Page 14 of A Vicious Rumor

A small woman who looked entirely too much like me stared back at me.

My mother.

My real mother.

Biological, anyways. She definitely didn't deserve the honor of being called "Mom."

"Hello Coco," I said, calling her by her first name.

She stood there for a moment, just looking at me, and I stared back at her.

She had a tanned complexion, like me.

She had a compact build, like me.

She had black hair, like me.

She had brown eyes, like me.

She was so much like me.

And I hated everything about her.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" I finally asked.

She startled a bit before opening the door. "Come in," she said. I took a step past the threshold and she put her hand up to me. "Boots off in the house."

I gave her a look of sheer disbelief. "You're kidding, right? This place is a shithole. I want thicker boots before walking around on these floors."

She huffed and put her hand on her hip. In many ways, she was still so young. She was only nineteen when she had me, lucky for Dad the timing worked out on that one otherwise I'd be visiting him in his own shithole cell. And considering that I was only seventeen now, that made her 36. But she was definitely coming in hot on the "immaturity scale."

"You're living under my roof this summer, Tyson. You'll follow my rules," she said, trying to sound authoritative.

I scoffed at her. "Please, let's spare both of us some hassle. Let's agree that you don't try and act like my mother, because you're not," I said with emphasis, "and I'll stay out of your hair for the eight weeks I'm here. Hell, I might even find a few friends to stay with to make it even easier for you. This way you can go back to living your whatever life and I can go back to living mine. Deal?"

"No deal, Tyson," she said.

I furrowed my brow and shook my head. "What do you mean, no deal? What's not to like about this deal?"

She looked nervous for a second and then it all dawned on me. "The old man is paying you to look after me, isn't he? And knowing him, he's gonna want proof that I've been staying here before he forks over the cash, huh? Is that it?"

She ran her tongue over her teeth and looked irritated that I'd figured it out.

"Well, don't hold your breath sweetheart. The old man isn't exactly flush with cash these days. I wouldn't be surprised if that check never makes it to your door."

"What do you mean?" Coco asked instantly.

"I mean, take the deal I gave you. It's the better of the two."

"We'll talk about this later," she said. "I have to get to my first job."

"Which is?"

"I'm a waitress at a diner, happy?"

I shrugged. "What's the second job?"

She hesitated for a moment, and I caught on. Dad had been wrong, after all. Mom hadn't cleaned up her act. No surprise on either front. "Nuff said," I replied. "I won't wait up."

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