Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
She made a groggy sound and cracked her eyes open a fraction. It looked like her eyelids felt heavy, even though the bruising wasn’t too bad there. She had a small black eye on her right side, then more marks down her cheek and neck.
“Mijo,” she croaked.
“Yeah, I’m here.” I lifted her hand and kissed the top of it. “Dad said the surgeries went well. That’s good, innit? You’ll be outta here in no time.”
She sniffled and threaded our fingers together, which reminded me of her injuries. I looked over at her other hand, and there it was. A cast.
“Did she break her arm too?” I asked quietly.
“Her wrist, so they did the whole…” Dad ghosted his fingers a bit past her wrist. He must’ve forgotten to mention it earlier. The cast looked thinner than the one I’d had as a kid. “She won’t have it long, the doc said. A couple weeks, and then she’ll get splints.”
Christ. She was a Kinder Egg of surprise injuries. I didn’t even wanna look under the blanket to see her legs.
“Mijo,” Mom rasped. “You let the police…handle…this, capisce?”
“Of course, Mama. Don’t worry about it,” I replied.
She closed her eyes, let out a breath, and tilted her head toward Dad. “Gotta be careful… Our son is a wackadoo mobster.”
West coughed, presumably to hide his humor, and Dad laughed outright.
“Be nice to him, honey,” he chuckled. “You’re gonna want him around when I’m at work and you’re in the mood for roasted pork.”
Oh yeah. “I’m your man, Ma. You let me know, and I’ll drive over to Juanita’s and order whatever you want.” I flicked a glance at Dad. “Can she eat solids?”
I didn’t know how extensive her injuries were around her neck and jaw. She had no neck support today, like in the photos when she’d had bandages all around.
“Soon enough,” he confirmed. “She’s got the IV for now, but according to the X-rays, she’s just sore.” Yeah, and she had a split lip. “I’m guessin’ they’ll bring by Jell-O or some shit first. I don’t know.”
We’d see. Either way, she had a long recovery ahead, and I was gonna smother her with attention until she kicked me out.
“You should head home and shower and rest,” I told Dad. “I’ll stick around for a few hours.” I stroked Mom’s hand. “You want me to read you gossip on my phone, Mom? Huh?”
She used to love that.
“Or maybe later, after you’ve rested…” I felt my forehead crease. She was already falling back asleep.
If God was real, let him be my witness. The man who’d hurt my mother was going to die a painful death.
I looked over at West in the corner, and I found him staring into space in Mom’s direction. As if he was miles and miles away. And something about his demeanor held an edge, something cold. I didn’t like it.
CHAPTER 19
November
Alfie Scott
Ibobbed my head to the music I kept on in one of my earbuds, and I finished preparing Mom’s bagel. Pumpernickel toasted, with a lot of butter. It was one of her favorites.
The music helped drown out some of her bitching.
“And what about Thanksgiving?” she hollered from the living room.
“West ordered a turkey and the whole nine yards from a restaurant!” I called back. She was such a pain in the ass, all because she hated not being able to move around freely yet. I mean, she was getting there, but she couldn’t walk well. She had one of those giant cast boots or whatever they were called, and whenever she got sneaky and tried to cook or clean, she kept walking into shit and hurting herself.
I placed the bagel and her coffee on a tray and headed into the living room, where she’d taken up reluctant residence in Dad’s recliner.
“I told you—you got nothin’a worry about. We’ve got Thanksgiving covered,” I told her. I set the food on her tray table. “It’s just gonna be us. Dad’s family’s celebrating in Boston, and Nana and Gramps will be here for Christmas.”
They’d already spent three weeks here. And whenever they visited, Ellie picked up another word or two in Spanish, Gramps played chess with Trip, Mom put up another picture of Jesus on the wall, and they went to church a lot. Their entire living room was a shrine to Bible characters.
“What about West’s parents?” Mom pressed.
“Eh. He still won’t talk to them.”
She shook her head and picked up her bagel. “Children should never ignore their parents. No matter how little I care for them.”
Fuck that nonsense hard.
“You ignored me forever,” I pointed out.
“I am not a child, son,” she said. She bit into her bagel and nodded to herself. “The good bagel. From Moe and Irv?”
“You know it.” I sat down on the couch and checked my watch. Twenty more minutes, and then I had to go back to work. “For the record, Irv’s affiliated.”