Page 10 of Chasing Danger

“Yep. I managed to walk down the stairs all on my own.”

Spinal Muscular Atrophy created a weakness in muscles and ligaments. To put it simply, his body just couldn’t support itself, and even simple movements were often difficult. Some days it was a struggle for him to even sit up unassisted. To actually walk down the stairs on his own must mean he was having a very good day.

I wasn’t fooled into thinking this would be a permanent improvement. Good days came, and good days left. Tomorrow, he could be bedridden again, but for now I was just happy that he was happy.

“That’s great, bud. I’m glad you had a good day. Do you and mom have anything special planned for tonight?”

“Mom’s making garlic bread,” Rowan practically cheered, like it was the best news ever. “And there’s a marathon of Godzilla movies running all night.”

“Sounds like you guys have it all planned out.”

I saw the frown on Nana’s face and knew she had something to say, so I darted into the kitchen before she could utter a single word.

“Hey, mom. Rowan says there’s garlic bread?”

From her position at the kitchen counter stirring a pot of spaghetti, she nodded toward the oven. “It’s still baking, but it should be done by now. Could you check on it?”

“Sure thing.”

Just as she said, the homemade garlic bread was perfectly golden. I pulled it out of the oven and immediately grabbed a piece to take a bite. It burned the roof of my mouth, so I quickly sucked in air to cool it down while still eating.

“Slow down, it’s not going anywhere,” my mother chided me.

“Sorry, mom. I’m just in a rush. I promised Ashes I’d be over soon.”

“All right.”

I could hear the sad tone in her voice, though she didn’t try to argue with me. She never did. The few times she’d raised her voice at me, her gaze drifted toward the left side of my face, and she fell silent.

I hated the sadness and guilt that constantly hung over her like a dark cloud. Every time I saw it made me feel like I’d drunk pure acid and my stomach rolled unpleasantly. Because of this, I usually kept our interactions short.

Heading upstairs, I dropped off my work stuff in my room and grabbed another already packed bag. My sketchbook never left my side since I didn’t want anyone stumbling across the folder of financial information hidden in the back, so I took a moment to transfer it to my new bag. Then, after splashing some water on my face to try and wash off the exhaustion, I headed for the door.

Nana was waiting for me. On the surface, it looked like she was giving me some more garlic bread to take with me, but I knew she really just wanted an excuse to lecture me.

“Are you really going out again? You do this every night your mother has off work. Stay and spend some time with your familyfor once. Rowan is having a good day and he wants to watch these giant lizard movies with you.”

I took the garlic bread she offered me but didn’t look her in the eye. “Sorry, Nana. Maybe next time. I’ve… um, I’ve already made plans.”

“Yes, yes.” She waved me off. “Go spend time with your friend. Obviously, that’s more important than your family.”

“Oh, come on, Nana,” I said, even as I reached for the door. “You know nothing is more important than family.”

The door had almost closed behind me when I caught the faint sound of her voice.

“You say that, but you certainly don’t show it.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I closed the door softly, so the latch barely made a sound. I stood on the porch for a moment, watching my shadow change shape under the flickering porch light. Hot tears stung my eyes. On my right side the tear fell easily, but on my left it got lost in the creases of my scars.

I wiped both away with the back of my hand and took a deep breath.

Now wasn’t the time to get emotional. If I didn’t hurry, I was going to be late.

Running down the road back toward the bus stop, I pulled out my phone and selected one of my few saved contacts.

“Hey, Oliver,” Ashes’ familiar voice greeted me.

“Hey, Ashes. You still good to cover for me tonight?”

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