Out of Breath

Chapter 16

"Where have you been?" Ma screams as we walk in the door. She is livid. The bags under her eyes seem to swallow her entire face. I hope I didn't cause them.

"School."

"No, before that. You didn't come home last night. Where were you?"

"With Butter."

"You think you can stay out all night without telling me? And worse, you had Raven with you. I thought something bad had happened."

"One could only hope," Terry interjects as he sips his coffee.

We have only been home for seconds, and Terry is already slinging the insults. I don't really have a safe place in life. School should be, but Clairlion has ruined it. Home hasn't been safe since Terry moved in. My only sure place, the pond, has been overtaken by Desdemona. Maybe it is time to find a new fishing pond. I can't even go to the Bumpuses anymore because Nutter will kill me.

It feels dark and lonely in my life.

"You are grounded." Ma states.

"Wow, woman, just wait a minute. Don't punish them," Terry says, correcting Ma.

I choke on my spit and cough. Terry dumbfounds me. Is Terry really sticking up for us?

"Last night was the best night we ever had. Don't punish the boys for staying out. Then they will never do it again. I hope they stay out every night. In fact, if they forget to come back, that would be better." He goes for another sip as the coffee spills into his beard and down the front of his shirt. What a pig.

Ma grabs her apron and twists it in her hands. Whenever she does this, it is her sign of submission.

"And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. Luke tells us that. If you wanna leave now, I will give you your inherence. It's probably good for a bus ticket to hell." He says, laughing. His low laugh rumbles the house.

I can't stand Terry.

I go back outside and head to the pond. Hopefully, Desdemona is there so she can explain a little more about what happened at the Wicca fest. But what am I saying? Of course, she will be there. She is always there.

"What were you thinking," Desdemona scolds as I get close to my spot. She stands in her white rags, hands on her hips, just like Mama Bumpus always does. "You shouldn't have been there."

"Hi, to you too," I say as I sit down on the squishy wet ground. "Listen, I had no idea what was going on. My friend thought he was taking us to a fair. I have never been to a fair before." My life depletes me right now. Enough with the lecture, little witchy!

A light rain drizzles on us. Desdemona's hair looks soaked. Maybe it will wash the lice out.

I open a can of Ener-Fiz that I had stolen out of Terry's truck. The warm carbonation tickles my throat. I'll have energy soon.

"Well, bad things almost happened." She says.

The dark Skitler's image forms in my mind. She isn't kidding. That was close.

"Did you get your rock back today?"

My rock! I had forgotten it! Shoot. I had meant to get it, but I was drained from hardly sleeping last night, and my mind was occupied with thinking about the cop. He had seen me unstop time. I just know he must have. I expected him to come into the school at any moment and arrest me. "I will get it tomorrow."

"Good. Don't forget. And I must assume Raven has his."

"I don't know."

"No, he does," she snaps. "That is the only reason that Klabin didn't see Raven."