Page 182 of Five Mountain Daddies

Pure panic takes over. I don’t think or know what I’m doing as I pound on that door. I keep imagining him broken, stabbed, shot, killed, hurt, lying in there alone and bleeding. I don’t know what I’d do if he were hurt or worse. I think I’d crumble, destroyed and broken, and I had no clue I felt thatway.

I’m overwhelmed by my feelings for him. I bang on the door harder, screaming his name. I must look insane. I’ve lost all control, and all I need is to see him again, feel himagain.

“Cora!” I hear the voice, but it doesn’t register. “Cora!”

I turn slowly, and he’s there, holding a pizzabox.

I drop to my knees and start crying like an idiot. Relief floods me so strongly that I can’t stand. He runs over and puts the box down before pulling me againsthim.

“What’s wrong?” he asks me. “Are youokay?”

“I thought… you weren’tanswering…”

“Shit,” he says, understand. “I’m so sorry. I just thought we could have some pizza, if your momcame.”

“It’s not your fault.” He hugs me tight, and I feel so stupid. It takes a little bit, but eventually I get myselftogether.

We don’t talk about it. He doesn’t mention the way I reacted, and I don’t bring it up again. But when we go to get my mom settled in, I notice the way he’s looking atme.

It’s partially fear. And I don’t blame him. I’m afraid of myself, of the way I responded like it was the end of the world. I’m emotional, pushed to the brink, and I’m afraid of how I feel abouthim.

20

Wyatt

With Cora’s mom safely in the motel only a few doors down from my room, I can tell she’s feeling a littlebetter.

Although that reaction when she came to my room and found me missing… that was tough to see. I haven’t said anything about it, because I think she’s embarrassed, but I understand. This is a high-stress situation. She’s afraid the Niners are going to come after us and try to physically harmme.

I can’t blame her. She’s probably right. Frankly, I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more reprisals from them so far. I’m honestly starting to think that they’re not as scary as everyone seems to think they are. Maybe they’ve gotten soft ever since they took over this town. Nobody’s around to push back at them. It’s not really surprising, since they’re operating out here in the middle of nowhere in a small town. In the city, they’d have to stay violent, but maybe out here they can get away with being a littlesoft.

Still, it’s good to have Cora’s mom here. Cora herself takes the empty room next to mine, and now it feels like we’re one big happy family, except her mother refuses to spend any time with me, and basically just sits in her room smoking cigarettes anddrinking.

“How’s she holding up?” I ask Cora the next day. She shrugs a littlebit.

“Okay, I think.” We’re sitting in the Great American and I have my laptop on the table top. Fortunately they have free WiFi here, which is a real lifesaver. The WiFi at the motel is horrifyingly slow, so it’s basically not useable, and I’m sick of using all mydata.

“At least she’s safe, right?” I askher.

She shrugs. “I guess.” She bites her lip. “She said something weirdyesterday.”

“Weird?” I raise an eyebrow ather.

“Not weird. Just… she admitted to having a drinkingproblem.”

“Huh. That’s good,right?”

“Yeah, it’s just, she’s never done that before. But she’s stilldrinking.”

“Did you think she would change overnight?” I asksoftly.

She sighs. “I know you’re right. Still, I want to helpher.”

“You can. Just give it time, she’ll come around. When all this is over, she’ll figure itout.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” She looks back down at her coffee, and I can tell she wants to say something else, but she swallows it and goes back toeating.

I decide not to press her. Addiction and her family are two difficult and painful topics for her. Atticus was killed because of his addiction, and now she’s worried her mom is going to go down a similar path, although much more slowly. I can see it in her expression, but she’s burying it, keeping it allinside.

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