Free Sins of September by Graysen Blue

rock.”
    “Older than that,” is my reply. I’m not giving them any details just yet and luckily they don’t press for more at the moment. I have shared with them that I’m living with my stepfather and half-sister, and that my mom has passed away, but I don’t give them the specifics on that either.
    I’m not a person that likes to put my business all out there like that, and they’ve pretty much figured that out. Missy is all about telling anyone everything about herself; Shayla is a bit more reserved, like me.
    We’re all in a routine now at home.
    Jesse leaves for work around seven. I get Scout ready for school and her bus picks her up at 7:45. My bus picks me up at eight, and then Shayla drops me off so that I can beat Scout home by about twenty minutes.
    “Don’t you have your driver’s license?” Shayla asks one afternoon on the way home.
    “Long story. I had my learner’s permit back in Mississippi and finished my Driver’s Ed training, but I left to come here before I ever took the final driving test. I guess it doesn’t matter since I don’t have a car.”
    “Maybe you can work on step-daddy there to get you one,” she says with a devilish grin.
    “Maybe I will,” I reply, returning the devilish grin.

Chapter 14
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    The weeks seem to have flown by since the start of the school year. It’s the third week of September and the air is starting to get just a hint of fall chill in the evenings. It’s getting darker sooner than before—a sure sign.
    I feel all nested in at Jesse’s—taking care of Scout and doing domestic things around the house almost as if I am the wife instead of the stepdaughter.
    Jesse’s been working some wicked hours, leaving at seven in the morning and sometimes not getting in until after eight o’clock at night. I always keep his supper warming for him and he seems genuinely pleased about that.
    Catherine isn’t coming over nearly as much to get Scout outside now that they’re back in school. Catherine attends elementary school in another district on account of Casey being a teacher there. It’s just as well as far as I’m concerned. Scout’s meeting some new third grade friends and one of them lives just down the street she’s discovered.
    I’ve passed Casey coming and going and I always smile and greet her. The most she does in return is to give me an almost inaudible grunt and then she quickly looks away.
    Fuck the hag. Before long, I’ll be having what she had—only I’ll be having much more of it.
    Tonight I already have Scout’s homework checked; she’s had her shower and is already asleep before Jesse gets home. It’s a little after nine o’clock.
    “Sorry so late,” he says, pulling his ball cap off and hanging it on the peg by the back door. “Scout in bed?”
    “Yep—’bout a half hour now. I’ll get your plate.”
    “Hold on a sec. Before you do that, I want you to come outside. I had someone follow me home and they left something in the driveway that you need to see.”
    He can see my puzzled expression, but he makes no attempt to offer up any further explanation. So I follow him outside, and he switches the side porch light on so that I can get a full view of a shiny red Honda Civic that’s sitting right behind his truck.
    My eyes fly quickly to his, not wanting to presume anything that might make me feel like a fool in front of this man. This totally awesome and seriously beautiful man.
    “Happy Birthday, September.”
    I feel my eyes widen and a wall-to-wall grin spreads over my face. “Oh my God!” I scream, jumping off the stoop and running over to it, “I can’t believe you did this for me! Oh my God! A car! My car?”
    He’s laughing now, a rare occurrence for sure. “Of course your car—who else’s car would it be?”
    “Oh Jesse,” I gasp, still feeling like I’m on a high that I’ve never known before and one where he’s right there with me. “This is too much. This is way too much!”
    “It’s from me