Page 86 of Three Pucking Words
I could tell him the same reason I told Bodhi, but I don’t. It doesn’t change anything. “I had it handled,” I simply say, shrugging it off. I can tell he doesn’t like that answer, but I don’t let him comment on it. “You didn’t need to have the cops come. Mom is…” I shake my head. She’s not sick. She’s just…Mom.
“They didn’t arrest her,” he finally says, still looking displeased by the information I offered him. “I asked them not to press charges if she left. It took some convincing, but she did. They offered to drive her back to her hotel.”
Relief sinks in, and my squared shoulders ease into their neutral state. “Did she say anything to you, Cal? Anything at all about what she needed to talk to me about?”
He looks apologetic. “Sorry, Honor. She didn’t say much. Whatever it was she wanted seemed to be urgent, but not urgent enough to let me get you. The only reason I called your father was because I didn’t want to put you in the position to deal with someone who seemed so agitated.”
I internally groan. I bet he thinks Mom is where I get my rage from, when in actuality, the vending machine totally deserved it.
I glance at my father. “Did you get her hotel information?”
His eyebrows raise. “Do you want to see her? Because I don’t know if that’s a good idea, kid. The way she was acting doesn’t make me want you to go to a hotel room alone with her.”
I swallow. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve dealt with her at her worst. But what if she has gotten worse? What if she’s into more than alcohol.
Oh God.
What if she’s doing drugs?
“I won’t go alone then,” I promise. He seems skeptical. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea if you come. There’s clearly still tension between you two that won’t help matters any.”
Thankfully, he doesn’t disagree. “Then who?”
I think about it. My options are limited. Mila could go. She’s seen my mom drunk plenty of times, so it wouldn’t be a first. But I don’t know if I want to bring her into it if I don’t need to.
There’s Bodhi, but do I really want him to meet my mother when she’s on who knows what? It’s a far cry from spending the day with two very sober, very nice people at a pumpkin patch who seemed genuinely happy to meet me. He’d be getting a disorderly woman who probably won’t be very happy I brought backup.
“Hoffman?” Dad asks, as if reading my mind. “I’d be okay if you brought him. He can hold his own. I know he’d take care of you if you needed it.”
Cal doesn’t seem surprised by the suggestion. Then again, he’s seen Bodhi and I walking around the building together. Never holding hands or making out or doing anything publicly scandalous, but I’m sure there’s gossip.
Although is it gossip if it’s true? I did accept a date with him. It hasn’t happened yet, but that basically means we’re…sort of dating?
A funny feeling rises in my stomach.
“I…” I wince. “I could ask him.”
Dad nods. “You do that. I can give you the hotel information if he can go.”
I gape at him. “Seriously? It’s Mom. She’s never hurt me bef—”
“I’m not taking a chance,” he says firmly, ending any argument that I can come up with. “I may not have known what she did when you were younger, but I’m sure as hell putting my foot down now. She’s not going to get the satisfaction ofhurting you in any way, shape or form as long as I can help it. Understand?”
He’s never sounded so…fatherly. Protective.
It thaws some of the frost my mother’s appearance coated my heart with. “I don’t want you thinking that she’d physically lay a hand on me or anything. Mom is a lot of things, but she isn’t a monster.”
A small dose of sympathy comes into his features, lasting only a moment or two. “There are more forms of abuse than just physical, Honor. Emotional abuse can do a lot more damage than any visible marks left behind. And I think you know that already, kiddo.”
I look down, not willing to make eye contact with either of them. Something tells me he won’t relent on his conditions, which means I need to ask Bodhi if he can come with me to see my unhinged mother. Lovely.
“Hey, Bodhi. Do you mind stopping by a hotel to see my possibly drunk mother who may or may not cause a giant scene, call me names, and make a fool of herself? Great! Thanks!”
Talk about a mood killer. He’ll probably rescind his offer to take me out after meeting the woman who I look a little too much like.
You’renother,an inner voice reminds me.
“Cal is going to make sure that she doesn’t come back,” Dad explains to me. “And he’s going to ensure his coworkers know not to let her gain access. I don’t know what she wants or what she’s capable of, but I don’t want her drama in these halls.”
