Free Lovely by Jez Strider

my watch. The door finally opened and I couldn’t believe what I saw as Mac tugged me into the elevator.
    “Babysitting?” Brody asked. My request that he never come to my apartment again didn’t register.
    Mac spoke up before I could answer. “She’s not babysitting. She’s my dad’s girlfriend.”
    Oh no . I closed my eyes and shook my head in frustration briefly.
    “ Really?” Brody said, kneeling down so he was the same height as Malcolm.
    “Yep. He’s at work. My dad’s a fireman. I’m Mac.” He extended his hand.
    “That’s cool. I’m Brody.” He looked up at me. With the angry glare that was burning through me, Gavyn would have to bring a fire truck and hose me down when I burst into flames.
    “We were go ing to get some milk for cereal,” I said. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. I stepped out, practically dragging Malcolm with me.
    Brody didn’t budge. “Farrah?” He caught the door before it closed again.
    “Yeah?”
    “I was going to see if you needed me to be your lawyer with your family situation, but I think I’ll go home. Obviously you’re okay on your own.” His hateful glare didn’t lessen. He let the doors shut and I heard a fist impact the metal.
    I jumped at the loud noise. Having Brody on my side would have been helpful. If only he had called first instead of visiting unannounced again.
    “Let’s go, Mac.”

Chapter 19
    The walk to the corner market only took a few minutes. Luckily, Malcolm’s constant chatter and questions distracted me from thinking about what had happened with Brody. I picked up a plastic shopping basket with my free hand and headed toward the small dairy section.
    “If I let go of your hand you’ll stay close to me, right?” I asked as I stood in front of the cooler with the basket hanging on my arm and Mac’s hand in mine.
    “Yep.” He nodded.
    “Alright.” I hesitantly let go and opened the door to grab a half gallon. Normally I drank one percent, but I opted for whole milk instead since I figured it was better for a kid. I wasn’t sure.
    I kept glancing at Malcolm who was studying the products on the nearby candy aisle intently. When I was young, my grandmother had taken me to a similar store, only it was a gas station. For some childish reason, I decided to run around the store and make her catch me. The resulting spanking convinced me to never do it again. I feared similar behavior from Mac.
    “Pick some candy you want and then come over here and choose some TV dinners.” I opened the door to the freezer when he joined me with an armful of suckers, gum, and chocolate bars. “That’s a few?” I raised both eyebrows. I definitely should have been more specific.
    “Should I put some back?” The kid batted the big brown eyes he’d inherited from his father.
    “No, it’s fine.”
    His spirits lifted and I couldn’t be sure if he had been faking being sad or not. The candy was dropped into my basket and he scanned the shelves of the freezer as I held the door open.
    “Chicky nuggets.” He tossed a box in the basket. “Mac and cheese.” Another went in.
    “Like your name.” I smiled.
    He gave a cackle of a laugh. “That’s why it tastes good.” A few more kid’s entrees were added and we were on our way to the register a short time later.
    “I bet Gavyn is going to be mad I bought you all this candy.”
    “Yep. He said you lost your tooth because you ate too much candy. Is that true?” An Angry Birds toy had caught his eyes and he handed it to me, flashing the puppy dog look again.
    “He’s probably right.” I sighed and flipped the tag to check the price. “This thing is kind of expensive for how l ittle it is. The game costs way less.”
    “Please. The red one is my favorite.”
    The cashier grinned, although I could see she had unsuccessfully tried to keep the expression off her face. “Is this all or should I ring up the stuffed animal?”
    “Go ahead.” I fingered through the bills in my wallet. Good