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“I’ about ere freshh it reo, no home or money or even food You were my best friend, John, even then, and you never even noticed Didn’t you wonder why I looked the way I did in classes? Did you wonder why I filled ed on a trip to the dining hall?”
My father’s face shifts frory red to a washed-out pale “What… what are you talking about?”
“You really never noticed, the way I never talked about fa with the other guys in our class…”
“I thought you were just more serious That you wanted to study more”
“You used to even hs softly, not a happy sound “You told me I should buy more than one shirt You didn’t know I literally couldn’t Because how could you guess that? You’d have to actually be paying attention to the people around you to notice it”
My father’s s open completely, now
“I was homeless, John For thole months And my best friend never even noticed What kind of friendship is that?” Russ shakes his head sadly, and squeezes ers are still entwined in ie,” he murmurs in a quieter voice now “I think our work here is done for today”
“It most certainly is Get out of rowl “And don’t let me see you at the hospital either”
“Maggie” My mother’s eyes finally meet mine She tilts her head, a question written all over her face Is this really what you want?
I ht now, but I do feel bad about Mom She didn’t ask for any of this She’s the only one who’s always kno to stand up to Dad, but even she can’t help how he treats everyone else in his life The only thing that breaksher alone with him, to sort out the mess that he caused
But what else can I do? Just like Russ is who I want to be with, Dad is who she wants to be with I understand that I just can’t put up with hi this kind of stuff anymore, even for her sake
So I squeeze Russ’s hand in return and let him lead me out of the house Behind us, I hear e She’s crying Because of me Because of e decided to do just now
But Dad’s the one who told us to leave Dad’s the one who keeps setting all these ultiood little soldier Not anymore
We march out onto the back porch Once the fresh air hits,comes faster, quicker Russ pauses just next to where he parked his car and reaches down to cup my cheeks between his palms “You okay?” he whispers, so close our noses touch, and his breath dances like frost in the chillyair
“I’m okay,” I breathe His lips touch , for now As long as I have him, I can handle this
Then I re—and a faint smile rises to my lips once more “Did you mean it? You love me”
His eyes dance where they find ie And you love me too”
“I do” I grin, and he kisses ized once er side and climb into the car with slow movements Inside, I fasten my seat belt, and for a , empty, dark house Behind us, out on the street, I spot Dad’s car parked sideways in a spot, as if they sped into a street parking spot just so they could run inside and run back out again I guess they really were searching forby quickly to scan the property
I check my phone, which I left on the seat of Russ’s car, and find a couple of missed calls, all frothe streets for me But then I reuess whatever they had to say to me, they didn’t want to do it in a voicemail