“Hey,” I say, and she looks over, but her mouth opens.
“Is this okay?” I ask, looking down at my outfit. “I can always change.”
“You …” she starts to say and then closes her mouth again. “You.” She points. “You’re hot.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Thank you,” I say, folding the other sleeve. “I think.”
“Like wow,” she says, and I shake my head.
I look around the kitchen and the living room and see that Dylan isn’t here. “Listen, I was thinking that after church we could swing by your place and you can go up and grab clothes for you two,” I say, and her face goes white as though she’s seen a ghost. “What’s wrong?” Then I walk to her. “If it’s too much for you, I can go up.”
“No,” she says almost like she’s shouting, and she walks to the sink, grabs a glass, and drinks some water. She turns to look at me. “There is something I didn’t tell you.” Just the way she says it makes my heart sink. “I was going to, but it was just too much.” She looks at me. “There are no clothes.”
“Go on.” I don’t trust myself to say much more.
“All the clothes were slashed and destroyed. I think I have one shirt left that I had in the laundry basket,” she says, playing with her hands again, and I want to shake something. “Tomorrow, I’m going to hit up the thrift shop and even the church shop and get us some things to hold us over.” Her voice goes soft. “I’m going to take care of it.” Her eyes fill with tears, and I don’t want her to cry. I don’t want her to shed another fucking tear for the rest of her life.
“Mom, I’m ready,” Dylan says, but her eyes never leave mine. “Mom?” he calls her again. “Are we leaving?”
“Yeah,” she says, grabbing her purse. “It’s okay if you don’t feel up to it.”
“Justin, you aren’t coming?” he asks.
“Of course, I’m coming,” I say and then look down to see him wearing the same stuff he wore for two days. “We have to stop and get you some clothes.” I grab my phone and my keys. “Let’s go.”
“Justin,” she says my name softly.
“I hate this for you,” I say softly. “Hate it.”
She shrugs. “It’s just another speed bump in the road.” I look at her and wonder what road she is on because there are craters in her road, and I suddenly want to pave them all. I grab her hand in mine and bring it to my lips when we walk out of the apartment. The elevator comes right away, and the three of us ride it to the garage. “We can take the BMW today,” I say, and she looks at me, smirking.
“You know it’s Sunday,” she jokes, and I put my arm around her. “Sunday is for BMW and church.”
“That mouth is going to get you into a lot of trouble,” I whisper into her ear. When we get to the car, I unlock the doors, and Dylan climbs in. I kiss her lips. “Big trouble.”
“Yeah,” she says, getting into the car, and I get into the car also. “Will I end up in the penalty box?” she asks.
“You only go to the box when you do something bad, Mom,” Dylan says, and I wink at her before putting on my sunglasses.
“Where to?” I ask, and she looks at me.
“The closest Walmart,” she says, and I nod at her and punch it in the GPS. We get there, and she gets out of the car and opens the back door for Dylan.
“Are you coming with us?” Dylan asks, and I look at him.
“No, buddy, I have to make a phone call,” I say. He jumps out of the car, and they walk into the busy Walmart.
I pick up my phone and dial the one person I know who can help me. “Well, well, well.” She answers on the first ring.
“Hey,” I say, looking to make sure they haven’t come out. “I need a favor.”
“It’s going to cost you,” she says, and my eyes never leave the glass door.
“Whatever it is,” I say and put my plan into motion.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Caroline
I walk into Walmart, and the stale air hits me right away. My hands are clammy, and my knees are shaking. It’s surreal; this whole week has been surreal.
I spent extra time on my hair today and curled it with the wand that he had in his bathroom. I tried not to think about who it belonged to, and when I went into the kitchen to clean up, my stomach was fluttering as if I was going to prom. He walked out, and I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t expect him to be so, just. Hot. Then my mouth couldn’t stop talking, but then when he told me we could stop to grab the rest of my clothes from home, I thought I was going to throw up and ruin the only clothing I had.
I didn’t know how he would react, but I had to tell him the truth. I vowed never to lie to him, and I’m not going to. Besides,
watching him last night with Dylan was just the cherry on the cake. The way he held him and refused to let him go. I was waiting for him to fight with me about the clothing, but he didn’t, and when we step into Walmart, I head for the kids department and grab a pair of blue shorts that are on sale for nine dollars and a white T-shirt that is on liquidation for four ninety-nine. “Can I wear my sneakers?” he asks, and I nod.
“It’s fine,” I say and go to the register and slip a folded twenty that I keep in the back of my wallet in a secret compartment that I cut into it.
We walk out of the store, and I see Justin on the phone with someone. When Dylan opens the door, I hear him say. “Okay, I got to go. Make it happen.”
“Did you find anything?” he asks, looking in the back at Dylan who just nods his head. I sit in the car next to Justin, and I realize that his whole outfit probably cost what I make in six months.
“Do you want to stop somewhere so he can change?” he asks, and I just shake my head.
“He can change in the car,” I say, and he looks at me. We make it to church, and when I get out, I’m looking around to make sure no one is there watching me.
“You okay?” Justin asks, and I just nod.
“I’m just nervous,” I say the truth. “I’m waiting for Andrew to show up and blame me for keeping him away from Dylan.”
“Gotta say, sweetheart. I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold myself back if that happens,” he says, and just the way he says it, I know that he means it, but the last thing I want is for Justin to be in trouble because of us.
“I changed,” Dylan says, coming out of the back seat wearing his new clothes. I walk over to him and twist his shorts so they are straight. “Mom,” he groans, and I grab his hand.
“Let’s go before we don’t have any seats,” I say, and we walk into the church. I see more than one head turn to look our way. It’s not hard to see why. I even hear a couple of whispers, but I ignore them and walk up to Father Rolly. “Hey there,” I say, and he smiles at me and then looks at Dylan.
“Did you grow?” He asks him the same question every Sunday. “You are almost going to pass me.”