Page 77 of Catch Me
“Mm. Maybe I’ll do a family portrait or something.”
The idea was daunting. There were a lot of people to draw, plus I was sure that she’d want Brooks in it, which brought the number to six, excluding me. The sad part was that if I didn’t add myself in, they’d still look like a complete family. They’d probably hang it up and not notice.
“One day,” she agreed. “You have too much on your plate right now.”
“It’s not all work. I’m going camping this weekend.”
“Oh, with who?”
“By myself.”
There was a pause, which I used to check my phone.
Travis:Hey back
I found myself smiling, so I stretched out my mouth and forced it to go away. It was just a dumb text.
“I’m worried about you going alone,” Mom said.
“It’s fine. I’m a full-grown adult and most people wouldn’t fuck with me.”
“Most.”
“If they do, I’ll knock them out.”
“What if you got ahold of Travis to see if he’ll go with you?”
The suggestion made me tense. “That’d be weird. We barely know each other.”
“Well, maybe you’ll get along. Some people connect easily. He did offer you a chance at this project, after all.”
“Sure, but he’s just nice. And I’m . . . not.”
“Roman,” she scolded. “You’re nice. You just act like you aren’t. I know that you care about people, and I wish you’d show it.”
“You’ll always think good things because you’re my mom.”
“That’s not true. You were a little asshole as a teenager.”
As I laughed, I typed out an answer.
Roman:I’ll be gone this weekend
Travis:Going home?
Roman:Nah
Travis:Where?
Roman:Guess?
Travis:Hell
Roman:Bingo
Travis:K, wherever you’re going, have fun
Snagging my lip between my teeth, I wondered if I should tell him. No, I got on his ass last week when I thought he was keeping tabs on me. I didn’t need him to know where I was. If I got kidnapped, they’d just have to do some old school detective work.
