Page 91 of Under the Bed

His assistant!

An email would’ve been less insulting.

An email wouldn’t have been as cruel.

How dare he call Kaleb names when he’s the worst of them all.

When he plans on ruining my stepbrother.

He could give up Kaleb’s location to the cops if he finds him. He’d emphasize how dangerous he is. Lie by telling them he’d been threatening us. They’d kill him on sight for that.

Dad would be ruining Kaleb when he should be compensating him.

I hate myself. I was foolish to hope he’d grow a conscience. That he’d just want this to go away.

He’s past that.

The only place he’ll be sending my stepbrother off to is an early grave.

I’ll have to handle it myself, then.

It’ll be hard. Kaleb is stubborn as fuck. As ruthless as the devil.

I’ll deal with him. I’ve got this.

No one, and I mean no one, will take him from me.

My lips curl in a sneer I don’t recognize. My heart hardens against the world.

This isn’t over.

“Fine.” I end the call before she becomes imaginative and starts throwing insults of her own.

I’ll figure out on my own how I can graduate faster and how Kaleb and I can survive without Dad’s money. Both will happen.

I’ll make it happen.

For any of that to happen, I have to be smart about it.

I will.

15

SHILOH

I’ve spent the past three hours looking through the one-way window of Professor Dempsey’s clinic. Observing his practice sessions with two different, older students that I don’t recognize. A man and a woman. The woman joined Dempsey for two sessions, the man for one. I don’t remember their names. Don’t care to know them.

The sessions. I care about those. I’ve been paying attention to them and not much else.

Each one of them went something like this: Professor Dempsey introduced himself three times, listened to the new volunteers, and took notes. He encouraged the student at his side to ask questions and either approved of them or gently corrected them.

Throughout the entire time I’ve watched him, he’s been professional.

A teacher.

It’s my turn to learn now.

The other students wait for my practice out here with me and Eddy. They’re huddled together, ignoring my existence.

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