Finn knew that he had done the wrong thing as soon as he saw his mom's defeated expression. Well, truthfully, he'd known he was doing the wrong thing the moment that the thought popped into his head, but his feet had carried him across the street and up to the front door of The Sub Shack just the same. He just wanted a soda to take to the library with him, and he knew his mother wouldn't squawk about the money in front of someone they didn't know. It was one of the things that Finn hated about her, the way she was always trying to save face, as if the whole frickin' world couldn't see that they were poor white trash—emphasis on 'poor'. Besides, it wasn't like one lousy dollar was going to make or break them, right?
But as soon as his mother had looked at him, Finn realized that he had cost her more than just a dollar—he had most likely cost her the job. Although she would never tell him so, Finn suspected that his mom had been turned down for more than a few jobs because of him, because nobody wants to hire a single woman with a kid, and all the baggage that implies.
He began to regret being rude about the whole name thing, too, but why were grown-ups so obsessed with dumb names like Phineas anyway? It's like they all think that giving a kid some oddball name is going to destine them for greatness or something, when all it really guarantees is a lot of teasing and the occasional ass-kicking on the playground. Still, the guy had only been trying to be friendly—and at least he hadn't called Finn 'Champ', or 'Sport', or worst of all, 'Kiddo'—so maybe he should have cut him some slack.
Finn set aside the library book he was looking at and thought about the way Mr. Shepherd had looked at his mother the previous evening—or more precisely, the way he hadn't looked at her—and wondered if maybe that wasn't the only way in which he was different from other men. He didn't look like a deviant horn dog, and he had given Finn a free soda, so maybe he was actually a decent guy—maybe even decent enough to hire a single woman with a kid. Nearly two hours had passed and his mother hadn't come for him, so maybe that was a good sign.
I sure hope so, Finn sighed inwardly. Otherwise, I'm in big trouble.
YOU ARE READING
Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars
RomantizmJulie Callahan is a single mother whose only desire is to provide a better life for her son, until she meets a man who awakens other desires in her as well...
