Free Silver Heart by Victoria Green Page B

what you call growing up?” I peel of his hat, wincing at the red gash. “Your eyebrow is split in half.”
    “Yeah, well…” he shrugs. “I was thinking about getting a piercing anyway. It’ll help hide the scar.”
    “Did you call the police?”
    “The police aren’t going to do shit anymore. Even they’re tired of the fact that my mom keeps inviting him back into the house. I think they’ve given up on her. I’m starting to give up on her too. She says she can’t leave him, but one day I swear he’ll be the death of her. Plus, I don’t want Children’s Aid to come by and threaten to take Lyla again.”
    “You need to get out of that place.” This is a conversation we have on a weekly basis.
    “And leave my sister alone with those two?” he scoffed. “Sometimes I think my mom is worse than him because she refuses to get out and let him rot in hell like he deserves.”
    “No…I mean…I don’t know.” I wish I had all the answers. Or any answers, for that matter. “What if you take her with you and—”
    “Where would a seventeen-year-old guy with a part-time job take a thirteen-year-old girl? Should we flee to Europe? Or maybe somewhere tropical like Bora Bora?” He sounds angry, but I know that his rage isn’t directed at me. It’s aimed at the hopelessness of his situation.
    I have an urge to hug him, but I don’t move. I don’t want him to think that I feel sorry for him. Sawyer hates pity. “So what are you going to do now?” I whisper.
    “What I always do, Silver. Ride to live.” Smoky white puffs of breath escape from his lips and float through the darkness. “I’ll get out one day. I’ll earn my way up in this sport and find a way to escape. That’s the only reason I started taking those sponsor meetings. I’ll get money and get us out. Maybe I’ll even let my mom come.”
    “And you’ll take me with you.” It’s not a question, but a simple statement.
    He smiles sadly and says, “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
    “And we’ll live happily ever after.”
    “Definitely. We’ll have the best life ever. My mom will get treatment for her addiction to Asshole, I’ll snowboard, you’ll take pictures, and Lyla will play the piano. We’ll come back to visit your parents—once they calm down and get over the fact that I stole you away. But Lyla and I will never have to see Asshole again.”
    For now, it’s just a fantasy we spin to escape reality, but who knows? Perhaps Sawyer and Lyla will get away from their father one day.
    But that day never comes. At least not for Lyla.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN

    Our three-hour snowboarding lesson had wrapped by mid-afternoon, but not before ensuring that I was appropriately tortured. There wasn’t a single place on my body that didn’t hurt. Snow was supposed to be fluffy and fun. To me, it equaled rock-hard pain.
    The appendages I’d used most for breaking falls—knees, butt, and hands—had received the worst punishment. Each tumble down the hill had threatened to be my last, but my allergy to quitting had forced me to bravely endure the discomfort until Connor finally called an end to our session.
    By the time Maddie and I had dragged our gear to the parking lot, Adam was already waiting for us in the car. Unlike me—with my messy hair, broken body, and bruised ego—my brother looked as perfectly put together as he’d been when we parted. Years away from the snowboard clearly hadn’t done much harm to his natural skills.
    I couldn’t help but think that there was something missing. It was as if his passion had deflated. Years ago, returning home from a day at the slopes meant that Adam’s cheeks would be flushed, his eyes glimmering with excitement. Today, he just looked like the Adam I’d grown to know over the years. Adam the Future Doctor. Cool, collected, reserved.
    In order to compensate for the chillness and the quietness emanating from his end, Maddie kept both the car temperature and the conversation on