Free Break of Day by Mari Madison

Even if he’d been told to shut up too many times in his young life.
    â€œMy mother,” I told him, rolling my eyes for effect. “She needed me to go buy her some groceries.”
    Jayden looked offended on my behalf. “What, she got a broken leg or somethin’?”
    I shrugged. “Or something.”
    He let out a puff of disgust. “Your mom sounds like mine.”
    I stopped eating, setting down my fork.
And here we go.
    â€œI heard she called,” I said quietly.
    He stared down at his hands, his face twisting. For a moment I thought I might have pushed too far too fast and he wasn’t going to answer me. But at last he spoke.
    â€œYeah. She called this morning.” He paused then added, “Told me she was moving.”
    â€œMoving?”
    â€œI don’t know. I guess she’s got some new boyfriend. And she’s pregnant. They’re going to move to Vegas. His brother has a place there or something.”
    My heart squeezed at the anguish I saw on his face. Anguish he was clearly trying to hide. “Let me guess,” I said, keeping my voice soft and nonjudgmental, “she wouldn’t take you with them.”
    â€œNo . . . yeah . . . I mean, I didn’t want to go anyway,” Jayden protested, rising back to his feet. “Her new boyfriend’s stupid. And I bet the place they’re going to sucks.”
    I gave him a rueful smile. “I know. But she’s your mom. It’s understandable that you want to be with her.”
    He shook his head, pacing the room like a caged tiger, his steps eating up the distance between the walls. “I just thought she might need my help, you know? With the new baby,” he added, now seeming unable to stop the words from tumbling from his mouth. “I know how to change diapers from being here. And I could, like, watch him while she wasat work or whatever. I don’t know. He’s my brother, right? My baby brother.”
    His voice broke and he trailed off. I rose from my seat and walked over to him. I held out my arms and he fell into them, burying his face in my chest.
    â€œShe said I couldn’t come,” he said mournfully. “She said there’s no room. That his brother’s place is small. Just one room for the two of them. The three of them once my brother comes. But no room for me.”
    â€œI’m so sorry, Jayden,” I whispered, stroking his hair. “I know how much that must hurt.”
    â€œIt doesn’t hurt,” he cried, jerking away. “Like I said, I didn’t want to go anyway.”
    â€œI know,” I assured him, giving him his space. “Trust me, I understand.”
    He shot me a scowl, as if saying that couldn’t possibly be true. But it was true. Truer than he could ever imagine.
    I stared down at my hands. I didn’t like talking about my past. It still hurt, even so many years later. But Jayden was hurting, too. And he needed to understand he wasn’t alone.
    â€œOne day, when I was about your age, my mom came to me,” I began, feeling the all-too-familiar ache rise to my throat at the memory. “She’d just been released from prison a few months before and we had finally been reunited. I was so happy, let me tell you, to be a family again.”
    I looked up to make sure Jayden was listening. He was watching me with a cautious expression on his face. I drew in a breath and continued.
    â€œAnyway, she says, ‘Piper, we’re going to your grandmother’s house for the weekend.’ Told me to pack a bag, bring a couple of toys,” I told him. “But,” I added, “I didn’t pack any toys. I packed my best pajamas. The ones Grandma had given me two years before, the last time I had seen her.” I paused, then added, “They didn’t really fit so well anymore. But I wanted Grandma to see how well I’d taken care of them. I thought maybe if she saw