Dead Apples

11- Right Things

I couldn't find Mr. Sanchez's address anywhere so I have to take the money to his store. I had called the hospital and they told me that he was discharged a few days ago in very good condition, so maybe he'll be back to work already. And if not, I'll just give the money to his wife or something.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea," Sage tells me slowly as she's driving us through no man's land to get us to the next town over where Mr. Sanchez lives. "I think that it's nice that you want to give the money back but are you sure you want to go to that store? Where Robby... you know?"

"I'm sure," I confirm with a nod. "I have to do this before I change my mind. Robby is so pissed at me and I hate it when he's mad at me so I know that if I don't do it right now, I might never do it. And I have to. Robby doesn't deserve this money."

"I know. You're doing the right thing," She agrees with me. "I'm just worried about you is all."

"I'm fine," I promise her. "Well, okay, I'm not in the best shape but I'm doing okay. Robby will get over it, I hope. It sucks because he trusted me with it, you know? And I'm totally blowing his trust."

"You're staying true to yourself though," She reminds me. "Just because Robby is making bad life choices doesn't mean that he gets to drag you down with him. He doesn't get to turn you into a monster just because that's the path that he's chosen. Sorry. I didn't mean to call him a monster but you know what I'm trying to say, right?"

"Yeah, I get it," I nod and I look out the window.

"Anyway, Amber told me that you decided to help her with that mural. She's really excited about it," Sage changes the subject. "She really loves those little kids. She's going to school to be a teacher."

"That's nice," I sigh. Whenever Amber comes up in conversations, I can't help but try to find flaws in her personality because I have yet to figure out why Dex is cheating on her. A nice, caring girl who loves kids and has ambition. I don't get it. I know that I keep saying that it's none of my business but I just don't get it.

"She's a really sweet girl, I think that you'll have a good time creating the mural," Sage informs me. "Oh, and Ty's going to go visit his grandparents in Florida next week so I'm all yours for an entire week. What should we do?"

"I have to work," I remind her. "But other than that, I'm not sure."

"We should go to the pool," She suggests quickly.

"No. You know that I hate going down there," I inform her with a long sigh. The worst thing for a girl with chunky thigh issues is to wear a bathing suit. And if I wear shorts in the pool, I just look like an idiot. Most of the time, I can hide my insecurities with jeans but if I wear shorts in the pool, it's like shouting at everybody 'hey! Guess what? I hate my body!'

"It's so fun though," Sage protests. "And we can get a nice tan while we're there."

"I'm tan enough," I decide. "I'm not going to the pool."

"Alright, we'll find something else to do then," She easily gives up because she knows that I won't budge on this.

"They probably don't want to see me there," I say, not talking about the pool anymore but about the Sanchez family. I met him in the hospital but I didn't tell him who I was. I'm not sure how they will react when I tell them. How does one react to meeting the sister of the man who stabbed you and robbed your store? "The victim and his family, I mean."

"I think that they'll understand that you're just trying to do the right thing," Sage assures me. "And if they don't then you get to keep the money which isn't bad either. How much money is it?"