Page 65 of Home With You

"That you know of."

"She's not on fucking drugs, and stop acting like you know her when you don't."

"Sounds like you don't either. You've known her for what? A few weeks?"

"Yeah, but I see her every day. I'd know if she was doing drugs. And so would Gladys. She'd tell me if Raine started using again."

"Why are you doing this, Miles? You're smart. Good looking. Got a high paying job. A great apartment. You could have any girl you want. Why the hell would you go after a homeless drug addict who has no interest in you? Do I need to fly out there and knock some sense into you?"

"FORMER drug addict. And Raine's definitely interested. She just won't let herself go there. She's embarrassed about her situation and wants to get a better life before she starts dating again. I'm trying to convince her it's possible to do both, and that I can help her if she'd just let me."

He's quiet, then says, "This is about your mom, isn't it?"

I shake my head. "It has nothing to do with that."

"How old is this girl?"

"I don't know. Maybe twenty-two?"

"And your mom was what...nineteen when she got kicked out?"

"Twenty, but this has nothing to do with her. And it's not the same. My grandparents kicked my mom out because she got pregnant. And she was only on the streets a few days."

"Still, you can't tell me this has nothing to do with that."

"Why would it?"

"You've always felt bad about what happened to your mom. You couldn't help her back then because you weren't born yet, but now you can help this girl."

"This has nothing to do with my mom. I liked Raine before I knew she was homeless. When I first met her, I knew I wanted to date her. There was just something drawing me to her. I asked her to have coffee with me, and after just a few minutes of talking to her, I knew I wanted to see her again. I had no idea she was homeless."

"How'd you find out?"

"I saw her on the street. Going through the trash."

I still feel bad when I think about that day. How ashamed she looked when she saw me. And sad. We'd had such a great night getting to know each other at the coffee shop. She was smiling and having a good time. Then the next day, when she knew I'd seen her digging through the trash, it's like a bubble burst. Like the night before was all a dream that ended the moment our eyes met on the street that day.

"Have you told your mom about her?"

"No, because I don't want her having the same reaction you did just now. I'm not trying to go back in time to somehow make up for what happened to my mom. That doesn't even make sense."

"It does, because you're the reason she ended up on the streets. If she'd never gotten pregnant, she would've kept living with her parents."

"She didn't get along with her parents. She was saving up money to move out. The pregnancy just speeded that up."

"And she ended up homeless, just like this girl."

"It's not the same. Raine didn't end up there because she was pregnant."

"Then what happened?"

"I don't know. She won't tell me. But I have a feeling it has to do with a guy. Gladys said some guy broke her heart. She said Raine's been through a lot and that I should give her time."

"So you're just going to wait for this girl to get her shit together when you could be out dating a normal girl with a job and a car and a place to live?"

"Just because Raine doesn't have those things doesn't mean there's something wrong with her. When the hell did you get so judgmental?"

"I just don't get why you'd want to date some girl that's got all these issues. You've got enough going on with a new job, new city. Why complicate things even more by going after some girl who lives on the streets?"

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