Carolina Wren

Chapter 27

Wren's POV

Some of my previous behavior aside, I'm not normally one to turn to theatrics. It's too disturbingly near panic and I don't have the time to lose myself in my fears. Finding no money on the counter Tuesday morning nearly sent me into a tailspin, though. I could feel the echoes of my own hunger already and I wanted to scream. Throw things around the kitchen. Destroy Sheila's room in a temper tantrum that could only be outshined by one of her own.

I hadn't expected Sheila to suddenly appear, serving out money like an angel in the night, but another week without her giving us our grocery money was the worst thing she could have done to us. Between diapers and formula, we barely had enough to scrape together the bare minimum for this week.

I was going to have to skimp. The piecemeal lunches the boys were giving to me were going to be my biggest meals of the day. If we went another week without money, I wasn't going to be able to feed them.

Her selfishness knows no bounds. I don't even want to think about the man she must be shacked up with, or the money she's shilling out for drinks after work. Definitely not the drugs she's probably buying for everyone she's partying with. She's sober enough to plot because her phone is off and she's still going into work, but not sober enough to remember that child protective services are a thing.

I'll swallow my pride if I have to. I'll tell someone if she's not back by next Tuesday because I refuse to let my siblings suffer even a day of hunger, but it'll come at a price. For her and for me. The good news is that a week and a half is the longest she's ever been gone on a binge. She may be bringing home a new creep that she'll force us to call dad, but she'd be here and she'd be easier to persuade.

I hope.

Aside from having to buy less than what we needed from the store, Tuesday was largely uneventful. I'm grateful that Victor hasn't seemed to fill everyone else in what he saw on Monday. The boys don't act like they know that Mr. Blackbourne and I had another spat. Victor doesn't say anything about it either, beyond hugging me for longer than usual.

There were still people talking about Friday Fall, but they seemed to be getting rapidly bored with the topic since there were no more outbursts when the subject was broached around us. North kept his cool and none of the rest of us acted like we even heard it. Furthermore, the boys stuck to me like glue so no one could come up to me in the hallway, although Gus leered at me as I walked by during a class change.

The biggest difference was that Dr. Green, true to his word, sat in on my class with Mr. Blackbourne. Part of me hurt that he thought it necessary to keep the peace between his friend and myself, but if it's what it took, I'd take it. Mr. Blackbourne seemed annoyed by his presence and his incessant flirtatious teasing, but he surprised me by not sending him away. I was grateful for him, he kept things from being too awkward, although it's hard to play a brass instrument when someone keeps making you giggle.

Wednesday dawned bright and hopeful. The kids were as good as they could be getting ready for the day. It was cloudy but not raining as I walked them to school. No one cried as I handed them over to their respective teachers. I felt good about how my day was going.

When I reached the school, I was greeted by Gabe calling out across the courtyard, "Oy, Blue! Get your cute little ass over here so I can fix your hair!" I blushed at both his compliment and the way people were now staring at us. Gabe didn't care about the attention; his only concern was my hair.

And my outfit.

"Do you own anything besides that one fucking skirt and jeans that don't even fucking fit you right?" he demanded as he pushed me onto a bench next to Silas and started brushing at my hair. Gabe doing my hair for me was rapidly becoming my favorite part of the morning. There's something about him running his fingers through it that feels really good and makes me feel pampered. Special. Even while he's insulting my attire.