Free When You Least Expect It by Whitney Gaskell Page B

problem.
    Lainey followed her mother down the hall, into the tiny, cramped living room. The house was a mess, littered with empty soda cans and discarded chip bags. There was a funky odor, too. A mixture of unwashed male and stale beer. Al was stretched out on a recliner, drinking a can of Budweiser. He had greasy hair that was prematurely gray and a scrawny build. His friend, who was the size of a baby whale, was lounging on the brown sofa, his feet propped up on the coffee table. They were both absorbed in the Gators game blaring on the television.
    “Hey, girl,” Al said. “This is Richie. This is Candace’s kid, Lainey.”
    “Hey there,” Richie said, leering at Lainey in a way that he obviously meant to be sexy. Lainey rolled her eyes. As if. Richie’s thick curly hair had receded back to display a shiny forehead, and he’d cut his sideburns into muttonchops. Behind his thick glasses, he had small, piggy eyes. She was fairly sure that he was the source of the unpleasant smell.
    “You want something to drink? A beer or something?” Candace said, passing through the living room, into the kitchen. Lainey followed her, mostly wanting to get away from Richie, who was now looking at her like she was a lollipop he’d like to cram into his mouth.
    “No. Just some water,” Lainey said.
    “What’s this about you and Trav?” Candace asked. She stuck a smudged glass under the tap and, once it was full, passed it to Lainey.
    “I’m pregnant,” Lainey said.
    Candace stared at her and, for a moment, looked surprisingly sober. Then she shook her head, sighed, and sipped from a glass containing a bright yellow liquid. Gin and diet Mountain Dew—her mother’s favorite cocktail. Actually, this was a good sign, Lainey thought. She only really had to worry when her mother switched to whiskey, which she drank straight.
    “I thought you were smarter than that,” Candace said.
    “You’re one to talk,” Lainey said. Her mother had given birth to Lainey when she was sixteen, four years younger than Lainey was now.
    “That’s why you should know better,” Candace retorted.
    “I’m not keeping it,” Lainey said.
    “Make Trav pay for it,” Candace said immediately.
    “I’m going to have it. I’m just not going to keep it. I’m putting it up for adoption,” Lainey said.
    Candace, who had been in the middle of lighting a cigarette, stopped and peered at Lainey. “You are?”
    “Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?”
    “You’re just not the type, I guess,” Candace said. She inhaled deeply on the cigarette and then, without removing it from her mouth, blew the smoke out one corner of her mouth.
    “Obviously I am,” Lainey said. She waved away the smoke. “And can you please not smoke around me? I
am
pregnant, after all.”
    Candace shrugged and continued to puff on her cigarette. “So that’s why Trav kicked you out?”
    “Yep. Well, that, and the fact that he’s a dick.”
    “Trav’s not so bad. Didn’t he buy you that nice handbag?”
    “Yeah, he’s a real prince. So can I stay here for a few nights?”
    Candace shrugged. “We don’t have any room. If you haven’t noticed, this isn’t exactly Mar-a-Lago. Richie’s got all of his stuff stored in the second bedroom. You can’t even open the door to get in there.”
    “I can sleep on the sofa.”
    “Richie’s got the sofa,” Candace said. “He’s staying here for a while.”
    “Since when?” Lainey demanded.
    “Since he lost his job and couldn’t pay his rent,” Candace said.
    “Now it’s not just Al sponging off you, but his friends, too?” Lainey asked, her eyebrows arched. Her mother just shrugged. “Jesus, Mom, I’m pregnant and I’ve got nowhere to stay. Shouldn’t your daughter come before your scumbag boyfriend’s freeloading friends?”
    “Watch your mouth, little girl,” Al said as he ambled into the kitchen, heading straight for the refrigerator. He pulled out two beers.
    “Don’t tell me what to