Page 65 of Keepsake

Shoving those feelings deep inside, I started the car, checking once again if everyone had their seat belts on, and we headed home.

Iwasplayingblockswith Lachlan and Vienna when Alvaro arrived, only twenty minutes after me.

“I had a shit—” He eyed the kids. “Sorry.”

“That’s ok.” I stood up, brushing myself off.

His eyes went down straight to my legs. You couldn’t convince me otherwise. He took his time ogling all the way down the black leggings to my bare feet and then back again. I licked my lips and remembered the bomb I had in my hands.

“Principal Godwick called today.”

“Dash fought a boy,” Vienna informed her uncle with glee.

I flashed her a look, but she just shrugged me off and kept playing with Lachlan.

“Dash,” Alvaro roared. “Come here.”

I shifted on my feet, biting my cheek. I oozed anxiety when Alvaro turned to me with a frown on his forehead. “You’re not the one in trouble.”

Ugh. Whatever.

Dashiell came to the living room, still in his uniform, his jaw set.

“You got into a fight?”

“I guess.”

Crossing my arm in front of my chest, I tried to look like a disciplinarian when all I wanted was to cry and ask why couldn’t he just be chill? Why do we need to do everything the hardest way?

“You’re not even a month into this new school. You can’t just start fighting,” Alvaro was saying, his voice like thunder. I started respecting Dash a little more for not physically flinching.

“He’s suspended, too.” Again, from Vienna.

“Well, I’m going to take these two for a bath,” I said, nodding to Vienna.

Her running commentary was only going to make Dashiell annoyed and at the end of the day, I wanted to know what happened.

Up we went, and I helped them to get clean as quickly as possible. First Lachlan and then Vienna, trying to hear something from downstairs, but I just caught the occasional rise of Alvaro’s voice but nothing concrete.

When everyone was finally clean, I brought them to their improvised playroom, where I was keeping their toys and a TV for movie nights and pressed play on something they both agreed on.

“I’m going downstairs, but no peeking,” I told my girl specifically.

“Pinky promise,” Vienna agreed.

I twisted my pinky with hers and nodded at once, leaving them to rejoin the fight.

I padded downstairs and I heard Alvaro saying, “It’s not ok. That’s not enough of a reason.”

Dashiell was sitting on the couch, his mouth still in a sneer like we did him dirty.

“He told you what happened?” I joined beside Alvaro.

“Yeah…” Alvaro nodded and scratched his buzzed scalp.

I was a controlled person.Controlling, actually.I hated emotional displays and shouting. But the second Alvaro told me what the other boy called Dashiell?

All that went out of the window.

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