Free There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake

another day
.
    Sure
, says Mom.
    Luke turns and starts making his way up the path, back to the plateau. Mom glances at me. Then she picks up a heavy, smooth rock. She hefts it in her hand.
    What are you doing?
I say.
    She looks down at the rock as if she doesn’t know how it got into her hands, as if it materialised there.
Nothing
, she says.
But we need to switch cars
.
    Luke is still walking, facing away from us, and Mom speeds up, still holding the rock.
    I don’t think: I just snap my foot out, putting my weight on the CAM Walker, and trip her. She goes down on one knee, the rock clatters off and comes to a rest by the stream. She stares at me.
    What the hell, Shelby?
    What the hell, MOM? What were you
…
were you going to knock him out? Was that your plan?
    No
.
    Bullshit
. I’m furious, all the pent-up confusion and frustration of the last twenty-four hours boiling over inside me, brimming past the point where I can contain it.
    Mom is pissed too, she stands up and puffs her chest out, primal, facing up to me. Then she seems to catch herself, and I see something departing her eyes, like a sparrow taking flight, leaving her behind, and all the anger is suddenly gone from her and she kind of slumps.
    But it’s not like that’s going to stop me – I mean, after everything that’s happened, this last day, I feel like someone’s pulled a rug out from under me. I hate it, and I’ve had enough of it.
    For God’s sake, Mom
, I say.
Have you thought about this AT ALL? That rock could have killed him
.
    She shakes her head.
    Yes. And how do I know you’re not going to try to, I don’t know, tie him up tonight or something? That’s your plan, right? Steal his car and then we can
–
    But Mom isn’t paying attention, she’s staring at something behind me, and there’s a cold crawling thing on my spine, and I realise I got turned around on the path, and what’s behind me is –
    Luke
, says Mom.
    I turn.
    He’s been watching me, watching me speak; his mouth is open. But mine is not.
    Because I don’t speak with my mouth, I have not been speaking with my mouth to Mom.
    Wait
, says Luke, looking at my hands.
You’re deaf?

Chapter
13
    So yes, BTW, I’m deaf.
    And Luke knowing that I’m deaf is SUPER AWESOME. Because now he’s got a whole load of stories about deaf people getting hit by cars and stuff like that, and he tells them all as we have lunch at this little truck-stop diner. There’s a particularly sweet tale about a cyclist who got dragged under a semi-truck because she didn’t hear it coming – Luke uses the word ‘hamburger’ when he describes her body.
    Worse still, Mom is on his side – she’s all, like,
yes I worry about her so much on the street
.
    She doesn’t add that I don’t go anywhere without her, maybe even she thinks she might be a tiny bit overprotective sometimes.
    I have ten per cent hearing
, I say. Of course I do: I wouldn’t be able to lip-read so well otherwise.
    Luke looks blank.
    She says she can hear a bit
, my mom translates, interpreting my hand gestures.
But not much. Sorry, she doesn’t like speaking. Because she can’t really hear herself, you know, her voice sounds weird
.
    Yeah, thanks, Mom, I think. Way to build up my confidence.
    I get that
, says Luke.
But you could have told me, you know. I mean, it’s no big deal, but just for safety, you know? It’s nothing to be ashamed of
.
    No, I think. No, it’s not. Actually, I’m not sure why we didn’t tell him; we both just kind of fell into it, or maybe my mom led me into it. Looking back, yes, I realise, she was the one who said something about me not speaking much. Cover, I guess, because my father is looking for someone with a deaf daughter? I make a mental note to ask Mom later.
    Anyway, we’ve blown that cover now, and with all of Luke’s gross stories, I’m kind of wishing by the time the cheque comes that I had let Mom brain him with this rock, which is totally what she was planning even though she