Maybe Just One More

Chapter 27. My Faults

Avery's POV

Weeks passed, and Stormie hadn't said a word to me. I was possibly high or drunk most of those days. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she wouldn't. I spent most of my free time. I had no desire to see anyone but her.

Susie tried to speak to me on several occasions when she noticed the tension between Stormie and me, but I brushed her off as I always did, which pissed her off. 

It was the first week of March, and Stormie was fifteen weeks pregnant and due on August 24th. Every time that she so much as looked at me, I could see the pain in her eyes that I caused her. 

Everyone knew that Stormie was pregnant. Somehow Susie had found out and told everyone the day after our fight. They all knew that the baby was mine too. A bunch of guys high fived me that day, and at first, I didn't know why. When I found out, I told people to shut their mouths, and it wasn't their business. 

Peyton assured me that Stormie wasn't getting grief about the pregnancy apart from Susie. I wished I was a girl just for ten minutes so I could beat the hell out of the bitch. I told Peyton I would post bail if she beat her ass for me, that didn't work.

Mason and I weren't what you would call friends. We weren't fighting, but when we talked, we didn't talk about Stormie. If we talked at all, it was when absolutely necessary. 

We won the state championship in February, not that I cared much. Most things seemed meaningless anymore. The only thing I kept in my mind was the baby. I was confident at that point that it was the baby that kept me from going completely insane. I was only about half of what I used to be. 

"Avery." Someone called me back to planet earth.

I looked up, confused. "Mm, what?" I asked. 

"Can I get an ounce or what?" Howie asked.

"Yeah, man, sorry," I said. 

"What's with you?" he asked.

"Just tired. I work a lot," I muttered. I was working at my grandpa's tire shop in town now to make extra money, not that I needed it. I had plenty of money, but I had to be careful on how I spent it so the IRS wouldn't notice. 

After I weighed it up, I handed it to him and spoke again. "I'm going to tell you what I told everyone else. It would be best if you told your people to find a new source. I'm done dealing by mid-June."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Well, for one, I'd like to not go to prison. I'm probably not going to see my kid much as it is," I said. "And for two, I won't be around here anymore. I'm not driving from Waco to Dallas to Granbury and back to Waco."

"Good point," he said and chuckled. "I forgot for a minute about the whole dad thing. How is that going?"

I shrugged. "Fine as far as I know. She won't tell me much, and if she does, she leaves me information from the doctors in my mailbox."

"She really hasn't spoken to you in three months?" he asked. 

"Not a word," I said.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Man, I don't want to talk about it," I said. "I try hard not to think about it at all."

Howie put his hands in the air as if in surrender. "My bad."

"See you," I said.

"See you." He headed for the stairs. 

I heard my bedroom door close. I turned my stereo on and laid down on the couch. Music blared loudly through the speakers. What I loved most about loud music was that I couldn't think with it that loud.