Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Jerome came in and sat in the previously occupied chair. “What was that about?”
I glanced at the open door and heard the boys coming out of the locker room. “I’ll have to tell you later, but it isn’t good.” I got up from my desk and went out to the hall. It was my job to make sure the boys didn’t do anything that would get them into trouble with the school.
Antonia stood in the hall with a few other parents. I tried not to look at her but failed. Last night at the game, I’d seen some life in her, especially when she’d interacted with Cutter and his sister. Tonight, I knew it had been an act. She was saving face for the benefit of the children.
Cutter came out of the locker room laughing, until he saw Antonia. I stepped back and watched their interaction.
“Hey,” she said as she pasted a smile across her lips. “How was practice?”
“Fine,” he said plainly. “You didn’t have to come in.”
“I didn’t know if you’d see my car outside.”
He stood there, with his teammates walking past him. “Where’s my mom?”
Miriam was such a strong presence in his life, and the way his shoulder stiffened, I could tell he knew something was wrong. I stepped forward, thinking I could help, but then I realized I had nothing to offer. This was something between them, and it didn’t involve me.
“Grandma’s in the car with Nova.”
Cutter stood there with his fist clenched around the strap of his bag. “Is my mom home?”
She smiled and gave him a slight nod. “Come on. It’s cold, and my car’s running.” She moved toward the door.
“Can I drive?”
I saw her shake her head and Cutter’s head fall back. He let out a loud groan. The trials and tribulations of a teenage boy were an ever-revolving story. I’d heard countless stories from the team and students about how they hadn’t gotten into driver’s ed and how private driving lessons were too expensive. I kindly reminded them of where they lived and how there wasn’t anywhere to drive. Not to mention, kids needed to slow down and not try to grow up so fast.
After the last boy had left, Jerome and I went back to my office. I filled him in and then sent an email to all of Cutter’s teachers, letting them know of the situation and promising to keep them apprised once I’d found out more information. It was important for his teachers to know and show him grace if he needed it.
Something told me he would.
Chapter 8
Cutter
As soon as I came out of the locker room and saw Toni standing there among the other parents, I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t like my aunt didn’t come to visit. She spent Christmas with us, along with some other holidays, and we went to her place in Boston during the summer. I liked going to visit her. Being in the city was nice, and Toni lived at the top of an apartment complex with a view overlooking the harbor and downtown.
Toni being here now was different, though. My mom always told Nova and me when Toni was coming to visit—mostly so we’d help her clean or make sure our rooms didn’t look like disaster pits. She was always worried about how Toni saw us, for some reason, which didn’t make much sense to me, considering they were best friends.
My best friend was Flinn Langston, and we were nothing alike, which worked for us because we never had to compete against each other. He was into skateboarding and snowboarding, while I was into basketball and baseball. For whatever reason, our friendship worked well.
Though I was close with most of my teammates, I only confided in Flinn. I trusted him to keep my secrets and not steal my girlfriend, Eleni. A couple of my teammates liked to flirt with her, which pissed me off. My mom said as long as Eleni didn’t flirt back, I should ignore the other guys for the sake of the team. I didn’t always agree with my mom, but I did listen.
I followed Toni out of the gym, staying a couple steps behind her. There had been a time in my life when I called her “Ant Toni” instead of “Aunt Toni” because I thought it was funny since her name was Antonia. I didn’t remember when I started calling her just “Toni,” but I knew it had hurt her feelings. She wasn’t really my aunt. And the grandma she’d referred to earlier was her mom—no relation to me whatsoever.
Nova and I didn’t have any family except for our mother, and now I was pretty sure something was wrong with her.
As we approached the car, the back window went down, and my little sister stuck her head out. “Cutter!” She waved like we hadn’t seen each other this morning.