Page 39 of Make Me Trust Again
The motion makes his front tooth wobble slightly. He must feel it too because he pokes at it with his tongue.
“It’s been like this for days. I want it to fall out so I can get the money from the tooth fairy.” He tilts his head slightly. “Do you have any loose teeth?”
His innocent question catches me off guard and makes me cough in surprise. “I hope not.”
Kyle gives me a pitying look. “No money for you.”
The corner of my mouth twitches up. “I think I’ll survive.”
He keeps moving the tooth with his tongue, a look of complete concentration on his face.
I move to the steps, grab two water bottles, and hand him one.
He takes it and lifts his right hand to his lips and tips it toward me slightly. The movement is instinctual, but then he shakes his head, as if he remembered I don’t know sign language before saying out loud, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I open my bottle, taking a sip. “You know, we can always pull it out.”
Kyle’s eyes widen at my words, a mix of surprise and horror on his face. “Pull it out?”
“Yes. When my little brother’s tooth was loose, I wrapped one end of a thread around it, and the other around the doorknob.”
“And then what happened?”
“I closed the door. Hard.”
Kyle’s mouth falls open as he blinks, trying to wrap his head around it. I can’t say I blame him. Mom was horrified when sheheard Matthew crying, and by the time she got to us, his mouth was full of blood, the tooth still hanging to that thread. Not one of our finest moments.
“I think I’ll wait,” Kyle says quickly, finally letting go of his tooth.
The corner of my mouth lifts slightly, but before I can say anything, I see movement coming from the side.
“Kyle Johnathan O’Neil.”
I shift my gaze just as Rose marches toward us. Worry and panic are reflected on her face, her lips moving as she mutters something I can’t hear. Her whole attention is fixed on Kyle, who jumps to his feet the moment he sees her coming. Rose comes to a stop, only a few inches between us.
Today she is dressed casually. A pale, pink tank top is hugging her heaving breasts, and she wears a matching pair of the smallest shorts I’ve ever seen in my life. Her hair is gathered in a long braid falling over her shoulder, with a few runaway strands curling around her face. Casual looks good on her. Too fucking good.
“What do you have to say in your defense, young man?”she asks and signs at the same time, before propping her hands on her hips as she glares at her son, waiting for an explanation.
I wince softly at her words. I’m all too familiar with them. With that mom tone. I’ve heard it too many times to count during my childhood, and it never ended well for me or one of my siblings.
Kyle knows it, too. He glances at me for a quick moment before shifting his attention to his mother.“I told you I’m going out to play.”
“This isn’t out to play. Out means in front of our house or in the backyard.”She waves at the space around us.“This is neither.”
“I saw Shadow, so I came to see her. And then we played.”
“What did we say about bugging Mr. Williams?”
“Mom!”Kyle groans, pursing his lips unhappily.“I wasn’t bugging.”
Rose just lifts her brow.
“I wasn’t. I played with Shadow.”
She shakes her head.“Regardless, you can’t bother Mr. Williams while he works. And you most certainly can’t just leave like that without letting me know.”
Kyle opens his mouth to protest, but the look Rose gives him makes him close it just as fast.
