Free Bro' by Joanna Blake

heart was. I knew I had fucked things up with us. But I was already trying to figure out a way to get her back.
    Meanwhile, my dad looked genuinely distraught.
    “There’s nothing to be done about it. Not now anyway. Maybe eventually I can get her back…”
    Something in my dad’s voice made me look up.
    “Get who back?”
    He stopped pacing and stared at me. His eyes looked hollow. He looked like he needed a drink as bad as I did. I swallowed the rest of my bourbon and walked over to the bar.
    “Dana. Claire made me let her go. Effective immediately.”
    “What?”
    I stared at my Father in shock. I hadn’t thought… I had done it. I had chased Nevada away once and for good. This was all my fault.
    I clenched the glass in my fist and heard it crack. I didn’t care if it cut me.  
    I wanted it to.
    I was despicable. I’d hurt the only person in this world who I cared about. The most beautiful, pure, precious girl in the world.
    I hated myself.
    “Where will they go?”
    He shook his head.
    “I don’t know. Dana’s parents are dead and-“
    I walked over to him and slugged him in the face.
    “Clay! What the hell!”
    “You fired her because you were sleeping with her. And Claire found out.”
    He stared at me, the blood draining from his face. I’d been right. It was written all over his face.
    “I’ll take care of her. And the girl. I promised her that I would get her a condo. Someplace nearby. But she said no.”
    I laughed harshly.
    “Yeah, what an offer. I don’t blame her one bit.”
    I shook out my fist and looked at him.
    “ I will take care of Nev. You clean up your own mess.”

Nevada

    I stared at my mother’s face. It was hard to look her in the eye after what I’d done, but I had to.
    “It’s not your fault Nevada. She’s been trying to get rid of me for a while.”
    “Mrs. Westfield? Why?”
    She didn’t answer me. She just went back to packing. We were rushing. The official document sitting on the kitchen table said that we had to be out by dark.  
    It had been pinned to the door to our apartment this morning. About twenty minutes after I’d finally walked in the door. I’d walked the whole way across the estate in broad daylight.
    Covered in the remnants of maple syrup.
    And sex.
    Walk of shame didn’t begin to cover what that had been like.
    And now we were vacating the premises.
    I didn’t have that much stuff anyway. Some old books and photo albums. My laptop. Some clothes. My mother had only a few small pieces of furniture from her mother and a quilt her grandmother had made.
    “What are we going to do?”
    She shoved some more food from the cupboard into a box and sighed.  
    “I don’t know. I guess we need to find a hotel for the night.”
    “Can we afford that?”
    She smiled at me sadly.
    “It won’t be anything fancy sweetheart but yes, we can afford it. You don’t mind sharing a room with me for a little while? Until we get this sorted out.”
    I nodded, swallowing.
    “Of course not.”
    We were loading the car when I saw him. Clay was walking towards us. He looked furious.
    “Nevada. Ms. Jones.”
    My mother nodded to him. I half expected her to take him to task for deflowering her daughter, but nope. Mom was cool as a cucumber.
    I was unbelievably grateful for that. My mom said hi, but I ignored him.
    “Hi Clay.”
    He stared at me, the muscle in his jaw clenching.
    “Can I talk to you Nevada?”
    “It’s not really a good time Clay. We’re being forcibly ejected.”
    He stared at the ground for a minute.
    “Please Nev.”
    My mother and I exchanged a glance. I nodded.
    “Fine. I don’t see the point though.”
    He jerked his head, indicating I should go with him to the side of the house. Then he pivoted, pinning me against the wall. He braced his hands on either side of my face.
    “Nev- I’m so sorry.”
    I looked at him, then away. He was clearly remorseful. But it was too little, too late. Still, I haws having a hard time looking at him. He