Free Glass - 02 by Ellen Hopkins

course,
    first we have to get to dinner.
    So where are you staying?
    Scott asks Dad. [Hint!]
    Some little dive in downtown
    Reno, answers Dad.
    Figures, Leigh whispers
    to Heather, who laughs out loud.
    It’s not so bad, offers Linda
    Sue. Small rooms, but clean.
    Mom bustles onto the scene
    with her purse. Let’s go!
    Go? says Dad. Do you have
    plans? Don’t let us interfere.
    We weren’t planning on letting
    you interfere, Leigh chimes in.
    Scott moves between Leigh and
    Dad. We have dinner reservations.
    Linda Sue starts toward
    the door. Time to go, Wayne.
    Sure, says Dad. Good seeing
    you all. Kristina? Walk me out?

D ad Carries Hunter out the Door
    Okay, that’s really creepy. “Uh, Dad?”
    I hurry after him, Linda Sue, and my
    baby, but have to fight my way past
    Mom. Wayne? she calls, wrinkling
    her nose at the stench he’s left
    in his wake. I’ll take the baby.
    Dad turns, grinning. You didn’t think
    I was kidnapping him, did you?
    Sheesh. I’ve got enough problems!
    [No shit!] Still, both Bree and I
    are relieved when he hands off Hunter
    to Mom. He gestures for me to follow
    him to his car. I want to take you
    out tomorrow night for your birthday.
    As you can probably tell, I brought
    a little go-fast along, but it’s mostly
    gone. I’m thinking you’ve got stash
    of your own. Can you spare some?
    [Whose birthday is this, anyway?]
    “I have a little I can share,” I admit.
    “But only about half a gram.”
    If I give you some cash, can you
    score some more? He extracts two
    wadded hundreds from a pocket.
    “I’ll try. But just so you know,
    this was the first time I’ve done
    any since Hunter was born.”
    Okay. He slides behind his steering
    wheel. Oh. I ran into Buddy before
    I left. He said to send you his love.

D ad Drives Off
    Leaves me coughing
    on his exhaust fumes and shaking
    at his parting remark.
    I haven’t stopped
    to think about Buddy, aka Adam,
    in a very long time.
    Adam, who started me
    on the highway to nowhere. And guess
    where I’m standing now.
    [Pretty damn close to nowhere.]
    Still, remembering our
    time together brings more happiness
    than anything else.
    They say you’ll always
    love your very first
    love. I’ll always love Adam a little.
    But he’s married, with
    a baby just about Hunter’s age. Why
    would he send his love?
    [Because he’s a fucking player.]
    Of course he’s a player.
    But he was my player once, at least
    for a few great weeks.
    Everyone piles out the
    door. We’ll have to take two cars,
    says Mom. Jake, you ride
    with Dad. Ladies, we can
    squeeze into mine. But I volunteer to go
    with Scott. “More room.”
    [Less nervous conversation.]
    Jake sits up front. I take
    the backseat for me, Bree, and
    memories best forgotten.
    Dad stirs them up too,
    and something else—a big ol’
    cauldron of guilt.
    Two weeks and I’m most
    of the way through a ball. What have I
    done? Can I undo it now?
    [Fat chance, now you’ve set me free.]

S aturday Morning
    I wake to voices in the hallway.
    [Don’t move. Pretend you’re still asleep.]
    Mom: I’m going to wake her up.
    Leigh: Let her sleep. I’ll take care of Hunter.
    Heather: She did look exhausted last night.
    Exhausted barely covers it.
    [And now you’ll be swamp-headed.]
    Mom: I don’t know what’s up with her lately.
    Leigh: Having a baby so young can’t be easy.
    Heather: Her dieting must take a toll too.
    Okay, she definitely knows.
    [But is she going to tell?]
    Mom: Dieting? What do you mean?
    Heather: She barely touched dinner last night.
    Leigh: And you know how she loves Italian.
    Heather barely touched dinner either.
    [Yeah, but she’s a better bullshitter.]
    Mom: She has lost a few pounds recently.
    Leigh: Rapid weight loss isn’t good, though.
    Heather: I’d love to know how she’s managed it.
    I’m going to kill her.
    [You don’t, I definitely will.]

T he Hallway Conversation
    Recedes and I tug myself out of bed.
    I thought I did a good con job at dinner
    last night. Now