Page 14 of Call It What You Want
“They were just telling me about the beach party that’s happening tomorrow night.” She takes a bite of the banana in her hand. “Besides, I was hungry. You said I could come down to the kitchen.”
“Get upstairs and fucking stay there,” I snap. Grabbing a snack is one thing, but I can’t have her wandering around the house, just randomly chatting with whoever.
As usual, she scoffs and rolls her eyes at me. “God, I forgot how uptight you were. Seriously. We’re justtalking.”
“This is a secret society, Em. ‘Just talking’ to anyone here is a fucking problem.” With a sigh, I tilt my head back. “You know what, this is on me. Maybe I should get you that hotel room, after all.”
“Oh, my Goddd,” she groans, moving toward the staircase. “You are so fucking lame, Jackson. You need to learn how to chill.”
Me, chill? Yeah, that shit’s not happening. I haven’t been chill since…well, ever. Chill is for people who don’t have responsibilities, who can afford to let things slide. I’m the person who reads the fine print, who keeps backup plans for the backup plans. Someone around here has to give a damn, and apparently, I drew the short straw on that.
The sound of Em’s footsteps stomping up the staircase fades, and my phone rings. It’s Mom’s ringtone—the theme to Jaws. Perfect fucking timing, as usual.
“What’s up?” The irritation bleeds into my tone despite my efforts to sound neutral. It’s been radio silence from her for years. She won’t see me, won’t take my calls. She must be reaching out now because she needs something.
“Your sister abandoned me,” she barks, her speech slurred.
I tilt my head back and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Really? Because I heard you threw her out.”
The self-pity in her voice shifts instantly to anger. “Oh, ‘you heard.’ Is she there with you?”
“Mom—”
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Jackson. I know she’s there. She always runs to you when things get difficult.”
I know better than to let her bait me. “What do you need?” I ask, my tone flat.
“I need her to come home.”
Good God. Here we go.
I sigh. “Not until you stop drinking.”
“I hadonedrink, Jackson. One. But Ember is just like you. She thinks she’s better than everyone else.”
I can hear her shuffling around in the background, probably pouring another drink. “Mom, you need help.”
“No, what I need is my children to stop lecturing me.”
“We’re not lecturing you. We’re trying to help you.” I push out a frustrated breath. “Look, I already have a room set aside for you at Lockly. All you have to do is show up. I’ll even send a car to pick you up.”
Lockly is a swanky rehab facility about fifteen minutes from here. It’s expensive as fuck and a bitch to get into. I had to pull some major strings just to get her a bed. But she refuses to accept anything from me.
“Do you know when I started drinking, Jackson? Hm?” She doesn’t wait for my answer. “The night my husband died. Three years ago.” She sniffles on the other side of the phone.“Everything fell apart after that. And you just...disappeared. Left to play house with your little society friends.”
Christ.Here we go. Right on cue, she’s flipping the script and loading up the guilt. It’s like watching the same tragic play on repeat. Either Em or I call her out on her shit, she spirals through crying and yelling, then lands right back on mourning the asshole husband who never gave a damn about her.
“You weren’t happy, Mom. John was a fucking pervert, who?—”
“Stop!” she yells, cutting me off. Ice clinks against her glass in the background. “I didn’t call so you could berate me. I called so you can tell your sister to come home.”
“That’s not happening until you sober up,” I say, hanging up before she can respond. My hands are shaking, and I realize I’m gripping the phone hard enough to crack it. Perfect. Now I’m pissed off and still have a house full of problems to deal with.
Down in the basement, Lucas and Ash are waiting just outside the entrance of the Panic Room—a secret room our predecessors hollowed out beneath the house for caging problems that should never see the light of day. Problems like Sin Savano.
I glance over Ash’s shoulder and spot Sin on the cot through the doorway. The small cement room is furnished with a cot, a chair, books, and a drain in the floor.
“Hey,” I say, walking up to Lucas and Ash. “I’m busy. What’s up?”
