Wishing for Someday Soon by Tiffany King Page A

take Lucinda's verbal rants any day over a beating. After years of being called the worst names possible, I had learned to tune it out and still look appropriately hurt at the same time. Physical attacks on the other hand, came so quick and unexpected that I had no time to prepare myself mentally for them. I knew that anyone looking into my life would wonder why I didn’t toughen up and challenge Lucinda. What they couldn’t understand is that you can never win with her. If I stood up to Lucinda, she might decide to start going after Kevin, or she might decide to up and leave one day, taking Kevin and leaving him to deal with the repercussions alone.
    I put up with all of Lucinda’s crap for one reason and that was Kevin.
    Lying in bed, I tried to find a feasible solution to being able to see Max while keeping him away from the nonstop drama that was my life. I finally came to the conclusion, after tossing and turning for hours, that I would just keep it casual. That way, if Max decided dating me wasn’t worth the baggage I came with, he could back out. Easy peasy, no harm no foul. Satisfied with my resolve, I finally drifted off to sleep.
    The next morning I woke late to find the trailer unusually quiet. Creeping out of bed, I discovered that the late night attack had exhausted Lucinda and she and Jim were sleeping in. Kevin and I decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet by spending the day together. The only time we heard from them was when they made demands for food or something to drink.
    All day, in the back of my mind, I worried about how Max was handling the abrupt goodbye from the night before. I'm sure he was probably confused over why I didn't introduce him to my family like any normal person would do, but there was nothing normal about my family. My one goal last night had been to get Lucinda as far away from him as I could.
    Enjoying our freedom, Kevin and I hung out in the living room, minus the television, though, since it had been moved to the room down the hall. Kevin was disappointed when he discovered its absence, but he kept his complaints to a minimum. Instead, he worked on another picture that he wouldn’t let me peek at while I buried myself in a book. It was by the same author that Mr. Graves was reading to us in class, and I absolutely loved the writing style. The author had an uncanny knack of being able to suck you in, making you feel like you were a part of the story. Since the book was highly suspenseful, I spent the majority of the time anxious for how it was going to end.
    Dusk was just beginning to set in when I read the last page of my book.
    “How ‘bout some dinner?” I asked as Kevin continued to work on his masterpiece.
    “Okay,” he said, not looking up.
    I headed off to the kitchen, tickled by his diligence. I absolutely loathed cooking, but made an effort for Kevin’s sake.
    “How about spaghetti?” I asked, pulling the jar of Prego sauce out of the cabinet.
    “With meat?” he replied.
    I held up the package of ground beef I had gotten the day before, making him grin happily.
    I was letting the sauce simmer on the stove while the noodles finished up when the only phone in the trailer rang for the first time since we had moved in.
    I picked up, expecting it to be a wrong number.
    “Hello.”
    “May I speak to Katelyn?” Max's voice asked, coming across the line.
    “This is she,” I replied as a smile stretched across my face.
    “Hey, it’s Max.”
    “I kind of figured that,” I said teasingly. “How did you get this number?” I asked curiously.
    “From my iPhone when you used it last night to call home,” he said, proud of himself.
    “Clever.”
    “Oh yeah, I’m practically Sherlock Holmes.”
    “True dat,” I said, using Kevin’s favorite line.
    His laughter filled the phone line.
    “Anyhow, I was calling to see if I could give you guys a ride to school tomorrow?” he asked, sounding hopeful.
    “Ummm,” I said, stalling for time. On the one