“She got worse…”
I shake my head at the thoughts of the last time I was here as I look over at the house. “Do you not notice how her bad days are becoming frequent when I visit? I don't understand why you want me here. She-”
Capri cuts me off. “It is in no way related to your presence, Liam. Trust me. You usually calm her, but if you just had a bit more patience-”
“Now I need more patience.” I let out a scoff as I lift my helmet, but she stops me, and her eyes screamthis is exactly what I'm talking about.
I let out a breath before resting my helmet on my lap. When I catch a glance at a figure in the window, I notice it's my mom fighting with someone.
I hate this.
“Tell her to come out here.” I keep my gaze on my mom through the window as she backs away from one of the other nurses.
Capri doesn't question me as she goes back in the house, and a few minutes later, my mom walks out in a winter coat, and I don't even question where she got that shit from.
“Excuse me?!” She looks at my bike as if it just spoke and threatened to kill her. I stay seated and fight back a smile. This was her exact reaction the first time I got on a bike in front of her. I was sixteen, and it was my friend's dad's bike since my parents didn't want to buy me one. I learned to ride on his and was riding circles around his ass by the time our lessons were over.
“I got you something.” I pull the bag out of my backpack and hold it to her, but she doesn't even glance at it.
“Get your behindoffof that thing, little boy!” She storms off the porch, and I bite back my laugh at how she looks. I glance up at Capri, silently asking why the hell she's in this coat, but she only puts her hands up and shakes her head.
When my mom reaches me, she tries to grab my helmet, but I immediately pull it away from her. While I was messing with her two seconds ago, I'm not letting her fuck up my shit. I quickly get off the bike and shove the bag into her hands before she can touch my bike.
“Open it.”
She looks between the bike and me, her motherly glare showing. “Whose bike is that?”
I shrug, and she folds her arms. She watches me, but I shrug again and bite back a laugh when she rolls her eyes so damn hard.
“Get your behind in this house, Pri and her friends are pissing me off.”
I stifle a laugh as I glance over at Capri, who looks highly offended.
My mom storms off, but before she reaches the door, she turns back to me. “And get rid of the bike! You'renotkeeping it!”
“Yes, ma'am.”
She nods, and when I hear Capri laughing, I step into the house and lock her out. She laughs harder, and with the glass door, she can see me flip her off as clearly as day.
I keep my eyes on my mom as I follow her into the house, and the nurses watch us carefully. When my mom doesn't acknowledge them, they back off.
We settle in the living room, and when she finally opens the bag, all of her anger seems to fade as she hugs Shanti's baby blanket. She doesn't say anything as she stares out the window and rocks herself while she smells the blanket.
Someone lets Capri in, but she doesn't interrupt us, and I stay with my mom for a peaceful two hours, which is our new record.
Chapter Fifteen
Sage
Idon’t know why, butI always get a bit nervous before castings. They always end up going really well, but it’s still nerve-wracking, especially when it’s with the agents who don’t say anything and just sit in the corner judging.
I’m fifteen minutes early when I arrive, but I call August like I normally do before my castings or anything else that makes me nervous. He’s good at making me feel better.
“Hey, Sage.”
“Hi—what in the world are you doing?” I turn my head to the side but then flip my phone over because he’s upside down.
“I saw something about blood flow to your head helping headaches.”
