“He belongs with his mother!”
“Are you shitting me? Quarry’s gotten in his fair share of trouble, but he’s never done anything that would warrant the cruel and unusual punishment of being forced to live with you again.”
She gasped. “How dare you speak to your mother that way!”
“Oh, I dare, all right. How dare you think you’re someone’s mother! Were you thinking of Quarry when you decided to uproot him during this petty excuse of a custody battle?”
“I missed him.”
“You missed him? Did you miss him when you abandoned us?” I roared. “What a load of bullshit,” I sneered. “You are such a piece of work. You were absolutely right. It is Till’s fault that I’m sitting in this chair right now, because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be alive at all. Who the fuck do you think cleaned up your mess when you walked away? Who exactly do you think fed us and put a roof over our heads for the last three years while you were off doing God knows what? We were kids! So yeah, it’s all Till’s fault. And thank fucking God for that.”
“I should have known you three assholes would gang up on me. You have no idea what you are talking about or why I left. I didn’t have a choice.”
“We all have choices. Even worthless wastes of oxygen like yourself.” I turned to wheel away. “Do me a favor and tell Q I’m waiting out front.”
“No need,” Quarry said, jogging out the door.
“No. I’ve changed my mind. You aren’t going anywhere!” she yelled, but I heard Quarry’s footsteps continue behind me. “Quarry Page! Get your ass back in here!”
“No can do! It’s Till’s weekend!” he shouted over his shoulder before grabbing the handles of the wheelchair to push me faster.
“Stop!” I snapped.
“Then go faster, before she calls the cops.”
“Ray!” my mother screamed.
I glanced back while Quarry continued pushing me to the car. Ray Mabie came lumbering out of the house, and a simultaneous gasp and laugh flew from my mouth. His face was nearly unrecognizable, and I’m not just saying that I didn’t recognize him as Ray—I didn’t even recognize him as human.
“Holy fuck!” I cursed.
Quarry followed my gaze only to bark out a laugh. “Dude, you should have seen it. Till lost his shit!”
“Dude, you should have seen it. Till lost his shit!”
“It looks like Mabie’s face found it.”
“That guy is such a cocksucker. Mom doesn’t give two shits about having me back. This is all about Till.”
“No, they’re up to something. This is all about Till’s money,” I corrected, sliding into the driver’s seat of the van. “Christ, when did you get so big?” I asked as Quarry shoved my chair into the back.
“When did you shrink? You look like dehydrated shit.”
“I see that your stellar personality has remained intact.”
“I see that you’re still a cranky asshole. Must be from sitting on it all day,” he sniped.
My lip twitched, but I quickly tucked it away. “Something like that,” I mumbled, starting the van and becoming familiar with the hand pedals again.
“You look like a child molester driving this thing.” He laughed, looking around the van. “When we get to a stoplight, I’m going to start crying and pounding on the window for help.”
“You do that. I’m sure dear old Mom would be happy to come pick you up off the side of the road.”
“Oh, please. No, she wouldn’t. One of her reality shows might be on. I’d have a better chance hitchhiking while wearing an ‘I’m a serial killer’ T-shirt than getting her off her ass to do anything.”
“I see she hasn’t changed, either.”
“Hey! Slow down for a second.” Quarry jumped to his feet, scrambling into the backseat.
“What the hell are you doing?” I bit out as he slid the back door open.
Not two seconds later, a girl dove into the van.
“Fuck,” I cursed, slamming on my breaks.
“Don’t stop!” Quarry shouted.
“Go!” he and our new guest yelled in unison.
Quarry slammed the door. “Go! Before they see us!”
“Who?” I questioned, confused about what the hell had just happened and who this chick was. I still appeased them both by peeling off, complete with squealing the tires on the minivan. It was a sad new level of manliness.
“You drive a party bus!” the girl exclaimed, standing up off the floorboard and dusting imaginary dirt off her pants.
She was young, but I could tell she was a good bit older than Quarry—at least eighteen, maybe even nineteen. Judging by the way she crouched over to keep her head from hitting the roof, she was pretty tall. Her long, strawberry-blond hair cascaded down over her shoulders, stopping just before the curve of her large breasts. The same large breasts I allowed myself several seconds to check out before snapping out of it.