Page 4 of Saved By My Buyers

Looking around the small apartment, I blow a breath out as I put away laundry. Jack found that Dad didn’t have any investments, but he did have offshore accounts that he put everything in. Unfortunately, Mom couldn’t touch any of it, it wasn’t in his will, and we were left with nothing.

Jack broke a few things as he yelled in Dad’s office before telling me he needed to see if he could fix “the stupid son of a bitch’s mistakes.”

No one could fix it though, and Mom moved us to live closer to her sister in New England, which feels so different from Florida. I couldn’t wear my vibrant prints anymore, I’m considered too loud, and Aunt Amelia is constantly yelling at me.

Thankfully, we don’t live with her, though the two bedroom apartment is really cramped. Cyrus slept on the couch, insisting he didn’t care, until he moved out a year ago. He’s nineteen now, works for an upscale motorcycle mechanic, and makes really good money.

Jack paid for Mom to go back to school to become a nurse with an associates degree in nursing. She worked two jobs to make ends meet while she was at school, and I wanted to help in some way.

The only thing I could think to do is charge kids for doing their homework and papers. So for the past four years I’ve been doing this to help when I could. The last thing I need is to get expelled from Highbrook Prep.

I know it’s cheating, but these kids are willing to cut corners, and I’m willing to take their money.

Did I mention that Jack also insisted on paying for private school for me? Cyrus said he was fine at the public school, but I didn’t get a choice. Instead, I leave money on the kitchen table for Mom whenever she’s in town, and she never mentions it. I think she may think I’m dealing drugs.

If she doesn’t know, she can’t freak out about it, is the way her mind works.

I start putting my clothes away, wondering how much longer I’ll be alone in this apartment. Mom has been doing stints as a travel nurse for the last four months, blissfully ignoring the fact that I’m fourteen and shouldn’t be living alone.

I catch the public bus to school and back home. It’s not perfect, but it works. It lets me be as much a kid as possible.

The phone rings, making me sigh. The only reason Mom got me one was so she could occasionally keep in contact. However, it’s practically a paperweight since she only calls me once or twice a month, and she hasn’t been home since she first left to start this job.

“Hello?” I ask, chewing on my lip, because I don’t recognize this number. What if it’s a killer like that movie where they’d call you and say they were watching you?

God, I have to stop watching horror movies on the streaming app I signed up for, because it makes my imagination run wild. I save the money that I get now for doing people’s homework and papers so I can afford little things that make it less lonely to be living by myself.

It helps a bit, but what I wouldn’t give to see my brother’s sullen face. I have a small feeling no one knows Mom took off on this job. Even Aunt Amelia hasn’t checked in on me. It would be really fucked up if everyone knew and didn’t give a shit.

“Dolly,” Jack says, sounding frustrated. “How come your mom isn’t answering the phone? I’ve been calling her for the past few months trying to see how you all are.”

“She’s been working,” I say softly, swallowing hard. I’m not very good at hiding things from him. I wasn’t when I was ten, and I’m especially not now.

“Let me try again,” he says with a sigh. “Hello, Dolly, how are you? Sometimes I deal with assholes all day long, and I forget how to talk to little girls who don’t deserve the growly attitude.”

My lips curl into a smile as I sit down on my bed. I’m so glad this isn’t going to be a call where I get yelled at. Jack doesn’t typically yell at me anyway, so he must be really frustrated with Mom.

Though… he may still be mad if I have to tell him that I’ve been living alone for the last four months. Mom pays for the utilities and rent, and taught me how to order groceries online from my tablet that’s connected to her card. I typically try to get only essentials. Anything extra I buy myself.

“Hi, Jack,” I murmur. “I’m doing fine.”

“School is good too?” he asks worriedly. It helps me relax a little, because someone cares about me.

“Yes,” I say. “I’m making really good grades, I found a club I like, and things are good.”

“Do you need anything? Food? New shoes?” he asks, rapid fire. I wonder if he thinks that he can’t get ahold of Mom because she’s hiding something.

I’m sure she is, just not what he thinks she is.

“No, thank you,” I tell him. “I picked up a job tutoring so I have everything I need, and Mom has things situated here.”

“Why are you working? Dolly, you’re fourteen,” Jack says, his tone dangerously close to a growl. He doesn’t scare me, no matter how big he is.

He’s always just been Jack to me.

“I don’t know if writing papers and doing other people’s homework counts as working,” I sass before I smack myself in the face. God, I’m an idiot.

“Aha!” he roars. “The truth comes out.”

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