Page 57 of Play With Me

“How did you do that?”

“It’s a bubblegum.”

She stared at me blankly.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never had bubblegum before.” I fumbled through my pocket, pulled out a piece, and offered it to Sophie.

“Thank you, but Mommy wouldn’t like me having that.”

“Why not?”

“It has too much sugar.”

For fuck’s sake.I knew I didn’t like Evie for a reason. Could this kid just be a kid? How did Jax expect her to experience life – the good, the bad, and the ugly?”

“Do you have to tell her you had gum?”

“Are you askingmeto lie?”

“No. I’m asking you to not say anything and enjoy the gum. It’s strawberry flavor.”

Her eyes grew wide. Her little fingers couldn’t unwrap the paper fast enough. She popped the gum in her mouth like a pro, chewed the heck out of it, and in under a minute, popped her first bubble.

Sophie was either talented or had pulled one over on me.

“Sophie, what are you doing?” Suddenly Brook was standing over her, frowning.

“I’m sorry, Uncle Brook.” She pulled the gum out of her mouth and held it between her fingers.

“Whoa, wait a minute. It’s okay, Sophie. It’s just gum,” I said.

“It’s not just gum. It’s gum she’s not supposed to have.” Brook’s tone surprised = and angered me at the same time.

“Do you know how crazy you sound right now?” I asked. “It’s gum, Brook. Not cyanide. And if you didn’t catch that, it was sarcasm.”

Sophie turned her head from me to Brook and back as we quarreled, until Brook finally said, “Sophie, go see if Grandma has any more of that fruit punch you like.”

“I don’t want any fruit punch.”

“Then go get an apple.”

“Why don’t you stop telling her what to do and let her do what she wants to?”

“Because she’s seven.”

“Almost eight.” Sophie added from the side.

“Do you want to hear what I did when I was seven?”

Brook covered Sophie’s ears with his hands, and I wanted to roll my eyes into the back of my head.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to say anything stupid, Brook. You know, the moment I think we’re getting along,yousay something stupid and it makes me think that you have no brain cells left. You should be the cool uncle, and disallowing gum is not cool. I’m gonna head home to get some sleep for the trip. You should do the same. See you tomorrow, Madman.”

I got up and left. Though I went to bed before the sun went down, I barely slept all night, and kept thinking how much I wanted Sophie to grow into her own mind, the way I had. If she were my daughter, I’d give her more freedom to make her own choices.

The idea made my chest ache.

Chapter 13

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