Page 37 of Devil's Bargain

She fell asleep with a bottle of vodka clutched in her hand like every other night.

I take it and throw it at the wall. “WAKE UP!”

She stirs.

I stare at the wet wall and the broken glass on the floor.

“April?”

I drag my eyes away and wipe my wet cheeks. I want to scream and shout, but the burning anger is gone. I’m numb. “Mom, please,” I whisper. “I need you!”

“What’s wrong, baby girl?” She rubs her eyes.

I snatch the bottle of alcohol on her bedside table and walk into the bathroom, where I proceed to pour it down the toilet. She comes tumbling in after me and tries to swipe for the bottle, but I throw it in the bathtub.

“STOP IT, MOM!” I scream.

She sways on her feet, staring disbelievingly at the broken glass.

“Don’t you get it?” I whisper brokenly. “We’ll be kicked out if you don’t get your shit together. The bills are mounting up while you’re too busy drinking yourself to death!” I raise my hands and let them fall helplessly by my sides. It doesn’t matter what I say or do… She doesn’t hear me.

She stares at the broken glass in the bathtub. “You broke it.”

“Mom…”

The sound of a horn cuts through the thick silence. Nina is waiting.

“I have to go.” I push past her and collect my bag in the kitchen. The opened eviction letter on the counter taunts me.

* * *

“Mr. Scott, can I talk to you?”

He stops writing on the whiteboard, caps the marker pen, and slowly turns. “I’m in the middle of class, April.”

I hold my papers up. They’re blank papers I ripped out of my notebook, but no one here knows that. “It’s about my homework.”

He gestures for me to come forward. “Let’s see it then.”

I keep my chin high as I enter the room, mindful of the curious eyes on me. I feel like they all know my secret.

He takes the papers off me and scans his eyes over the blank sheets. A tendril of his blonde hair falls over his eyes. “You’ll find this section in chapter twelve, section seven.” His eyes flick up.

Room twelve at 7pm tonight.

I mouth, ‘Fuck you!’ before turning on my heel. “Thanks, Mr. Scott.”

He’ll punish me later.

“What was that about?” Steph asks when I join her in the corridor.

“Oh, you know. Math homework.”

She knows I’m full of shit. “Math?”

I nod slowly, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

The chain on Matt’s wallet clinks as he walks up to us. Seems like we’re all bunking off class. “Why were you with Rick behind the bleachers?”

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