Page 129 of Raw

Confusion sparked in her eyes as I looked at her again, but then she nodded and smiled at me. “I will.”

“Here we are. You gonna be okay?” Jason asked.

I let go of Vespyr to reach into the back and pull our duffle bag out. “We’ll be fine, Jason. Thanks for driving us,” I said, already opening the door.

“I’ll be staying in town for about a month. If your father’s ready to leave around that time, call me.”

“We will. Thank you, Jason,” Vespyr said, and after saying goodbye to Sitka, we got out of the car and walked toward the house.

Mama opened the door before we had the chance to ring the bell, and when she looked at us, there was something in her eyes I couldn’t quite make out.

She looked confused, disgusted, but somewhat happy to see us.

“Did Jason leave?” she asked.

I nodded, then she stepped aside to let us in.

On the way inside, Mama placed her hand on the back of Vespyr’s head, smiling at her with pity.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

“Yes, I’m okay, Mama. Where’s Papa?”

“In the bedroom, resting. Why don’t you go say hello to him while I help Fennec with the bag?”

Vespyr looked at me, unsure if she should go say hello to Papa.

“It’s fine. I’ll come say hi to him later,” I told her.

I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, but she was starting to realize that something was off.

Mama never acted like this, and it was affecting Vespyr heavily.

“Go, I’ll be right there with you,” I promised with a smile, and after ensuring I was being honest, she took off her coat and shoes to get to Papa.

Instead of talking, Mama took the duffle bag out of my hand and walked over to my bedroom, suddenly disregarding me.

I followed her but stopped in the doorway, watching her set the bag on my bed and opening it before pulling out Vespyr’s backpack and then the clothes we decided to bring home from camp.

“I can unpack myself,” I said, but she quickly cut me off.

“I’m disappointed in you. The way you treated your father was not okay, and now making your sister be the bigger person doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Mama—”

“I don’t wanna hear a word coming out of your mouth. Not until you have apologized to your father and sister. Tomorrow, you’ll go to Mrs. Irvine and talk about what you’ve done.”

“Can I have a say in this myself?” I asked, watching as she put the empty duffle bag next to my bed and picking up Vespyr’s backpack.

“No. I should’ve gone through with that a long time ago. I’ve talked to Mrs. Irvine this morning. She’s awaiting you tomorrow at two p.m., and you’re going to talk to her.”

She had never been this serious before and I knew this would continue until I did what she told me.

There was no other way out, but maybe it was necessary.

“Now, go. You’re lucky I still let you into this house.” Her voice was shaky, and I could tell she was holding back tears as her jaw clenched and her lips started to tremble.

“What did I do wrong?”

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