Page 78 of A Series of Rooms
“Hey,” his dad said. “Listen, I know things were tense the way we left them, but I’m glad you made it home alright.”
The words echoed inside his head like cannon fire.
Things were tense.
I’m glad you made it home alright.
Alright, he had said. Jonah was the farthest fucking thing fromalright.
He was a shell of a person who couldn’t keep down a full meal or get a night of sleep or have a real relationship with someone he loved. He was a gaunt figure in every passing mirror, a lifeless imitation of the person who used to wear his skin. But somehow, in his father’s eyes, he wasalright.
At least Jonah wasn’t dead.Thatwas what he meant.
At least his father didn’t have to bear that on his conscience.
Jonah’s anger was hot enough to melt through muscle and bone, atrophying his legs to keep him immobilized in the face of this assault. A swell of silence overtook the garage. His father had been given every opportunity to take even the smallest step toward making things right, and he had let them all pass by.
Jonah couldn’t handle this. With every bit of strength he had in him, he forced his leg to move, testing his weight as he took a step back.
“I’ll tell Matthew and Leah you’re here,” was the last thing Jonah said to his father.
Once he was moving, he couldn’t stop. He might have heard his dad call after him, or maybe it was wishful thinking. Regardless, he didn’t slow his pace until he had reached the top of the staircase.
“Jonah?” Matthew stuck his head out the door of his room. “Jonah!”
It wasn’t until Matthew grabbed his wrist and turned over a bloody palm that he realized the lightbulb he was holding had shattered.
CHAPTER 36
Liam
Kim was sitting in her office when Liam tapped his knuckles on the door. She looked up from a stack of deposit slips and put them down on the desk when she saw it was him.
“He lives,” she announced.
Liam slumped against the doorframe, sheepish. “Hi, Kim.”
“‘Hi, Kim,’” she mimicked in an unflattering intonation. “He comes in here after dropping off the face of the planet and says‘hi Kim.’Hi yourself, Liam. Get in here and sit down.”
Somehow, he couldn’t help but smile as he dropped into the metal folding chair across from her. “I sent a text,” he defended weakly.
“You might as well have left a ransom note made of magazine clippings, as cryptic as that text was.” She was making light because it was Kim, but Liam had known herlong enough to recognize the genuine concern. He had really worried her.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really am. Things have been... It’s been a strange few months.”
“I’ve noticed,” she said. “What made your absence all the more concerning was the way you walked around here like a zombie your last few shifts. It’s hard to tell where your head’s been at.”
“I know,” he said. “Did I mention I’m sorry?” He was trying to get better about saying that less often, but in this conversation, apologies felt warranted.
“You did,” she said. “But I’m less interested in hearing how sorry you are, and more interested in hearing how you’re doing.”
I don’t think I’ve gotten a full night’s sleep in weeks.
I’m in a mild amount of credit card debt.
I miss my best friend.
“I’m. . . getting better,” he said. “Am I fired?”
