Chapter 29

29

Joey

The finish line is right there, I can almost see it. I only have one more final and this semester is over. Leaving only one more semester until I graduate.

Since we didn’t make it to post-season, I have more time on my hands and I’m looking forward to spending the next week with Nick. All day, every day. Neal is even going home for a few days, so I’ll be able to stay in their room with Nick.

My knee bounces as I try to focus on the final in front of me.

My phone is vibrating in my pocket and I don’t want to answer it.

Sitting in class, this early on a Thursday, it can only be bad news, and I have to focus on my finals. I wait for the vibration to end and try to read the question again, but the damn thing starts up again. Fuck.

That means it’s probably Mom and she won’t stop until she’s had a chance to yell at me about Matt’s shortcomings which are my fault.

I find the button on my phone and shut it off. I’ll call her back when I’m done. She will just have to wait. If I fail this final, I won’t graduate in June. Charlotte will not hang on any longer—I have to finish in June.

I get through the last few questions with my leg bouncing double time and nausea rising up my throat. What did he get into this time?

With my test finished, I bring it to the front of the class and give the teacher my Scantron. She checks that my name and class is on it and nods me good day. Thank fuck.

When I hit the hallway, my phone is powered back on, and I call Mom.

“Mom—”

“Finally! It’s about time you answer your damn phone. Mathew fell off a fucking roof and broke his leg.” She’s pissed and that accusatory tone is a knife in my gut. She never talks to me any other way these days. Immediately, I’m fifteen and Matt has just broken a window while I was supposed to be watching him. Guilt and shame eat at me, beating me back into the little boy Mom has used as a verbal punching bag for a decade.

But my mind is running through check lists, moving schedules around, mentally tallying how much I have in my bank account and how much a Greyhound ticket costs, and how long it’ll take for me to get there.

“How long will he be in the hospital for?” I interrupt her tirade. “I can get on a Greyhound tonight or tomorrow to come home, but classes start again in eight days so I have to be back before that.”

“Probably until tomorrow,” she snaps and I flinch. “Someone has to be here to take care of him since I have to work. If you have to miss classes, so be it. Your brother is more important.”

More important than my entire life…

“I’ll be home as soon as I can and stay as long as I can.” The weight on my shoulders is heavy, dragging me down into the darkness that I’ve worked so hard to claw my way out of.

On autopilot, I get to my room, pull out my duffle bag, and start blindly throwing stuff into it. Clothes, toiletries, my phone charger. I found a ticket home that leaves in two hours. I hate taking the Greyhound, but I don’t have a choice right now.

Zipping up my bag, I sling it over my shoulder and call Charlotte as I’m leaving my room.

“Hey,” she answers, and it sounds like she’s in the car. “Did Mom call you?”

“Yeah, I’m heading to the bus station right now, can you pick me up?”

We nail down details as I wait for the elevator. The doors open and Bryce stops, looking at my bag then at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Where ya going, man?”

“Home for the break.” I step past him and hit the ground floor button. My phone buzzes with an alert from Uber, letting me know they’ve arrived. Perfect. I text the driver to let him know I’ll be out in a second.

With a deep breath, I put my game face on and ready myself for a week under my mother’s roof.