Don't Hurt Me

Chapter 33

"Of course not. He'll go outside."

"Good. You should be glad I'm not afraid of cats."

I turn, giving her a frown. "Why did you tell your mom?"

"What?"

"You told your mom about my parents not being around."

"Oh. " She blinks furiously for a while. "Well, I'm sorry, but I had to tell her something. She wanted to know why you wanted to stay over again."

I turn my eyes away, staring at Santa. He's rubbing against the leg of Alex's wicker dresser.

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No. It's fine."

"What's wrong, Clare? What happened?"

"I don't think you'll believe me if I tell you."

"Try me."

I look into her face, bracing myself. "Our dad kicked us out."

She cocks her head. "What? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. He kicked us out of the house. He and my mom had some kind of fight, and I think they're going to separate or get a divorce."

"But to kick you guys out?"

"He doesn't want us around. He doesn’t see us as his kids anymore. We're her kids."

"Oh my God, Clare."

"This is a good thing. Other than the lack of a place to stay, obviously."

"Clare, this isn't funny."

"I wasn't trying to be."

"This is serious. What are you going to do?"

"Relax. I'm not going to move in with you and your family, if that's what you're afraid of."

"Clare …. "

"I don't know, alright? I just need to hold out until we can think of something. We'll think of something. We always do." Sighing, I whip out my phone. "I think I should call my mom, find out what's going on with her."

"I think that's a good idea. She needs to come back and be with you guys. She's your mom."

"Yeah." So I hope.

"I'll give you some privacy," Alex tells me, leaving the room.

I call up Gran's, and to my surprise, Mom actually answers. "Hello?" she even sounds normal, like an ordinary, well-adjusted human.

I pause for a second. "Mom?"

"Ah, Clare. I was expecting you to call. One of you." She doesn't sound as bitter as she did the last time. What gives? Dad's as furious as anything, and here is my mother, sounding cool and calm.

"Mom?"

"What?"

"Is that really you?"

She gives a sound of mild annoyance, then continues, "So what happened? I assume your father just got back."

"Yeah. Mom, would you please tell me what happened? Are you and him really … splitting?"

"It looks like it, Clare."

"For real?"

"For real."

"Does this mean you'll come back?"

"Maybe."

"Mom, he threw Rob and me out of the house."

She stops, breathing quietly for a moment. While I'm happy that she finally broke things off with our father, I'm still not too happy with her for what she did. For leaving us to face the brunt of his anger. "Mom, what are we going to do?"

"It's OK, Clare. Don't worry."

"How can I not worry??"

"Well, I've been thinking about things, and I think it'd be a good idea for me to stay here."

"Here as in … Callville?"

"Yes. I talked to Sam about it, and he thought it was a good idea."

"You're talking about moving there?"

"That's right."

"But why?"

"Why not? I can get a fresh start here. New job, new town, new people, my mom's here …. Whatever it is, I don't think I can go back, Clare. I just can't. I can't live where your father is."

"But what about Sam, Rob and me?"

"Like I said, Sam backed me up."

Of course Sam would, I think to myself. I take a shaky drag of air. "But he has school. We all do."

"He's going to graduate in a couple of months."

"But what about Rob and me?" I demand, my voice rising. I can't help it – she sounds so damn selfish, like she's forgotten she even has kids at all.

"It shouldn't be a problem for you to change schools."

She's actually serious. But I wouldn’t just be changing schools. I'd be changing everything. I'd be leaving my whole life behind.