Chasing Hadley by Jessica Sorensen

Author:Jessica Sorensen [Sorensen, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2018-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

Six

My sisters and I spend the rest of the night unloading boxes and furniture into the house and making a quick trip to the grocery store to buy some food. Our dad helps for a bit, but eventually goes up to his room and passes out, probably hungover.

The house has three bedrooms, so Londyn and I bunk up in one and Payton and Bailey in the other. We don’t have much for furniture, just some mattresses, bedframes, and a couple of dressers, so organizing doesn’t take too long.

Once we’re finished for the night, Londyn climbs into bed, while I stare out the window at the next-door neighbors’, playing guard basically. The lights in the house are off, but the back-porch light is on, highlighting all the cars in the backyard.

“So, what do you think about Dad already having a job, but not telling us where he’s working?” Londyn asks, fluffing her pillow.

“I’m not sure.” I sit down on the dresser and continue to stare out the window. “He could’ve been lying, or he could be doing something illegal.”

“Where do you think he was last night?”

“I have no idea. Probably at a bar.”

“All night?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Yeah, but … didn’t he seem sort of, I don’t know, evasive about everything?”

“Isn’t Dad’s middle name evasive?” I remind her. “While I spend a lot of time trying to keep an eye on him, I feel as if I barely know him.”

“Me, too,” she mumbles through a yawn. “One day, maybe we’ll have to do some detective work and figure out what he really does.”

“Wouldn’t that be funny?” I muse. “To use the detective skills he taught us when we were younger to bust his ass for doing something illegal.”

“It would be pretty funny. He’d probably get pissed off.” A beat of silence drags by. “Had, if he ever hits one of us again, I think we should report it to the police.”

My fingers drift to my cheek. “I thought about doing that, but at the same time, if the police try to intervene and social services gets called, we might be separated.” My hand falls to my lap. “But if he hits any one of you, I’ll do it.”

“I wish we could just gain guardianship of each other.” Londyn yawns again. “You’re almost eighteen and way more responsible than Dad.”

“I wish I could, but I’m not sure I can.” No, unfortunately, if our dad ever does lose guardianship, my sisters are probably going to end up in group homes, even though I’ll be a legal adult in just a month.

I remain sitting on the dresser for a few more minutes, staring at the neighbors’ backyard, listening to Londyn breathe heavily as she dozes off. Eventually, my eyelids grow heavy and I move to my bed, deciding playing guard all night isn’t possible. But the moment I hop off the dresser, a large SUV pulls into their driveway and parks near the porch. The headlights click off, and four figures hop out.

Clicking off the lamp, I hunker down as the figures move toward the house.

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