Child of lightning-Percy Jackson x reader-Book one

Finally Home

Confession time: we ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.

I know, I know. It was super rude. But Grover was seriously freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead girl, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"

Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me and Percy promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, we picked up are suitcases, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.

"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.

A word about Percy's mom, before you meet her.

Her name is Sally Jackson, like I said earlier, and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the worst luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

Percy tells me the only good break she ever got was meeting his dad.

See, they weren't married. She told us he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, Sally told us. Not dead. Lost at sea.

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised Percy on her own. Then when she took me in she did the same for me. She never complained or got mad, never treated me like a burden. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.

Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When me and Percy were young, Percy nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's honestly the truth. The guy reeked like a burrito that had been left to mold in a dumpster for years and then drenched in sewer water.

Between the three of us, we made Sally's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way him me and Percy got along ... well, when we came home is a good example.

Percy and I walked into our little apartment, I hoped Sally would be home from work, but like I said I have rotten luck. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.

Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."

"Where's my mom?" Percy grunted

"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

Gabe had put on a lot of weight. He looked like a ugly walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.

He claimed to manage the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I honestly don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me throw up from the smell most nights, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected either me or Percy to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "little secret." Meaning, if we told Percy's mom, he would punch our lights out.