Page 81 of The Sweetest Cruelty: Hudson
My feigned indifference hit the spot as his face relaxed, and he added. “I think you should drop by for a few hours anyway. It will be good for you to mix with other kids, have some fun. You spendwaytoo much time in your room. However,” Dad emphasised the however. “I do have some rules.”
My father then gave me a shopping list of everything I could and couldn’t do. No alcohol, no going off with strange boys. He wanted the address of where the party was being held, and I was to activate Find My Phone on my mobile. The curfew he gave me was that I was to be home by midnight, and that I wasn’t to accept a lift from strangers. I managed to dodge the bullet of his offer to drive us there and back, saying that Harper and I would get an Uber.
Dad then gave me a full-blown five-minute lecture about stranger danger. I also wasn’t to leave my drink anywhere unattended, and I was to always stay with Harper. He then asked a question which caught me off guard.
“Do you know if the Sawyer brothers are going?”
Shit. I had struggled with my reply, and so glossed over my association. “Probably. Why?”
“One of Harper’s foster brothers, Hudson, is trouble,” he announced in a firm voice. It shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did, but I couldn’t stop myself from correcting him.
“Do you mean Hudson Gage?” My attempt to sound puzzled backfired and I wanted to suck the words back in. I had let it slip that I knew Hudson’s surname, which suggested I took an interest. And I did, but I didn’t want my father to know that.
His face darkened. “Yes. I don’t knowallthe details, but I respect Bethany Sawyer. She has done a lot of good things for this community and is responsible for changing the lives of loads of kids. However, not everyone can be fixed. The jury is still out on Harper. She seems like a sweet girl, and I am giving her the benefit of the doubt. But Hudson is broken beyond repair.” The way he said that sounded like he had tried to fix Hudson and had failed. The regret in his voice was clear.
“They don’t have that much to do with each other from what she’s said,” I muttered, playing down their association.
“They still live in the same house, Molly,” Dad replied with a dry look.
I pointed out. “But they don’t move in the same social circles.”
“Indeed.”
My father’s comments made me want to know more. It was time I knew exactly what I was dealing with. Hudson’s father was in prison, and I was now determined to find out why.
“What makes you think Hudson is broken beyond repair?” I’d echoed back.
My father’s expression switched when I asked that question. It must have sent alarm bells off in his head as he realised that he’d given me too much information. Student, teacher confidentiality had almost gone to shit.
And now I knew that the rift between Hudson and my father went both ways.
Dad backpedalled. “That’s confidential, but what I can say is that he is a product of his childhood. I’m not going to tell you to stay away from him as I know you’re a good judge of character and you can make your own choices about who you associate with, but I would warn you to give him a wide berth. One day, that boy will crash and burn.”
“Crash and burn?”
“Yes, and I just hope he doesn’t take anyone else with him.” He muttered that last sentence partly to himself.
In the end, I agreed to my father’s over-the-top decree. Well, apart from the Hudson part. His comments had only put more fuel on the fire. But his other rules were not so different to my own.
It wasn’t like it would be my first party either. I attended a few in England before my mother died. After peer pressure from friends, I had tried an alcopop drink that they raved about and thought it tasted revolting. So, I wasn’t the type of teenager to get shitfaced and hang around the local park. That type of behaviour had loser stamped all over it.
Later that night, I sat at my desk on my laptop and looked for news stories connected to the name Gage, but there was nothing. It was a popular surname in Rhode Island, and several articles appeared, but nothing relating to crimes which would put a man in prison. The pool of information was just too wide for my net.
I finally fell asleep, my mind full of unanswered questions, but the main recurring theme was all about Hudson Gage.
*****
On the morning of the day of the much-talked-about party, I dragged myself out of bed feeling exhausted. As I left my room and padded downstairs in my PJs, I could hear voices coming from the kitchen.
Harper was there talking to my father. They were laughing, getting on great.
As I appeared, she reminded me that we were going shopping together.
OK, Harper hadn’t said anything about that last night when I’d messaged her about Nash’s party to say I was in.
The next twenty minutes could have been considered torture, but I didn’t have time to catch my breath. I was pushed into the bathroom, instructed to take a shower, and whatever else I needed as Harper raided my wardrobe.
As I reappeared, feeling slightly fresher, wrapped in a towel, Harper had taken out matching underwear, skinny black jeans, and a pale blue shirt.
