Page 13 of Redemption
The words weigh on my tongue, waiting for me to spit them out, but I take too long.
“You’re dismissed.”
As I walk away with my back ramrod straight, my hands ball into fists.
Later that night, I’m lying on my bed working on homework when I hear Langston’s truck pull into the driveway. My eyes nearly bug out of my head when I glance at the clock and see it’s after nine.
It’s always like this—Langston runs himself ragged, to the point that he nearly collapses from exhaustion, and then gets up and does it again the next day.
It almost makes me forget I’m mad at him—almost.
Tiptoeing out of my room, I wait for him outside of my room.
His head is down as he climbs the stairs, so he doesn’t notice me. A defeated slump in his shoulders breaks my heart. He’s my big brother, the first to always jump to my defense, but I can’t save him from himself—or our parents.
“Hey, jerk,” I call quietly when he reaches the top step. Our parents’ bedroom is downstairs, but our mother hears everything. It’s like she has supersonic hearing.
His head whips up, and when he sees me, he winces, signs of guilt written on his face.
My stomach turns because he already has enough on his plate. I should let this go, but somehow I can’t because seeing the purple pigment under his eyes from lack of sleep and bruises on his body from hours of football practice causes anger to burn through my whole body.
He speaks first, and it flames my anger higher.
“I’m sorry.”
Two simple words, but it’s like a bucket of gasoline being thrown on the flames.
“Langston, enough is enough. You have to tell Mom and Dad they’re putting too much pressure on you.”
He shakes his head and straightens his shoulders, pulling himself to his full height. His 6’ 2” to my 5’ 4” makes it so he thinks he can get out of conversations just by standing taller and appearing intimidating. He should have learned by now, though, that nothing intimidates me.
“No,” I say, stomping my foot. “Don’t do that. For goodness sake, Langston, talk to me. I’m your sister. You can talk to me.”
“I’m fine, Squirt. I promise. Just tired.”
He gives me a smile that is so typical of Langston. It’s light and bright, showing off all his teeth, but it doesn’t reach his eyes—only the ones looking for it see that. He’ll make a good politician someday.
Ruffling my hair, he slips down the hallway to his bedroom door. When he’s standing in front of it, he turns back to me and says, “I really am sorry. I’ll do better next time, okay?”
And I swear my heart shatters for him. He’s just a kid. Sixteen is too young to feel all of this pressure, but he won’t listen to me.
“It’s okay, L. I know you’re trying your best. Besides, it wasn’t so bad hanging out with Hayes.”
My cheeks burn as he throws back his head and laughs. It’s the kind of laugh that makes you feel hearty and alive just from listening to it. I haven’t told anyone about my crush on Hayes, but the way Langston’s looking at me with a mixture of pity and humor makes me think he figured it out like my mom. I really must not be as subtle as I thought.
“I bet it was,” he says as he opens his door. “I bet it was.”
He steps into his room and shuts the door, and I’m left standing in the hallway, vowing never to tell Langston if I ever get up the nerve to kiss Hayes Miller like I want to.
Chapter 5
Hayes
Thick paws hit my chest as I enter the side gate of my house. It’s the same greeting I receive every day, but today, the wetness of mud bleeds into my cotton shirt.
“Get down, Kota,” I say as I push his paws back toward the ground and step back, staring at the beast that accosted me.
He’s Langston’s dog. I took him in because I couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to him, too. But—oh, does the dog test my patience.
