Free Payback by Melody Carlson

believes it. When she came home after six, at first she almost acted like this was some kind of conspiracy Ebony and I had cooked up against her. Like we just wanted to make her life miserable. Then she went into this “I’m not mad at you” rage, and I decided to stay out of her hair.
    My big mistake was getting hungry, which resulted in me sneaking down to the kitchen. I thought the coast was clear since it sounded quiet, and I wanted to get a little something to eat. But when Mom saw me, she started ranting all over again. So I retreated with my string cheese and orange juice back to my room. Do I think this is fair? Of course not. But just thesame, I do feel for my mom. I know she’s hurting and frustrated. Still, as I pointed out, she would be much better off if she could simply give this whole thing to God. He’s the only one who can really sort this stuff out.
    At least Olivia proved a sympathetic listener. Aggravated by my mom’s immature reaction to the unfortunate news, I told Olivia the whole story, and she was incredulous.
    “Your mom needs a good lawyer,” she told me. “Go after that loser and make him pay her back.”
    “Yeah, Ebony pretty much said the same thing. And she definitely will do that, but in the meantime she’s enraged and impossible.”
    “I’ll be praying for her,” promised Olivia. “And you too.”
    Her empathy was encouraging, but now, as I feel somewhat trapped and lonely up here, I decide to call Zach. After all, he may be messed up, but he’s part of this family. And it might encourage him to know that his instincts about Steven were right on.
    “No way!” he exclaims after I quickly relay most of the story. I don’t go into all the details of how much money Steven stole from us, since I don’t want to upset Zach too much.
    “Pretty unbelievable, huh?”
    “I always got a bad feeling from that guy. Remember how he was all over my case when we took the ski trip?”
    “Well, to be fair, you kind of deserved it.”
    “Maybe…but not from him.”
    “That’s true.”
    “How’s Mom taking it?”
    “She’s in a rage.”
    “Figures. You can’t really blame her.”
    “So how are you doing, Zach? How’s life?”
    “Pretty good. This is a really great place.”
    “Fantastic.”
    “Good people and good stuff.” He pauses. “I was going to write you a letter, but I guess I’ll just tell you now.”
    “Tell me what?”
    “I totally recommitted my heart to the Lord, Sam.”
    “That’s so cool!”
    “Yeah. I can see now that it’s been the missing link all along. There’s no way I can stay sober without God in my life. I need Him.”
    “That’s awesome, Zach.”
    “I’ve been thinking about Dad lately.”
    •Yeah?”
    “It’s like I can sort of feel his presence, like he’s nearby or something. Is that weird or what?”
    “I don’t think it’s weird. My guess is that as you get closer to God, it will naturally—or supernaturally—make you feel you’re closer to Dad too.”
    “Does that ever happen with you?”
    “Yeah, actually it does. Lots of times I get this unexplainable reassurance that Dad’s up there…that he’s rooting for us, you know, kind of like he’s cheering us on.”
    “Do you think he’s cheering Mom on right now?”
    “Yeah, of course.”
    “That’s cool.”
    “Well, I should probably go,” I tell him as I glance at the clock. “I know you’re not supposed to be on the phone more than five minutes at a time.”
    “Yeah. But thanks for calling, Sam. I mean, I’m really sorry to hear about Mom getting hurt and everything. But it’s kind of reassuring to know I was right about that creep. I guess I should be glad I’m not home right now. I’d probably do something stupid like hunt him down and just make things worse.”
    “We need to let the police take care of it.”
    “Yeah. Hopefully, that jerk will be behind bars soon…just like Tate.”
    “That’s what I’m praying for.”
    “I’ll pray too.”
    Then