars, but I never spend money like that, so I was willing to splurge. The last time I did anything more than a trim must've been... God, I don't even know. When I was eleven, maybe, and decided it'd be cool to have bangs." She shivered in disgust at the memory.
I smiled even as my gaze narrowed to scan the floor. I spotted my mom almost instantly, and my smile dropped when I saw who she was sitting with. So, that's the guy.
Augustus looked slimy, like a stereotypical caricature of a used car salesman. He was balding quite noticeably, was pretty overweight, and instantly struck me as the guy who tried to talk over people. I knew I shouldn't judge him based on his looks, but of everything I had heard of him thus far, his looks had only intensified my dislike for him. Truthfully, I wasn't at all surprised by his appearance, even though I was disgusted.
Of course, I wasn't a gym rat, but I did work out three times a week and ate well. Holding my arm out for my sister, I inhaled a bracing breath as we shared a look of dread. Walking across the floor toward my mom, my heart rate jacked up, and my knees struggled to bend with each step. My collar tightened around my throat, and I clenched and released my jaw hard.
"Mom—"
My mom's bright, brown eyes flew to mine at my call, and I forced a smile. She looked happy as she popped up, her wrinkled face glowing as she rounded the table.
"You look beautiful."
"Oh, Carl." Leaning to kiss her cheek, my smile widened at her breathlessness, and she hugged Laurie as I pulled out my sister's chair. "Laurie, you look amazing! What a surprise!"
"Yeah..." Laurie sat down to fold her hands in her lap, her sequin, black dress draping over her legs smoothly.
Rounding the table to help my mom sit, I couldn't help but notice how Augustus hadn't stood up to be introduced. Out of the corner of my eye, he seemed nervous, almost, and I pursed my lips to hide my frown.