Slammed

probably asleep by now anyway.”
     
    “ You sure?”
     
    “ Yeah, it's fine.”
     
    “ Okay, thanks.”
     
    We both stand there, not certain how to part. He steps out of my way. “See ya tomorrow,” he says. I smile and shuffle my way past him as I catch up to Eddie.
     
    ***
     
    “ Please, Mom? Please?” Kel says.
     
    “ Kel, y’all spent the night with each other last night. I’m sure his brother wants some time with him.”
     
    “ No he doesn’t,” Caulder says.
     
    “ See? We’ll stay in our room. I swear,” Kel says.
     
    “ Fine. But Caulder, I’ll need you to be at your house tomorrow night. I’m taking Lake and Kel to dinner.”
     
    “ Yes ma’am. I’ll go tell my brother and get my clothes.”
     
    Kel and Caulder run out the front door. I squirm in my seat on the couch as I unzip my boots. This dinner she’s referring to must be it; the big introduction . I decide to press her a little further.
     
    “ Where are we going to dinner?” I ask.
     
    She comes to the couch and sits, grabbing the remote to flip on the TV.
     
    “ Wherever. Maybe we’ll just eat here. I don’t know. I just want some alone time, just the three of us.”
     
    I pull my boots off and snatch them up. “The three of us,” I mumble as I walk to my room. I think about that as I throw my boots in my closet and lay on the bed. It used to be "the four of us." Then it became "the three of us." Now, in less than seven months, she’s making it "the four of us" again.
     
    Whoever he is, he will never be included in a count with Kel and I. She doesn’t know I know about him. She doesn’t even know I’ve already labeled him and her as "the two of them," and Kel and I as "the two of us." Divide and conquer. That’s my new family motto.
     
    We’ve been living in Ypsilanti for a month now and I’ve spent every single Friday night in my room. I grab my phone and text Eddie, hoping her and Gavin won’t mind a third wheel tonight on their movie date. She texts me back in a matter of seconds, giving me thirty minutes to get ready. It isn’t enough time to thoroughly enjoy a shower, so I go to the bathroom and touch up my makeup. The mail is in a pile on the bathroom counter next to the sink, so I pick it up and look at it. All three envelopes have a big red post office stamp across them. Forward to new address is stamped over our old Texas address.
     
    Eight more months. Eight more months and I’m moving back home. I contemplate hanging a calendar on my wall so I can start marking down the days. I toss the envelopes back on the counter, when the contents of one of them falls to the floor. When I pick it up, I notice the numbers printed in the top right-hand corner.
     
    $178,343.00
     
    It’s a bank statement. It’s an account balance. I snatch up the rest of the mail as I run to my room and shut the door.
     
    I look at the dates on the bank statement and then sort through the other envelopes. One of them is from a mortgage company so I tear it open. It’s an insurance invoice. An invoice for our house back in Texas that I was told we sold. Oh my god, I want to kill her. We aren’t broke! We didn’t even sell our house! She tore my brother and I from the only home we’ve ever known for some guy? I hate her. I have to get out of this house before I explode. I grab my phone and throw the envelopes in my purse.
     
    “ I’m going out,” I say as I walk through the living room toward the front door.
     
    “ With who?” she asks.
     
    “ Eddie. Going to a movie.” I keep my replies short and sweet so she won’t see the fury behind my voice. My whole body is shaking I’m so angry. I just want to get out of the house and process things before I confront her.
     
    She walks over to me and grabs my cell phone out of my hand and starts pressing buttons.
     
    “ What the hell are you doing?” I yell as I grab it back out of her grasp.
     
    “ I know what you’re up to, Lake! Don’t pretend with me.”
     
    “ What am I up to? I’d really like to know ! ”
     
    “ Last night you and Will were both gone. He conveniently had a babysitter. Tonight, his brother says he’s spending the night and half an hour later you’re going out? You aren’t going anywhere!”
     
    I throw my phone in my purse and wrap my purse across my shoulder as I head to the front door.
     
    “ As a matter of fact I am going out. With Eddie . You can watch me leave with Eddie . You can watch me return with