Page 73 of Infinity Chronicles 1
Ares drops his hand on my knees interrupting me. “I’m just saying there are other ways of knowing if your mom comes back without us bringing you here every night.”
I drop my head, insecurity warring inside me. It doesn’t seem like a lot to ask. I mean, they didn’t even ask when they basically told me I would be staying with them. “Well if it’s too much trouble, don’t bother. I’m capable of checking by myself.” I turn my legs to the door, dislodging Ares’s hand.
He sighs. “I never said it was a problemCara, I just said there are better ways of knowing when and if she comes back, safer ways.”
I lift my lip in a small sneer. “Safer for who? Why wouldn’t it be safe?”
“We haven’t really had a chance to talk about this with everything else going on, I was hoping we could talk more at dinner. But we really don’t have any information on your mom, and what happened to her. From what I’ve gathered from you, it seems like pretty strange behavior for her. So, there might be more to this than your mom just taking off.”
I’ve been thinking that all along, but I haven’t really voiced it, or had anyone to talk about it with. My stomach does a flip, it feels more real all of the sudden. “Sorry, okay.” My voice is small.
“Don’t be sorry Laura, there’s been a lot going on, I have a feeling there’s a lot more we don’t even know about yet. I just… we just want to keep you safe.” Ares turns into the drive of Turtle Creek, gravel crunching under his tires. It only takes a few moments to drive to the back of the park, my camper still stands alone among the tress and blacktop pads.
Tugging my keys from my front pocket, I hand them over to Ares before he even asks. “I only want to check. But you’re right, I don’t think she randomly decided to leave me. Not after all this time, and without telling me.”
Ares places his hand over mine, not taking the keys right away. “We’ll figure out what happened.” I’m grateful he doesn’t make empty promises to find her, or bring her back to me. But I’m even more grateful I have someone who can help me and I’m not alone anymore.
* * *
I toeoff my sneakers in the entryway and I’m too drained to bother lining them against the wall. Ares keeps his steps close to mine. He hasn’t said much since we left the RV, no one had been there in my absence. At his insistence, I took most of the rest of my stuff, which consisted of a few pieces of dirty clothing and my toiletries. He stood vigilant as I sorted through our things. He didn’t bat an eyelash when I removed the drawer next to the bed and pulled out and envelope with a few bucks inside. I’d already taken my sock money the other day and this was my new hiding spot since the one from the freezer was emptied.
With a small plastic grocery bag in hand I turn to face him. “Do you mind if I do a load of laundry or two? It’s already late but I’d like to get it started so I’ll have stuff for school tomorrow.” I know he said they’d been waiting on me to eat, but I really need to get this taken care of.
Ares looks away from me. “We already took care of the that.” He urges me further into the house.
“What do you mean?” I’m walking with is hand on my back but looking over at him.
Ares ignores my question and keeps moving to the kitchen. I can already hear the sounds of the guys banter as we near. “Ares?”
“Hope you like bruschetta chicken, I took a chance since you like lasagna so much. I’m betting you’ll like it.” He tells me like I didn’t just ask him something completely unrelated to dinner. “And bread, there’s lots of garlic bread. I have to admit it’s a weakness of mine.”
“Hey, finally,” Ollie calls once we round the corner. He rushes over, stopping just shy of touching me. His mouth opens, and he looks over my shoulder at Ares who’s still behind me. Ollie snaps his mouth shut and glances back down at me. “Who’s hungry?” he asks unnecessarily loud, spinning on his heel away from me.
I narrow my eyes at Ares’s back because he’s now stepping away from me too. What is going on here? I have a feeling I’m not going to like it.
We’re all sitting around a long dining table just off the kitchen. The table is already set with plates and silverware, even little goblets of water. I feel like I’m being buttered up for something, only I have no idea what.
Ares takes the seat at the head of the table with Dante to his right. Milo pulls out the seat on Ares’s left for me, then sits down on my other side, while Ollie takes the spot next to Dante. I look around, the room is formal, like where you’d expect to have holiday meals and such. I felt more out of place here than I have anywhere else in the house.
Crossing my legs and placing my linen napkin on my lap, I wait for the others. Ollie lets out a muffled snort. I look over at him and watch as he uses his hand to hide the obvious smile on his lips. “I told you this wasn’t a good idea.” Dante rolls his eyes.
“We have a lot to discuss, I thought it would be easier here than in the kitchen,” Ares adds, sounding like he’s scolding young children.
“Can’t we just sit on the couch like normal?” Ollie asks, a slight whine to his tone. “This room makes me feel like I’m about to get in trouble for sneaking wine.”
Milo shakes his head. “Probably because every time you were in here, you did.”
“Couldn’t be helped. I needed to take a bit of the edge off, you know I can’t stand all the stuffy bastards that would always show up.”
“You were twelve,” Milo adds drolly.
“Let’s just eat,” Ares interrupts, passing me a plate piled high with buttery garlic toast. Everyone starts filling their plates with tomato and herb topped chicken and creamy rice.
The table is quiet at first, only the clatter of dishes and cutlery to fill the silence. Ares’s roll of leader is becoming more clearly defined with each passing day. He begins the conversation by saying, “Laura, what more can you tell us about your mom, about how you came to be here in Canton?” I swallow a delicious bite of chicken and wipe the corner of my mouth with the napkin.
I feel self-conscious telling them about our life—will they judge me? But I decide the truth is the best way to get to the answers. “We moved around a lot… I mean a lot. Usually like three schools a year.”
“Why?” Milo’s question makes me pause and think.
