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“I’ll call you, okay?” My heart was hammering in my chest. “I’ll get ahold of another phone and I’ll call you.”

She started to shake her head. “No, no, no, you don’t have to do that for me—”

“I need you to do this forme,” I said, interrupting her. “I need you to take my phone, Shannon.” I begged her with my eyes to just do what I was asking. “Please.”

“Okay, but I’m giving it back to you,” she replied shakily. “Because I can’t keep this, Johnny.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” I told her, sagging in relief as I watched her pocket the phone in her baggy jeans. “Whatever you want. Just take it for now.”

“How dare you!” a shrill female voice echoed through the air, causing Shannon to jump. “Where is my daughter?”

“Oh god,” Shannon’s panicked eyes locked on me. “Johnny, I’m so sorry,” she choked out before bolting from the car.

Swinging around to stare out the window, I bit back a groan when I spotted Shannon’s mother pointing a finger in my mother’s face. Mrs. Lynch was crying and screaming at the top of her lungs. They were in the middle of the garden with Darren standing between them, holding his hands up. Joey was leaning against the wall that separated their garden from their next-door neighbor’s, unmoving.

“You need to calm down,” Mam barked, although she sounded far from calm herself. “Your children are watching you.”

It was only then that I noticed the three smaller versions of Joey standing under their porch veranda, looking on emotionlessly.

“And you need to control your son!” Mrs. Lynch countered, shaking violently. “Apparently, he has a problem with the word ‘no.’”

“What did you say?” Mam hissed, taking a step toward Shannon’s mother.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I threw open my door and dragged my defected arse out of the vehicle.

“What are you doing?” Shannon was running down the footpath ahead of me. “Mam!” she cried out as she rounded the corner and hurried into the garden, clutching her side. “Mam, stop!”

“Shannon!” Mrs. Lynch sobbed, moving to wrap her arms around Shannon.

“Don’t,” Shannon hissed, scrambling away from her mother’s arms. “Don’t touch me.”

Her mother flinched. “How could you do that to me?” she sobbed. “How could you not come home, Shannon?” She hiccupped loudly. “How could you not even call to let us know where you were?”

“Why would Iwantto come back here?” Shannon choked out, glaring at her mother. “Look at this.” She waved a hand at her. “Look at what you’re doing right now!”

“I was worried about you,” Mrs. Lynch cried. “I was petrified.”

“I wasfine,” Shannon countered, trembling. “I was better than fine, Mam. I wassafe!”

“Shannon, love, calm down,” Mam instructed softly as she smoothed a hand down Shannon’s arm. “Don’t get yourself worked up, pet.”

“Who the hell do you think you are? Keeping two of my children in your home without my consent!” Mrs. Lynch practically screamed, face turning red. “And don’t you dare touch my daughter,” she added, yanking Shannon out of Mam’s reach.

Oh no.

Oh fuck no.

Don’t do it, Ma.

Take the high road…

“Maybe you should have said that to your husband,” Mam shot back heatedly. “When he was battering the shite out of the girl!”

Oh Jesus, she went there…

“How dare you!” Mrs. Lynch screamed. “You have no idea about what we’ve been through. No fucking idea.”

“Mam, you need to calm down,” Darren instructed soberly. “And you need to go,” he said to my mother. “Now.”

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