Revive Me by Charity Ferrell Page B

there was no was I bailing on him. “I’ll be here around noon. Think about what you want to do.” I waved goodbye to him smiling, and he turned his attention back to the TV. I walked out of the front door and ducked behind the bushes until a few neighbors went inside before getting in my truck.

    “Your father wants to see you,” my mom said when I walked through the back door and into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, a coffee cup in her hand, and a magazine settled in front of her. She didn’t ask where I’d been this time. She was sober, so she didn’t give two shits. She only did when she was drinking. Man, why do people always tell me their true emotions when they’re wasted? “And I don’t even want to know where your shirt is.”
    I yawned, grabbing a glass, and filling it up with orange juice. “Too bad I don’t want to see him. I’m not visiting him, Ma.”
    The grip on her coffee cup tightened. “It’s important.”
    “It’s always important. He should’ve thought about how badly he wanted to see his family before he did what he did. I have no sympathy for him, and I never will.”
    “He’s your father.”
    “Sometimes morals are thicker than blood.”
    “That’s not true. You don’t have to agree with what he did, but he’s your family, and you need to support him. This isn’t a question, Dawson. It’s a demand. You still live under my roof, and you need to obey my rules. You will go see him.”
    I slammed my hand down on the table. “The hell I will.”
    “Oh, you will. Be there, tomorrow morning at ten. Don’t be late, or I’ll have your things packed, and you can stay somewhere else.”
    “You need to get over that prick,” I mumbled, leaving the kitchen, and kicking my door shut. I punched the back of it before sticking my fist in my mouth to keep me from saying what I really wanted to tell her. I couldn’t believe she wanted me to go see him. I despised him. He was nothing but a loser, why the fuck did she love him? If I went, I couldn’t fake loving him. I couldn’t fake being nice to him. And that’s what she expected me to do.
    “ Call of Duty ?” Derrick asked, jumping on the couch and grabbing a controller. We’d played ball for a few hours and then got pizza after I’d picked him up. Tessa was still in bed, and I told him not to wake her up. She was going to feel like shit today.
    “Maybe later, I’m going to talk to Tessa,” I answered, grabbing the to-go box and heading up the stairs.
    He laughed. “Okay, you can go talk to her.”
    I snapped my fingers at him and pointed at him. “Not funny.”
    “Hey, I’m not dumb. I know what you people do in high school.”
    I shook my head, and knocked on her closed bedroom door. “Come in.” I twisted the doorknob to find her lying down in bed, her feet facing the headboard, and her head at the end of the bed as she watched the TV on the dresser in front of her.
    “Brought you some pizza,” I said, holding up the warm box in my hand.
    “Thank you,” she said, reaching for the box, opening it up and taking a large bite. “I’m starving.”
    I sat down on the edge of her bed. “So have you talked to douchebag?” I asked casually.
    She wiped cheese from the side of her face. “And by douchebag you mean?”
    “Don’t play with me, you know exactly who I’m talking about.”
    She focused on eating her pizza. “He called me earlier.”
    “And you answered?”
    She took a bite, wiped her mouth, and sighed heavily. “Yes.”
    “Why?” I asked in shock. There was no way she could forgive that asshole for how he’d acted and the way he’d talked to her. She needed more than a guy who drank himself into oblivion and grabbed other girls’ asses to taunt her. “Were you too drunk to remember what happened last night?”
    “He was drinking, and it hurt his feelings when I left with you. He told me you threatened him and said if he keeps talking to me you’d kick his ass.” She lifted up,