Hopefully getting searched with the sharpest tools possible.
“Does it matter?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Probably being processed, if I had to guess.” My fingers drum along the wheel, because the flash of sympathy in her expression makes me want to gut him. “Summer.” I wait until she looks over to add, “He deserved it. You know that.”
“I do.” She blows out a quick breath, nodding. “It’s bizarre to know he won’t be around any longer, that I never have to stress about him randomly showing up. Not that he ever did before, but still, the fear was there.”
“Never again,” I affirm. I’ll kill him before he comes near her. Literal death, not metaphorical. “By tonight, he’ll be behind bars.”
“What a damn day. I need to shower so badly.” She picks at stray strands of her hair resting over her shoulder, then the lace edging of her black dress, all of which still looks as perfect as when she got ready this morning.
“I have a shower in my apartment. You sure you want to be alone? We could order pizza, do whatever you want.”
Her head rolls against the backrest to look my way before she undoes her belt. “I’ll be alright. Better than alright after today. Being free is a nice way to start summer break.”
The mention of our upcoming break reminds me of the email Dad sent me early this morning, which sits unread on my phone. I skimmed enough of it to see he’ll be sending me away for a fewmonths for work, except I don’t intend to leave Summer alone for that long, especially not so soon after court.
“Come with me to the west coast, to the resort. Dad is sending me there for three months to oversee a few things, but I’ll refuse if you don’t come. You shouldn’t be alone to shoulder all this. A free vacation, unlimited alcohol and food, pools and beaches, and I’ll even get you a private cabana. We’ll be together whenever I’m not working. It’s away from here, from the courts, from life in general. Then, we’ll come back refreshed for the fall semester.”
Sky-blue eyes glint with excitement for the first time in a long time as she takes exactly half a second to consider the offer. In truth, I’m proud of her. Old Summer would have needed four-to-six weeks as she countered with useless points about not wanting me to pay for anything. “That sounds really nice. It’d be a true break. I’d love to.”
“A break you deserve,” I amend, getting out of the car and rounding to her side to help her out. “He made you think you don’t deserve anything, but you do. School, a future, vacations…”Me.
He tried to hold her back when she talked about applying to university, calling it a waste of money, saying her computer science degree wasn’t meant for ‘someone like her’—meaning a woman. But she applied with minimal push from me, deciding for herself that he was wrong.
I draw her into me, my touch natural and her reception a comfort. She has no idea how in love with her I am. Actually, my feelings have gone beyond that emotion, instead reaching a level of obsession that drives my every action—both legal and illegal.
“You’re so good to me,” she whispers into my chest as my lips press into her forehead.
“You won’t let me be as good as I’d like to be, actually.”
Her shoulders move with gentle shakes of laughter. “I know, I know, I’ve heard this before. For now, we’ll end the goodness here, and I’ll say night.”
She withdraws from my hold, and my hands tingle with her absence, hating it with every fibre of my being. She waves again, turns, and heads into her building. When her room’s light on the fifth floor switches on and I trust she’s safe inside, I leave.
TWO
SUMMER
I’m free.
I’m free.
I’mfree.
For the first time in over fifteen years, there will be true peace.
He’s going to jail.
Verbal abuse that one day expanded into physical. His torment. His hatred, for reasons I never unpacked. At this point, I almost don’t want to, even if I’m pretty certain it has to do with whoever my mother is.
The hand comes swinging towards my face, his sneer the precursor for the hit that throws me backwards into the fridge. The handle pushes into my shoulder, and it stings, but less than my burning cheek from his large hand. If I show any pain, he’ll do it again, but worse.
“Fucking useless girl. You think you’ll ever move out? You and I are for life. The real world will chew you up and spit you out. You’re nothing.”
For a long time, I believed those words. The real worldishard, and my part-time job on top of school, plus the full-ride scholarship I have no idea how I got, made it possible to move away from him.