Page 43 (1/2)

Part One

1

NO ONE USED THE F-word more than my step-dad, Jeff It pretty much made up his already limited vocabulary

I stayed in ht when he wasn’t out at the bar A poor excuse for a man, yeah, but my mom, Rhonda, ‘loved’ hiht in our house But don’t get the wrong idea: no one beat me and my life wasn’t all that bad, really Jeff rarely bothered me or my sister, Alexandra, anymore He backed off after Alex blacked his eye last year

I’ man with nine inch nose hairs and who could barely lift an economy-sized box of cat litter by hiive him that much

I sat on the center oflow beside o with her to play pool, but I wasn’t o She’d been trying to hook“But he’s hot,” she uy” He probably was hot and a decent guy; she was rarely wrong about these kinds of things, but worse than usually being right, she was overprotective of her little sister and would rather pick out guys for

It was as simple as that

I heard ers clanked violently in the closet Drawers opened and slaainst the wall Her footsteps were heavy as she stoht bulb just above

“What are you doing?” Jeff said

“Why do you care?”warm in there on the coffee table”

Moirlfriend’

The only thing I could give hiet hi much, but it was a small sense of relief for me My mom, to be completely honest, couldn’t keep her opinions to herself; like right now, as she went on and on about his drunken ways Sometiu out for at least an hour before Jeff’s inner-loser took over and he got physical Soht say she deserved it (my stepbrother said that once—Alex blacked his eye too), but no woman deserves to be hit

“Why don’t you back off,” Jeff said with a slur in his voice “Crazy, nagging bi—”

“Nag?” My mom sounded shocked I could picture her mouth open in total disbelief, her hands propped upon her bony hips The ar na But ‘nag’, no way she was going to let hiet aith that

The rest of what she was saying, I ignored It was always the sau, which ended in lengthy make-up sex that always forced ht

I hoistedmy book away inside it and then raised my bedroomand slipped out into the hurew and lingered We lived in a tiny white house on twelve acres of land just outside of Athens, Georgia From the road, the house looked like a dirty speck in an endless yellowing pasture Not a single tree hovered nearby to help shade it fro southern summers I hated that house It was Jeff’s house

Our neighbors were spaced out here and there Jack and Janice Bentley lived across the street—Janice had a cat-hoarding problem Old Man Chester lived just around the curve past the proud and famous, Jacquelyn Morose, who had the pinkest house in Northeast Georgia Though, the house didn’t ent coo and people still talk about it Anyway, Old Man Chester was older than dirt too, and alore the same coveralls And then there was Mrs Willis who lived next door Unfortunately, she lived directly next door, as in about fifty feet away on the sae We also shared the same mailbox post and driveith her and our business was her business, too One of those There’s one in every neighborhood, isn’t there?

Like a vulture, Mrs Willis watched me walk down the dirt-covered driveway and away from the rusted wire fence overrun by weeds As if I couldn’t see her troll-like figure hovering at the kitchenSoer, but I was capable of restraint

I did, however, super glue her mailbox shut when I was eleven On the day she was supposed to get her Social Security check, at that I could say that looking back on it now, I’m not proud of the childish deed But then that would be a lie

Neither irls Despite Alex’s black eye record, she was theand nonviolent person I knew I learned a lot frorew up (mom had too many unresolved issues to be ht me how to do a cartwheel, how to cook and even to drive a stick shift (the only thing that huge field around the house was good for) Adood at any of them, but that’s beside the point

An antique Ford drove past narly hand poked out the aving at me as he went by Old Man Chester He waved at everybody; it was kind of custo, slipping past a dozen eroded e, which led to the park The sun would be gone soon; the sky laced by thin, dark pink clouds just on the horizon I could count four streaks of perfectly straight contrails left by planes, crisscrossing above me

I sat in the park for an hour under an enormous tree; the one near the outskirts of the forest away fro pond I loved it here But I think a lot of people did Hard to resist one of those iant li spot and where Alex could always find me

“Adria,” she said walking toward o home”

She wore her tradeer jeans, tank top and worn out black flip-flops

I closed er in-between its cruht any around it was beginning to thicken

“Is mom home?” I asked

“She hen I left to find you,” Alex said, sitting down next to rass, “but was on her way out, too”

“Thought you were playing pool tonight?”

Alex shook her head “I was, but I thought you could use some company”

She always thought ofShe was no eighteen-year-old saint; leftout with Zach Anthony, but she was the best sister anyone could ever have

“Surprised you didn’t bring your friend along,” I said, s