Page 61 of Uproot

Selah goes over to the island, setting down her purse on the chair. “How much Serbian do you speak and understand?” she asks.

I shrug my shoulder, “Enough to get myself in and out of trouble,” I respond, and she laughs, shaking her head at me.

“Dragana spoke it a lot when I was a kid, so I picked up enough of it that way,” I explain.

“I like it when you two communicate to each other in her language. It’s sweet,” she says, moving to pick up another platter. “You should teach Edi, too.”

I nod, sliding open the back glass door. “We already have been going through some basic things a little bit at a time. I’m skipping the inappropriate words though, don’t worry,” I tease, and she laughs, taking the platter into the dining room.

I get Edison inside and help him wash his hands, and then we all sit down to eat together. Edison happily takes over the conversation like he usually does, telling us all about what he hopes to do during summer break.

When we are finished, Edison runs back outside to play, and I tell Dragana to go sit outside in her favorite chair and rest while I clean up.

“When is Helen coming back?” Selah asks, as we clear the table together.

“I told her she can just come back next Monday. It made more sense for her to just stay in Manhattan this week with all of the paperwork that needs to be done to get everything finalized for the new project. Plus, she needed time with her wife,” I respond.

“That’s nice that she will get some time with her. I know that can’t be easy being gone for so long,” Selah says, bringing the plates into the kitchen.

I hear a chiming sound, and her eyes dart over to her purse on the chair by the island. She walks over and takes out her phone,and I watch her happy expression turn sour as she turns off the phone, and puts it away again.

“Who was it?” I ask.

She frowns, not meeting my eyes, and I already know the answer.

Definitely not any of her friends.

I set the dishes down in the sink and walk over to her. I stand in front of her and she slowly looks up at me. “You’re not going to have any secrets from me, Selah. Now, tell me who that was.”

She exhales a breath, “It was my mother. She’s been trying to reach out to me again this week. I told myself that I would call her this weekend, even if it’s just for a few minutes,” she admits.

I nod, knowing that she has been avoiding having another conversation with her mom for a while now. “Why don’t you set up a day for all of us to meet. I’d like to get to know your mother and her husband better,” I say, gently rubbing her back.

She gives me an uncertain look, but I squeeze her shoulder reassuringly and she relaxes. “Ok.. I’ll ask her about it when I call this weekend.”

I pull her closer to me and give her a hug, holding her tight in my arms for a few moments, knowing how irritated she gets just seeing her mother’s name on the phone.

Something needs to change in their relationship, and I’d like to meet her mother and her stepfather, to see what can be done to make things better for her. I’m not going to let anyone have my girl feeling this anxious when they contact her.

She moves her head from my chest and looks up at me, finally smiling again. “I keep meaning to ask you, have you heard anything new about Charlie from his lawyer?”

Now it’s my turn to frown.

I wish the situation with Charlie would wrap up sooner so I could just have some definitive answers with how long he will be going away for. But sadly, the justice system doesn’t work quite that quickly.

“Daniel contacted me the other day to tell me that Charlie isn’t going with his suggestion to make a plea deal. He thinks he has a better chance at trial, despite everything Daniel has warned him about,” I explain.

“Isn’t that a terrible idea?” she asks, furrowing her eyebrows, “He’s leaving his hands at the mercy of a jury. I don’t think they will be very sympathetic considering his legal history, and the dangerous situation he put Edi in. I mean Edi could have easily gone into his father’s bedroom and gotten into any of the pills he had there. He’s lucky that Rockwell convinced the judge to drop the child endangerment charges.”

“That’s his decision to make, angel. I think any common sense he had left has been filtered from his brain by drugs at this point,” I say, not feeling the tiniest bit of remorse for my half-brother. “His trial date is set for August. So we will see what happens. Edison honestly barely asks about him anymore, and he knows he won’t see him again for a long time. It’s strange, but he doesn’t seem upset by it. I don’t know if he just never had any bond with him, or if he’s just too young to process what it all means.”

“I’m so sorry this has been so much to handle, Beckett. I know you’re just ready to have some answers so you can move on, and figure out what you can do,” she says, wrapping her arms around me and laying her head against my chest again.

We stand there in silence just holding onto each other, saying what we need to without any words at all. We both understand too well the particular kind of disappointment and pain that only family can give you.

“You know,” I say, pulling back from her but keeping my hands on her. “When Edison told me he loved me today, that was the first time I exchanged those words with someone in my family in years. I’ve said it to Dragana, but my father wasn’t really big about expressing his feelings. He only said it to me more in the last few months before he passed away. And of course Charlie and I never exchanged our heartfelt affection for one another.”

She gives me a sad smile, reaching up to hold my face in her hands, “I’m sorry you never had that connection with your family, Beck. I understand how that feels, but I know you'll make sure that Edison hears how much he is loved every single day.”

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