Page 99 of Christmas Criminal

Cassidy purses her lips. "Naomi has been calling him all morning and he–"

"He doesn't like me, so he's not answering," Naomi says.

"Naomi," Cassidy scolds.

She shrugs. "What? It's true. But we think if Cassidy calls, he'll answer. Mom has refused to try," Naomi says, glancing over her shoulder and rolling her eyes. Harriet only shrugs, my mom reaching out to squeeze her elbow.

I'm sure my mom had many similar moments, dealing with me at that age.

Cassidy pulls her phone out of her pocket and calls him while we stand in a group around her, watching the phone ring.

And he actually picks up.

"Hey honey," he starts, his words a little drawn out. I can't help but catch Christina's gaze, her eyes narrowed as she listens. "What's up?"

Cassidy is quiet for a moment, and I get the feeling she didn't actually expect him to answer the phone. She looks to Naomi for guidance, and Naomi only widens her eyes, moving her hand in a circle as if to tell her to keep going.

"We were just wondering when you'd be here for Christmas," Cassidy says, shrugging at Naomi.

Naomi gives her a thumbs up.

"Ah, I got held up at Helen's. I'll be home soon, though," he says.

I blink at Christina when I hear the slur in his voice, and mouth, "Is he drunk?"

She shrugs, and I turn to Nick for an answer. He does the same.

Naomi and Cassidy are staring at each other, neither one of them speaking.

So I take a step toward them. "Hey, Dad."

The line is silent for a moment. "Noelle?"

"The girls stopped by to say hello and were surprised to see that you are not, in fact, held up at Helen's."

He grumbles incoherently. "I mean, I'm on my way over."

"From where?" I ask.

"From... my house."

"So after telling Christina you'd be here and then ignoring her texts, and telling Cassidy and Naomi that you'd be there and then flaking out on them, too, you're telling us you've been at home alone all morning. By yourself?"

"Look, I'm doing my best here, kid. Having so many people rely on me isn't exactly an easy thing and I'm doing my best to gather up all of your Christmas presents so I can treat everybody there, okay? So if you'd do me a favor and get off my back, that'd be great."

I rear back. "No one cares about your presents. No one even cares that historically you've proven to us time and time again that we can't rely on you. All any of us wanted was for you to show up. I would love it if you learned how to take accountability for what you've done. You're the reason you have two families to supposedly support–though I'm going to conveniently forget Mom working overtime when we were in high school to pay the bills and something tells me Harriet is in a similar position. But all anyone wanted was for you to show up and participate. In whatever way you're able to." I let out a quick breath, my eyes on Naomi's. "But you chose to drink at home alone on the holiday instead of spending it with the people who care about you despite themselves." I scoff. "And you know what? I'm not even mad. I'm just disappointed."

I swallow, the silence around my words deafening.

And then the line goes dead.

I blink, staring at the phone in Cassidy's hand. Naomi nods as Cassidy slips it back into her pocket, and then takes a steptoward me, squeezing my arm in a kind way that feels far beyond her years. "You did good," she tells me.

I kind of want to laugh and cry at the same time. I finally told my Dad what's what, and he had the audacity to just... hang up on me? And an arbitrary judgment from a teenager has my heart swelling with pride?

Who am I?

Nick throws an arm around my shoulders and tugs me into his side, pressing his lips against my head.

---