Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
My mom scrutinizes us like she’s making sure we all have our fingers and toes intact. Her motherly concern is better utilized for Xander or Luna. Maybe even Moffy. I don’t need it.
“I’m fine,” I say. “We’re fine. Nothing would have been broken if the T-Bags didn’t show up, so we can all redirect the blame onto them.”
Mom nods strongly at first and then she pauses. “Nonono. You four threw this party without anyone knowing. And I will be getting all the details once we’re home.” She motions for me to gather my things.
I don’t want to leave Audrey. “Where’s Uncle Connor and Aunt Rose?” I ask, not moving off the couch.
“On their way,” Uncle Garrison says. “I’d like to talk to security before they get here. So you…” He points to Vada. “Will be heading over to Ryke and Daisy’s while I sort things out. I’m going to wait with you until they’re here.”
Vada and Nona share a smile.
“No,” Uncle Garrison snaps. “This isn’t a sleepover or summer camp. You’re not going to have fun.”
“No fun will be had, Dad,” Vada nods. “Got it.”
Uncle Garrison glares at the ceiling. He stands up. “I’m getting too old for this.”
“You’re the youngest of us,” my mom practically gasps.
We’re all trying to stifle smiles.
“No, that’s Willow,” he says.
“Younger than most of us.” She stands too and gestures to me. “And we’re going home. Let’s go find your brother.”
“What about Audrey?” I ask, not budging. She’s still slurping on her water, not causing too much attention.
My mom frowns. “This is her house. She’ll stay here with Ben until Rose and Connor arrive.”
Audrey waves me off. “I’ll be fine,” she whispers. “Go.”
I don’t want to cause any alarm. So far no one has told our parents that Audrey got sick from drinking too much party punch. I hope to keep it that way, but it’s hard to leave. It’s hard to not feel like a bad friend by following my mom out the door.
But I do.
I stand off the couch, abandoning Audrey’s side, and I leave.
All the while, I think maybe this is a sign. Maybe the universe is meant to dole out karmic justice. Maybe if I were a better friend, my love life wouldn’t be such a mess.
Maybe if I were a better person, the people I love would stop leaving me.
FOURTEEN
SIP-IN-SNOW CRASHERS AFTERMATH: PART THREE
JANUARY 2040
AFTER CHAPTER 56 IN FEARLESS LIKE US
We listened to "Every Night" by Josef Salvat while writing this scene.
Character List:
Connor Cobalt - 51
Rose Calloway - 50
Ben Cobalt - 17
Audrey Cobalt - 14
CONNOR COBALT
THE REMNANTS OF a high school party are strewn pathetically across our backyard. Solo cups crunched on the grass, pool floaties deflated on the stone, and I bend down to grab a small baggie of pills next to an outdoor ceramic cat that Jane made with her Aunt Poppy when she was seven. Whoever these pills belonged to, they must have left in a hurry.
I pocket them, more perturbed than I like to let on.
My annoyance derives from the mere fact that I cannot be two places at once. I would like to be talking with the security teams at the driveway, discussing the ins and outs of how Orion, Luna’s Newfoundland puppy, was bugged. I would also like to be inside with my children to discuss this mess and make sure they're okay.
Alas, there’s only one of me.
One place to be. I’ll deal with the other after.
Rose’s face twists the further we walk along our back patio. “Heathens,” she spits. “They broke every ceramic pot.”
“We’ll replace them.”
“I’m not worried about the mess, Richard,” she snaps. “I’m worried about the kind of teenagers who were around our kids.”
“Eliot and Tom broke as many things as their friends.” I remind her of all the phone calls we’ve received over the years.
“This isn’t Eliot or Tom,” she refutes. “This is Ben. Audrey.”
Yes.
My soft children.
Vulnerable.
Tender-hearted.
I’ve tried to thicken their skin, but Rose always tells me they were born to be more butterfly than snake, and to be okay with that.
It’s hard to be okay with it when there’s only one of me. I can’t be here to protect them at all times, and knowing others will see them as easy prey isn't a comforting feeling. They're my children. Our children. Any harm done to them might as well be done to me.
“Richard.” Rose struts powerfully to the outdoor bar where emptied liquor bottles tell more of the same story. “Do you see this?” She’s not pointing a manicured nail at the vodka.
I slide beside my wife, seeing a white powdery streak across the black granite. “You’ve found the cocaine.”
She glares at my calm tone. “You could be a little more enraged.”
“I am pissed, darling.”
“Cocaine,” she emphasizes with blazing heat, drawing me deeper into her fiery gaze. “We already have one child who’s fallen to this drug, and now it’s in our house around our youngest.”