Run Bad Boy Run

Chapter 27

"You're home early," I say when my mother walks into the kitchen.

It's barely three o' clock and it's a Saturday. I didn't expect her to be home by at least two o' clock in the morning.

What surprises me more is that her arms are laced with shopping bags full of groceries and she has a box of doughnuts balanced on the palm of her hand. I stare from her to the bright pink and orange box in awe.

"Did I miss something?" I ask, the gravity of the box and its many wonders sucking me in.

"Why'd you ask that, sweetheart?" she wonders. My fingers dance on the edges of the doughnut box and when I glance up at her, she lets out a long sigh and motions for me to have one of the forested delights.

"I love sprinkles more than I love life," I murmur, sinking my teeth into a chocolate covered treat from heaven.

"They let us go early today. Something about upgrading the software on all the computers? Can't really work when you don't have a computer, you know?" She throws the bags on the table. "I bought groceries, though! And a few of the bills!"

Her grin widens at the surprise on my face. She's never bought groceries for the past year and a half since I got my driver's license. And bills?

"That's great, Mom."

"Right," she nods and runs a hand through her hair. She gives a small smile, "I thought I'd mix it up this week. Besides, you should thank Jason for that."

"Jason?" I gulp, confused. "Why him?"

Stacie Chance pulls her hair out of its up-do and leans against the kitchen counter with a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. "He's been so good to me, Em. He helped me clean up the house. It's been such a mess. He found so much extra money lying around. We deposited it in the bank this morning. I used it to pay the bills, buy food. Six hundred dollars, Em. Can you believe it? Just lying around like that."

And just like that, the world around me slams to a standstill, and my throat tightens. "Six—did you just say six hundred dollars?"

Her smile falters. "Yes. Why? Is something wrong?"

Panic turns my world on its side, tears leeching the colors from the corners of my vision, and every fiber in my being screams to run upstairs, praying that the pile of checks waiting to be deposited in my family's joint checking account is waiting for me on my desk. "M-mom?" I swallow. "Where did Jason find that money?"

The horror in her eyes tells me everything I need to know.

"Mom, how could you?" The first sob is a knife to my chest. "That was the money I was saving up for New York! It was going to be one giant check I'd cash first thing Monday morning! I told you! I told you last week!"

She drops her head into her hands. "I'm so sorry, Ember."

"No!" I scream. "That's not good enough!"

This was the one thing—the one freaking thing in the entire world I wanted for myself this year. The one thing I allowed myself to use my hard earned money on. For once! Instead of the bills she could hardly afford!

"Alright. I can fix this," she mutters, her voice wavering. She presses a hand to her temples. "I'll go to the store right now and return it. I'll fix this! I promise!"

Another hiccupped sob bursts from my throat. "Forget it! I—I—I can't believe you! One thing, Mom! I wish you wouldn't go and fuck up one single thing!"

I don't bother staying for the rest of her half-assed excuses, the heat in my lungs begging to be expelled in an inferno of chaos, the walls of our house closing in on me the longer I stay inside. "Ember!" Stacie calls when I race to my car. "Wait!"