Page 110 of Gambler's Fallacy

“I don’t know, Javi. I must’ve misplaced them.” She sounds so tired.

So small.

So afraid.

“You didn’t misplace them,” I say fiercely. “You go look in my old room. I’ll check the living room and the kitchen.”

I don’t know what I’ll do if the green card isn’t in the house. She won’t leave without it. Shecan’tleave without it.

“I’ll look,” she says. She turns for the door, and I get another glimpse of the bruise forming on her cheek.

My hands clench into fists at my sides, but I force them to relax before she can see it.

I wish Seven was here to talk to her. He would know what to say to make her listen.

I stride out of the room, going to the living room. I start opening drawers and looking through the bookshelves, taking the books out one by one and flipping through them in the hopes that her passport or green card will fall out.

I’m heading for the kitchen when the door opens.

With dread, I turn to see the Step Asshole walking in. He’s holding a massive bouquet of flowers, as well as a box of chocolates.

His expression sours when he sees me. “What the hell are you doing here, boy?”

I sneer at him. “I’m picking my mother up. We’re leaving.”

“Javi? I can’t—” My mother turns the corner, and she freezes when she sees Step Asshole standing there. “Marcus.”

“Where is her green card?” I ask, taking several steps in his direction.

“Javi, no!” she says, hurrying to grab my arm and pull me back.

“Sofía’s green card?” Marcus looks at her. “I put her documents in the safety deposit box at the bank, remember? For safekeeping. You lose things all the time.”

“I must’ve forgotten,” she says. She smiles, though it’s so obviously forced that I want to scream at her to stop playing along with him. “See, Javi? It’s fine. You know my memory is terrible.”

“You remember poetry you had to memorize in elementary school,” I point out. “Your memory is fine. This piece of shit?—”

“Hey!” Marcus barks. “I won’t tolerate that kind of language under my roof.” He holds the bouquet out. “You want this or not, Sofía?”

My mother takes a step around me, and the world slows down as I see this play out the way it always does. She’s going to take the flowers and forgive him, then pretend none of this ever happened.

How many more times is she going to do this before she finally leaves him?

I’d done more research after Seven had flipped out on me.

Seven times. That’s the average. I know it, but I’d hoped it wouldn’t be the case. I don’t know how many times I can watch her gather up her courage only to have her self-worth crumble in the wake of his pathetic attempts to “make things better.”

“I’m sorry I bothered you, Javi,” she tells me as she takes the flowers. “I was only being silly. It was an accident, that’s all.”

Marcus looks around the living room. “Christ, you made a fucking mess of the place. Maybe I shouldn’t have come back.”

“You really shouldn’t have,” I sneer.

“Javi…” My mother trails off, looking between the two of us. “Maybe it would be best if you left for now. You can come over for dinner tomorrow.”

“I was going to take you on a date tomorrow,” the Step Asshole says immediately.

“The day after tomorrow,” she amends.

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