“Figures you’d be a sympathizer,” he spits out at me.
“A sympathizer? You’re a vile person,” I scream at him. “I’ve never been so mad at someone in my life. And that’s saying a lot because my mom abandoned me.”
“I can see why,” he throws at me.
Before I know what’s happening, I’m trying to climb over the counter and Juan’s holding me around the waist. “You better hope I don’t get to you.”
“Hayden.” I hear the voice of someone I went to school with. “Don’t make me arrest you.”
Jer Greer, now an officer with Bradford Police stands in the doorway. “Arrest him.” I point to the guy behind the counter. “He’s a hate crime waiting to happen.”
“Shut the fuck up,” the guy yells back at me.
“Don’t worry, Wayne knows he’s got a warrant,” Jer says as he walks slowly to the guy behind the counter.
“Shit,” he breathes out. “Just cuff me. Take me away from this crazy broad.”
Before I can say anything else, Juan grabs my arm. “Probably best to let it go.”
Although I know he’s right, it doesn’t feel good to do so. At the same time, I’m trying to ignore the sharp pain in my chest that appeared when he said he could see why my mom abandoned me.
Sticks and stones…I repeat the rhyme to myself. The way I have since I was a kid. But I’m not sure I believe it any more now than I did then.