Disconnect by Lois Peterson

Author:Lois Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV036000, JUV039040, JUV039060
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2012-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

On the way home, I was aware of every sound. Mom’s breathing. The road noise under the tires. A hiss of wind through a crack in the back window. I wanted to speak. But I did not know what to tell her. I willed Mom to talk to me. But I was afraid of what she would say.

All she had said since we left the hospital was, “Buckle up.”

When we pulled into the driveway, Mom reached for the door handle. But instead of opening it, she sat back and closed her eyes. “That little boy could have died.”

“They said the wound was superficial.”

She gave me such a cold look, I shrank away from her.

“It was your job to take care of those children,” she said. “But you were too busy, what? Calling your friends? Texting? Emailing?” Her voice rose with every word. “Watching some damn thing on YouTube?” She closed her eyes again and tipped back her head.

“It was only for a minute or two.”

“That is all it takes.”

I swiped at the tears that trailed down my cheeks. “I am so sorry. But Caden is going to be all right. They said so. It was just a superficial wound.” My mouth was running on even though my mind was telling me to shut it. “You know little boys. They fall off things all the time.” I looked through a smear of tears at my father moving around indoors. “It’s not my fault that Caden went into his mother’s bedroom, is it?”

Mom’s turned to glare at me. “You didn’t see his mother’s face when she got that call from the paramedics.”

She slammed the car door and walked into the house.

The cooling metal of the car ticked under the hood.

I turned to grab my backpack from the backseat. Then I remembered it was still at the kids’ house. And my phone was on the floor where I had dropped it when I dashed upstairs.

I dragged myself into the house.

When she dropped Emerson off later, Cynthia hardly looked at me. Mom gave Emmy a bowl of soup and tucked her in on the study futon.

I wanted to creep under my covers. But I didn’t want to be alone. So I stayed downstairs, hardly speaking while Mom told Dad the whole story. Mom finally pushed her plate aside. She had barely eaten anything. Dad dumped his salad back in the bowl. “So no phone for a month,” he said.

“That’s so not fair,” I said. “What if you need to reach me?” I stabbed my fork into a lettuce leaf and held it up. “What about Selena and Josie? I need to keep in touch with them. Since you dragged me here, they are the only friends I’ve got.”

“And whose choice is that?” asked Mom. “Anyway, I thought you and Chloe were friends now?” “It’s Cleo!” When I shoved the table, my cutlery jumped. “How many times do I have to tell you?”

Dad gathered the dishes. “Your mother and I are not going to change our minds, Daria.

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