Buried (Bailey Roberts Trilogy #1) Editing

01: Hello World pt. 1 [3rd Draft]

"Who is it?" Matt asked, bouncing around the back seat to get closer. His grubby Cheeto covered hand reached forward. "Is it Dad? Let me talk to him."

Bailey jerked the phone away from his wondering hands and read the caller id.  

Derrick. It read. It was him.

Scowling, she pushed the talk button.  "Hello?" She paused for two seconds. "Goodbye." Her pointer finger jammed at the end button, knowing the act and the bitter finality in her voice would get her in trouble. Only she didn't care. He didn't have the right to call them after what he'd done.

"Mooom!" Matt whined, his voice quivering.

Bailey swiveled in her seat, causing the seatbelt to cut into her neck. She cringed before glaring back at Matt. "What? Are you gonna cry? Dad doesn't—"

"Bailey!" Gale Roberts's voice seemed to echo through the SUV. Even Matt jiggled his finger in his ear. "Leave your brother alone... Did you just hang up on your father?" The astonishment in her mother's voice was nauseating.

Bailey shrugged, using her hand to flip her hair behind her shoulders. "So?"

"You call him back right now young lady and apologize."

Bailey felt a painful thud in her chest. She swallowed down the lump of hurt forming in her throat at the anger she heard.  Turning her head she stared out the window, batting at the single tear that slipped down her cheek. Her mom should be thanking her, not reprimanding her. "I wouldn't talk to him even if he was on his death bed."

"Young lady..."

"Why are you being so mean to Dad?" Matt sniffled from the back seat.

Bailey resisted the urge to turn. Instead, she glared at her reflection in the window. If she squinted hard enough she could see the shadows of farm houses playing against the surface.  "Mattie, you're old enough to know what cheating is."

Gale reached over and smacked her on the shoulder. The loud clap stung and Bailey decided it was his fault too.  Her mother had never hit her. It was just another new unwanted change, she supposed. Her fixed gaze turned towards Matt. "Do you see what his cheating has done?" she asked as she reached for her drink, which was currently dripping into the cup holder between the two front seats.

Matt pouted, his straw colored hair disheveled due to the nap he'd recently woken up from. "He didn't cheat on you."

The syrupy flavor of Dr. Pepper that had been delightfully clinging to her tongue, turned flat. The growl emanating from her throat could've rivaled a pack of wolves.  "Yes, he did. Don't you understand that? He cheated on all of us. Mom left him, I'm leaving him, and if you know what's good for you, Mattie, you will too."

"Bailey," Gale whispered.  Bailey shifted in her seat, but refused to acknowledge her. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Gale's shoulders slumped. "Not everything is so black and white."

 "It is with me."

It seemed to be the conversation breaker, because not even Gale spoke after that.

Good. I don't want to talk about it anymore.

Clenching her jaw, she popped her earphones in with the sole intention of spending the rest of the trip listening to nothing but music. She'd managed for two hours before the welcoming sign from hell appeared. Haven, New Hampshire (occasionally called New Haven) population: three thousand.

Bile rose in her throat as she glared at the passing green and white sign. She tugged the cord linked to her headphones, popping the tiny ear pieces out, and gave Gale a scowl. "This place looks like a postcard," she said with disdain and then reached for a piece of balled up paper to throw it back at her sleeping brother. "Mattie, stop snoring! You sound like a freight train."