“Don’t say that,” I groan and scowl at them, then I make my way towards the door before turning back and asking flatly, “Does this mean I have to leave?”
Stanley laughs as though I’m hilarious and gathers me into his arms. “You’re not going anywhere, kid. Not even when you leave college. Your home will always be with me.”
I smile against his squishy chest and hug him just as tight. “Why couldn’t you guys have been my parents? It feels unfair that fate gave me what I had while giving you guys nothing. You know what I mean?”
He squeezes me even harder and kisses my head.
Lane starts to sob but I figure it’s because I said I want her to be my mom.
Stanley opens his arm to her but she shakes her head and walks away.
“Go deal with the emotional wreck,” I whisper.
“I heard that!” Lane yells back and I flee the house, giggling as I go.
“Wait,” Stanley yells after me.
He tosses me a set of two keys which I catch with my pinkie. Pure luck of course. “Just in case he doesn’t want to come back tonight, those are the keys for the trailer.” Scratching the scruff of his chin, he continues with a heavy breath, “I don’t want him staying on the streets all night. It’s clean enough. Might be a bit dusty.”
“Thanks, Stanley.”
“Be back by eleven, kid.”
“Midnight.”
“Eleven.”
I continue on, laughing under my breath.
As my feet hit the gravel drive, I call Presley but he doesn’t answer. So I call Carter who does.
“He’s at the junkyard.”
“On my way.”
“It’s dark, I’ll come get you.”
“And risk you losing him? Not a chance.”
I bike there in the dark, blurring beneath streetlamps as I pass the stores, watching my shadow stretch, shrink, and vanish. It takes me about ten minutes as I’m still not the most poised on two wheels but I am getting faster.
I pass Carter’s SUV, it’s empty. I scale the fence to the junkyard where there’s a break in the barbs. I can hear Carter shouting for Presley to come down and talk to him.
“Hey,” I say, surprising Carter. I place my hand on his shoulder.
He pulls me into his side and nods to the top of the six-stack. Even higher than the one we climbed last time.
“Presley?” I call and watch him throw something at another something in the distance. There’s a clang when it hits its target. “Should I come up? Or are you gonna come down?”
He throws another thing at another thing and there’s another clang.
“I guess I’m coming up, then,” I move to the lower stack, ready to pull myself up when he stands and starts to climb down.
When he does, he walks straight into my body, arms by his sides and I hug him and stroke his back. I love that he seeks my comfort. I love that he can get that from me and he’s not afraid to take it.
“It’s for the best, you know that. They’ll love her. They’re good people.”
“It’s not fair. I should get a choice.”
“I know, but your mom knows best. She wouldn’t take Paisley from you if she didn’t think it was best for the both of you.” I grab his hair and pull on it until he’s looking at me with those sad, bright eyes. “Paisley is happy, she’s allowed to make noise, she’s constantly supervised, she’s going to have the kind of childhood that kids like us dream of.”
He sniffs and looks at the stars in the sky, letting tears slip from his eyes. “I never cried before… until the fire and now I can never stop.”
“If you need to cry, cry.”
He wipes his tears away and growls, looking hollow and defeated. “Do you think she’s scared that I’m going to be like my dad?”
“Your mom?”
He nods grimly.
“No,” I assure him, cupping his cheeks. “I don’t think that at all. I think she just doesn’t want you tied down when you should be living your life. I think she wants you to do all the things that she never got to do and be a role model to your baby sister who adores you.”
“I’m so angry. I feel like they’ve all been going behind my back.”
“They aren’t. They want you to stay until you graduate, but Stanley said he suggested the trailer if you want your own space.” I try to smile at him. “It’s all working out. You’ve got a job, a place to live, your dad isn’t controlling you anymore, Paisley is loved and protected by really good people, and you have—” I stop myself before I say the wrong thing.
“I have what?”
“You have us,” I finish, pointing to Carter who is standing awkwardly off to the side. “We love you.”
Presley smirks, his familiar façade back in place. “You love me, huh?”
I ignore him and press my hand against his heart that thuds against my palm with rhythmic balance. “They aren’t going to keep her from you. I won’t allow it.”