Cinders

~57~ Trust

Taylor eases up on me the rest of the night. He lets me sit with him, Greene, Keegan, and Diego while they play cards; He doesn't let me play though.

"Sorry bud. If I let you play, that lady over there is gonna come over and give me the belt next. She's still furious."

"You're not?" I ask, surprised. Taylor was pretty mad.

"Oh, I'm upset, but I'm not furious anymore." He says, laying down his hand, and yelling "yeah buddy" when his hand was the best.

Mom comes over to us then, giving me a look. "Alright, young man. Bedtime."

I don't care how much older other people are than you. When your mommy comes up to you and says you have a bedtime, it's humiliating.

"Mom, come on. It's 9:00." 

"Yeah?"

"It's 9:00. As in, it's only 9:00." I say, ignoring the stares coming from the table.

"Keegan, does my face look happy right now?" She asks, looking away from me and over at Keegan.

Keegan clears his throat. "Kid, um, if she looked at me the way she's looking at you right now, I'd be high-tailing it off to bed myself."

That brings a round of laughter from the guys, but I ignore it as I stare at her for another moment. I'm annoyed, but trying to gauge how far to push.

"You wanna fight me right now? Taylor got his crack at you, but I haven't yet." She says, folding her arms and getting the 'Ellie Fighting Look.'

"I'm not fighting; I'm just simply saying that Greene stole his dad's car once and crashed it. The worst that happened to him was that he had to pay the deductible to get it fixed."

This woman is being completely unreasonable.

Mom glances over at Greene, making him a victim of her wrath. Taylor snorts and coughs, trying to hide his laughter.

Greene clears his throat and looks at her with an ashamed grin. "Liam, that knife isn't feeling so great in my back right now—Sorry Ellie."

"Well, I guess Greene has nicer parents than you do. Move—Now," she says, her tone in the danger zone.

Even I know better than to keep pushing.

I sigh and get up, following her to the sleeping quarters.

~*~

I lay on this uncomfortable cot for a couple of hours, tossing and turning. I'm uncomfortable, and I just can't fall asleep. I hardly ever go to bed before 1:00 am.

When people tell you to count sheep...Yeah, it doesn't work.

I see Taylor going into his office and pause. He needs to turn on the light, so he glances at me to see if I'm sleeping yet. I pretend to be sleeping, so I don't have to explain to him why I am still awake.

Once he decides that I'm sleeping he turns on his light and glances back at me to see if it woke me up. He goes into his office and grabs a couple of folders, looking through them.

The new girl is watching him, hiding on her cot. He has no idea that she's there. She's just silently sitting there, staring at everything he's doing. As soon as he leaves the room, she does too.

That's creepy.

~*~

The next day when we get home, mom and Taylor go into their room for a while. When they come out, they sit down on the couch.

"Ok bud, you ready for your lecture?" Mom asks, crossing her legs and leaning back onto the couch.

"Can't I promise never to do it again, and you just tell me how long I'm grounded for?" I snap.

"You know, I'm really getting sick and tired of your attitude. I've never washed your mouth out with soap, because frankly I don't agree with it, but you're REALLY starting to tempt me, young man."

Taylor chuckles. "Speaking from experience, soap in the mouth sucks. Just take my word for it kid and behave."

"You got soap in your mouth?" Mom smirks.

Taylor smiles at her and nods. "Yup—Often. The worst one was getting soap in my mouth while getting the belt at the same time. I believe I told my mom she was stupid, and I told Lilah to shut the hell up. I had no idea my dad was right behind me."

"Jeeze...Anyways," mom starts, turning her attention back to me. "You're 17. It's time to grow up, Liam. You're grounded for 2 weeks, and have lost your car indefinitely. We'll let you know once you've earned our trust back. You could get it back in two weeks, you could get it back on your 18th birthday—We don't know yet."

I just shake my head and clench my jaw—I'm pissed. "I'm so mad at you right now."

"You wanna be mad at someone, be mad at me. The car was my idea," Taylor says, getting mad again. He's always so calm and easy going until I come at mom—He can't stand me mistreating her.

"This isn't fair! It was a stupid prank. I hurt NO ONE."

This is my car, we're talking about.

"You could have, Liam. The frog prank was funny; I still chuckle about that when I think of it. This wasn't—This was dangerous. Your friend was in the car and you drove recklessly. Not to mention it wasn't even yours to drive, which reminds me... You left your soda can in my car, so I'm guessing you took it out for a drive without checking with me first," he pauses, staring at me hard.

Dang, this guy is good.

"If I admit to taking your car will you lesson my sentence?"

"No," Taylor and mom say at the same time.

"Then I plead the fifth," I snap, crossing my arms and scowling.

"Knock it off Liam. I don't want to, but if I have to I'll take you back in there and we can have a repeat of yesterday. You stole a car, you drove the car erratically, and you don't even act like you feel badly about it. You've lost your car indefinitely. I'm sorry that you're upset about it, but you're done with your attitude. Do we need to discuss this further?" He asks, crossing his arms.

"No sir," I say, looking down at my hands. "What can I do to earn it back?" I ask, looking at mom now.

"Start acting your age. Once we can trust you again, you will get it back," she says.

I just nod. "I'm sorry."

"Bud, it's too little too late," mom says sadly.

"Maybe one day you'll actually be proud of me," I say, my stupid tears burning the backs of my eyes.

"Oh Liam," mom sighs, losing her anger a little. "I'm proud of you every day, but you make me mad about every other," she teases, giving me a small smile.

I smile back just a bit, and look at my hands again.

"Go to your room now and do some homework," she says, getting up from the couch and going into the kitchen to get a drink.

"K"

I spend the rest of the day working on homework, already missing my car. No guy should have to break up with his car. Worst. Pain. Ever.