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I couldn’t just run off and leave her now No ht be the only person she had to look out for her

I tried to keep glancing over at Jess and s as the three of us crossed a dirt carpark to a café that feltet to know my sister

Maybe it wasn’t concern for anyone I ht know that made him want to take us all the way out here where there wasn’t much company It had takenweird about the way Jess was sitting in the

car, and then it had hitto check the time: she didn’t pull out a phone of her own once Did she even have one? Most kids I knew had gotten their phones when they were old enough to be allowed to walk or bus to school on their own, or stay late for activities and get picked up But e—and I knew it had been hard enough for et a phone for

What a fucking mess if both of us had been prisoners, in a way, because the parents who had control over us were messed-up in different ways

I orried Brad wouldn’t leave the two of us alone for a second, but after ere seated and he’d ordered our lunches froirl with a clipboard who came to our table ater, he announced he was off to the bathroom before our food arrived

Jess’s eyes widened atthis was strategic on Brad’s part too: he had to take a piss so to do it while ere still aith one another

My lips were quivering I wanted to forget about the whole thing, ask Jess if she had any hobbies or what her favourite htfor me

I couldn’t have done that to a girl whoto me, let alone my own sister

Still, it was a struggle to even start to talk “Jess” She started and looked at me more directly “We don’t have a lot of time to talk, just the two of us, so… I’m sorry if this is… well, totally off-base But I— You can trust—”

There was no good way to ask quickly I started again “Jess, is your dad doing… so to you that he shouldn’t?”

She didn’t say anything, but I saw more emotions cross her face than I could even identify And that was enough to give o on I really didn’t need to know the details right now, after all

“Jess, you can trust et away from him, to tell someone…”

“No!” It was the first she’d shown she could even speak with such force She put her fingertips over her lips as if she’d surprised herself, too She didn’t“I can’t trust you You’re… Don’t get angry, but I can’t trust that you can really help me You don’t even really have anywhere to live at the moment, do you?”

Brad had been happy enough to go on about the possibility of setting a home up for me I winced