Against the Wall

I Don't Know You

Grandma Aggie looked like she was getting upset, but she was far too into the story for me to let her stop. "What happened after that?" I asked, and Grandma Aggie swallowed.

"She told me that if I was going to be like that, I wasn't invited to the wedding, and so I didn't go. I wasn't going to support a marriage that I didn't believe in. Sometimes, I wish I had gone so that I could've seen the face of the man she'd married. I would give anything to see the man that had murdered her in person."

"Excuse me?" I asked, taken aback. Did she mean my dad?

"Do you know how your mother died, Sawyer?" Grandma Aggie asked, and I frowned.

"I... I don't remember," I answered slowly, unsure of my answer.

"She died of an accidental overdose," Grandma Aggie stated, "and it was your father's fault."

"What?" I cried, looking at her like she'd grown a second head. "How was it his fault?"

"Your father is a drug dealer, Sawyer," Grandma Aggie replied like I was being stupid. "If my daughter hadn't been in that environment, then she wouldn't have been exposed to those drugs and she wouldn't have overdosed!"

Anger flashed through me. How dare she accuse him of that! Despite his job, my dad was a family man who cared deeply about me and my mom. I distinctly remember him coming into my room one night to tell me that if I ever did any of the stuff he sold, that he would string me up by my toes. When my mom had died, he'd been devastated and had blamed himself.

"You have no right," I hissed, and Grandma Aggie's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't know my dad and what he's like, so how dare you accuse him of killing my mother. He cared about my mom and me, no matter what you believe." I could feel my face getting hot and my nostrils flaring, and I was surprised I hadn't drawn attention to myself.

Grandma Aggie studied me a moment before saying, "We're both tired from shopping. Maybe dinner wasn't such a good idea."

"Maybe," I replied, crossing my arms across me chest.

"How about I get the food to go, and we'll just eat at home so we can cool down," Grandma Aggie suggested, and I nodded and stood up.

"I'm going to wait outside, alright," I said, and Grandma Aggie nodded. I placed my napkin on the chair and hurried from the restaurant. The cold air hit me as soon as I opened the door, and I sat down on one of the metal benches at the front of the restaurant.

I didn't mean to seem ungrateful to the woman, but when she talked bad about my dad, I had felt the need to defend him. My dad had raised me after my mom had died, and so he was really all I'd ever known.

Sure, I was pissed as hell at him. I mean, he decided to have a profession which included putting both of us in danger, especially when he owed important people large sums of money that he didn't have. I also hated the way that he'd have people coming to the house at varying hours of the night, begging for the drugs that they'd gotten addicted to.

I know that he knew that I was in juvie, and the fact that he didn't risk jail to come and get me hurt a little bit. Okay, it hurt more than a little bit. I wondered how long he would be able to elude the police, but I'd feigned innocence whenever someone had asked me if I knew anything. I'd played the part of innocent daughter perfectly.

Still, I've known my father all my life and I would always care about him.

"Are you alright?"

My head snapped up to see a boy standing in front of me with a concerned look on his face. "What?" I asked blankly.

"You look like you're about to cry," he stated matter-of-factly. "What's wrong?" I don't know why, but the way the boy talked to me like he knew me was irritating.

"I don't think it's any of your business," I snapped, but the boy didn't look the least bit offended. He just plopped down next to me on the bench and looked at me.

"Obviously, something's wrong, and you probably wouldn't look so upset if you had someone to talk to," the boy said, and I clenched my jaw to keep it from dropping. Who was this guy? Actually, the better question was who did he think he was?

"I don't even know you," I said irritably, "so why would I tell you, assuming that something was even wrong?"

The boy nodded, like he hadn't considered this, and he said, "You're right; we don't know each other." However, instead of getting up and leaving me alone, the boy stuck out his hand. "The name's Griffin." I stared at his hand for a moment before sighing and giving up. I shook it and then returned my hand to the pocket of my hoodie. "You know," said Griffin, "Usually, after one says his name, the other person says theirs."

Reluctantly, I said, "My name is Sawyer." Griffin nodded, and looked at me expectantly. After a second, I realized that he was waiting for me to confide in him, since now we "knew" each other. Yeah, right, like that was going to happen.

Griffin seemed to notice this, and he sighed. "You're not going to tell me are you?"

"Nope," I replied, popping the p.

"Why not?" he asked and I just looked at him incredulously.

"Um, let me think," I said, "Oh, right! I have known you for like two minutes, so I don't think I'm going to give you my personal life story."

Griffin finally seemed to get it, and he frowned. "Excuse me for seeing a random girl near tears and asking to see if she was okay!" he said, suddenly very angry, and he pushed himself off of the bench.

Another boy walked out of the restaurant, and he looked around until his eyes found Griffin and I. "Griff, c'mon," he called, "Our tables ready!"

"I'll be right there," Griffin replied, and he shot me one last look. "I hope you get over whatever's bothering you, Sawyer." Then, he left me alone on the bench to join his friends inside.

I blinked, unsure of what had happened was a reality or not. Some random guy just came up to me to see if I was okay. That had never happened to me before, and looking back on it, I felt bad. I mean, I wasn't going to talk to him of course. However, I shouldn't have been rude like that. He was just trying to be nice.

Well, it wasn't like I was ever going to see him again... Right?

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NEW CHAPPIE WEE!!! So, I'm kinda tan cuz i spent all day in the sun at my little brother's LAX tournament... yay! I don't put paper to shame anymore!

hope you enjoyed the chapter, lovelies :)

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