“Anyway, I slept all the way through the afternoon and night.”
“I know. You were still out when I went to school this morning. That’s why I put you in Mom’s bed instead of the couch, so you could hopefully sleep off whatever was in your system better.”
“Right. Well, I was starting to wake up, probably around noon, but what really did it was Mom coming in with some dickbag. I don’t know what went down, but there was a loud crash, like maybe a window broke, and then shouting. The next thing I know, this guy is standing in the doorway of the bedroom. My eyes weren’t totally open, but enough that I saw he basically flung her down on the bed, and then he—”
Johnny’s face contorted with anger.
“What?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed. “This part I remember exactly. He called her a ‘stupid, useless whore bitch’ and then walked out. I don’t even know if he noticed me in the bed.”
Stunned, I gulped hard. I loved my mom, and stuff like this never got easier.
There was no way to fill in the blanks until she woke up. I guessed the window-breaking noise Johnny heard was the bottle shattering, and the shouting would explain why things had been flung around the living room. I didn’t know who this guy was, or where her bruises had come from. Had he beaten her up? Or was he her rescuer? Was he some sort of pimp? As far as I knew, this was the first time my mom’sworkhad ever made its way into our home. It was the reason I never faulted her for being away so much. What seemed like neglect from the outside felt like her watching out for us from the inside. Because it meant shit like this didn’t get brought into our house.
But now it was here. And my mom wasn’t waking up. And my foot would not stop fucking bleeding.
And Johnny was still in danger.
Sighing, I mentally rearranged the plan I’d had in mind half an hour ago.
“Johnny, you need to get out of here. Go to Rosa’s house. Lupe will let you in if she’s not home yet.”
“Why?”
“We don’t have time for questions. I ran into Deck. Chi-chi’s after you. Deck said you need to hide while he and Cruz take care of things.”
Johnny put the cup down on the nightstand. “Fuck that! This is my shit, too. I’m not going to hide like a little bitch while Deck and Cruz take care of things.” He tried to stand but immediately wobbled on his feet.
I pulled him back down by his wrist until he sat on the edge of the bed with his legs swung over. “Johnny! Knock it off. Youknow full well you’re not in any position to do anything. Just fucking lie low like Deck said! Then he doesn’t have to worry about you too!”
“Am I a fucking baby, Cori? You think I can’t take care of myself?”
I wanted to slap him.
“I think Deck pulled you out of a dumpster yesterday. And then I had to help you shower and take a piss. And right now, you can barely stand. Whether you can take care of yourself is a much longer conversation these days, Big Brother. But at this moment, you need to take your sorry ass to Rosa’s and hide until this blows over. She’s only three blocks away. I think you’re sober enough to walk. I’ll text her and let her know you’re coming.”
“Cori—”
“Johnny, stop arguing! We don’t have the time. I’ve done so much for you, taken care of you so many times. I’m asking you to do this for me. Not make it harder by wasting time and asking a bunch of questions. Maybe you can help Deck later. But for now, you need to get out of here since this is the first place Chi-chi will look for you.”
He put his head in his hands before reaching for the water again. After taking a sip, he lifted his defeated eyes to mine. “Okay. I’ll go to fucking Rosa’s… Because you’re right, I do owe you.”
“Thank you.”
“But you know I don’t love it.”
“I know.” I reached out my sock-covered hand to brush his hair from his forehead before pressing a kiss there. “Now go put some pants on. No one else needs to see your stupid pink skull boxers.”
I went back to the bathroom and grabbed the small dustpan beneath the sink. I was able to limp around enough to sweepmost of the glass from the floor, set the couch to rights, and pick up the things that had come off the counter. Sadly, the fish-shaped clay blob I made in elementary school that we used as a sponge holder had paid the ultimate price. I sighed, throwing the pieces in the garbage. RIP Nemo.
All the while, my foot kept bleeding. The dishrag still captured most of the blood, but I knew I needed to figure out something else soon.
Johnny reappeared in cleanish clothes with his hair and teeth brushed.
“Tell Rosa or Lupe to let me know when you get there,” I said.
“I still can’t believe my phone is in that dumpster.” He shook his head. “But Cori, if Chi-chi’s really coming, it’s not safe for you here either.”
