Page 121 of Rumi: The Hawthornes

“I don’t think it is,” she shot back. “I left you two with your grandmother because I thought you’d besafe, but that was clearly a mistake.”

Every muscle in my body tensed and I almost lunged at her until an amused voice came from behind her.

“Ava,” Rumi’s great-auntie Farrah said, pushing past my mother. “Always a charmer.”

“What are you doing here?” Ava asked as Brenna, Rumi’s mom and grandma Callie, his aunt Rose and cousin Lily all came filing into the house.

“We were invited,” Rose said, letting her bag bump into Ava. “How about you?”

“Time to go,” I said as soon as the last one had passed me. “Bye now. Don’t come back.”

I shut the door in my mother’s face, reveling in the sense of satisfaction I got from it.

“The hits just keep on comin’,” Bird muttered as he turned away.

“What was that about?” Brenna asked Nana as the women started unloading food from the bags they were carrying.

“Ava being Ava,” Nana said tiredly, sitting down on the couch.

“Do you think she left?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder.

“Yo,” Rumi’s little brother Titus called, coming in the back door. “That lady’s still on the porch, so I snuck around the back. Who is that?”

“Our mom,” Bird said.

“For real?” Titus’s eyebrows rose. “Huh. Look, I brought you some shit to do.”

“Cool,” Bird said, leading Titus into the guest room.

“It’s some gaming console,” Heather said, wrinkling her nose.

“That was sweet of Titus,” Nana replied. “Bird’s been glued to the TV this week.”

We all settled in while I watched the door. Rumi hadn’t texted me back but I knew he’d show up any minute.

“What can we do, Ash?” Callie asked, watching Nana intently.

“My kids—” Nana’s voice broke, and I turned my attention away from the front door. “The kids are going to need some help while I’m inside.”

They began to talk about what needed to be done, the logistics of moving our things into a storage unit and how Nana would be able to sign her and Pop’s belongings over to me, but I tuned it out. I knew that Nana was just looking out for me and Bird the best way she knew how, but I couldn’t take any more. It was too much all at once.

I would take Bird because he belonged with me, but I didn’t want the rest of it. Those things belonged to my grandparents. What the hell would happen when Nana got out, and she didn’t have anything to come home to? The thought made me shudder.

“Is Bird legally in your custody?” Lily asked quietly, drawing my attention back to the conversation.

“He’s been with me for six years,” Nana replied.

“But there’s no paperwork?”

Nana shook her head.

“Okay, the first thing we should do is get that figured out,” Lily said. “Because God forbid we don’t, and they make Bird go into the system.”

“Or back with Ava,” Farrah added.

“Bird stays with me,” I blurted, looking at the women. “I don’t care if I have to drive to Mexico.”

Rumi walked in as I was speaking.

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