pretty sure Colton Jones just entered his villain era
Waitingin the locker room was torture. I killed a few minutes by showering and dressing. Then I just sat, scrolling my phone and feeling sorry for myself.
Feeling like I’d let my team down. Like I’d let Violet down. Like I’d made it all worse somehow.
Like I should feel sorry that I wanted him dead, and I felt weird that I wasn’t sorry about it. And so the spiral continued.
Then an unexpected number showed up on my phone.
“Mom?”
My mom’s thick Minnesota accent came through. “Hey, sweetie. Hangin’ in there?”
“I guess. How’s Dad?”
“Oh, you know your father,” she said quietly.
“Furious with me?”
“To put it lightly, yes.” She sighed. “But I’m not. What’s going on?”
I hadn’t told anyone Violet’s secret. Not a soul. She’d told Kitty, who had probably told Guy, but other than that, I think we were the only people in the world who knew. My mouth went dry. It really wasn’t my story to tell. But in some ways, it had become my story. Not the assault, but the aftermath caused me a lot of anguish over the years. My mom was familiar with the unanswered questions, the ways I felt alone. The little boy who still lived inside me needed his mom. “It’s Vi,” I choked out.
Mom hummed. “What’s going on?”
A sniffle rose in me and I let out a sob. God, did it feel good to cry. I didn’t realize how badly I needed to until it all fell out.
“Oh, honey. Tell me you didn’t break up.”
“No, that’s not it,” I hiccuped. “She . . . he . . . Pete assaulted her in college.”
My mom gasped. “What?”
I couldn’t stop crying, struggling to rein it in enough to get my words out.
“He’s a terrible person, Mom. And he ruined everything for me and Vi. She kept getting scared and running because things reminded her of him, but she didn’t remember the full extent of it until this year.”
“Oh, god. You poor things.” Mom started to cry. “She was so young. You both were so young.”
“So, yeah, that’s why I did it. I don’t think Dad will be too receptive to that explanation.”
Mom hesitated. “I think your dad might surprise you sometimes. He liked Violet. He just didn’t like how much she broke your heart.”
I felt a pang in my chest. Criticism aside, Dad cared about me.
“But,” she said, clearing her throat, “are you two back together?”
I smiled, looking down at the bench in my locker, where she sat just one day before in my jersey. “Yeah. She’s back. Things are good.”
Mom’s voice was more stern. “Whatever you do, you stick to your guns. You know why you did what you did. Keep your head high. You did right by our girl.”
Heat rushed my eyes again.Our girl. Vi was never just my girl. Violet, to my mom, was always ours. One of her own. Part of the family.
“Now, after all this is over, which it will end, Colton,” she emphasized, “bring her on up here. I need to hug the hell out of her.”
“You arethe leader on this team, Jones.”
I nodded. This meeting with Coach felt like a phone call with my dad. I said the thing I’d already said 100 times. “I know.”
