"I'm out of here. My lawyer will send you the paperwork tomorrow. I want my money this week. If you don't pay, I don't give a damn anymore. I'll sell them to the first son of a bitch I see on the street." He walked out. My dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I didn't even know I had leaned against him, weak and relief pouring into me as I watched Andrew leave. I looked up at my dad and he gave me a reassuring smile. "Go back to the house, Kara. Take your brother with you. You've had enough for the night. Let me talk to Karen now." "Are you sure?" He nodded. I studied his face, saw pity and heartbreak there. For my mother, for his brother. "Call me if you need anything, Dad." "I will, sweetheart." Dylan and I headed back to the house, but before we could go in, he stopped me. "I can't go inside the house right now, Kar," he said. I could feel Dylan retrieving into himself, so unlike him. Usually he'd be in hysterics by now. "Will you be okay here?" I swallowed the lump in my throat. I knew what he was going through. I had been through it so many times. If I could suffer it for him, I would. But this was his fight. "Where are you going?" "I'm going to sleepover at a friend's house." "Are you okay to drive?" "Yeah, I'm cool." When he left, I sat on the porch. I tried calling Cameron again, but there was still no answer. Where the hell did he go? Was he able to talk to Andrew? If that was even what he'd set out to do. Was that why Andrew came back and dropped the sale to the third party? What happened? Cameron just disappeared. I rose when I saw my dad walking back to the house. "Dyl said he'll sleep at his friend's house. Are you all right, Dad?" He nodded, giving me a weak smile. "You've been through a lot, sweetheart. You should go home, get some sleep." "What happened?" "I don't want you to worry about anything. I already phoned the bank earlier and they're giving me a loan. I'm paying off your mother's and Andrew's shares." "But...how? The bank won't lend us anymore money." "I found one that will." "Dad, I—" "Kara." He shook his head at me. His eyes looked sad and hurt. I'd never seen him fight with Andrew before, and I'd never heard the whole of Andrew's story before. I felt sympathetic toward him, because as much as he was a prick, it must not have been easy to be responsible of so many people in his family. And to lose the woman he loved. It didn't change my mind that he was an asshole though, and I still wanted him out of our lives. It also made me understood better why my dad always gave him free passes. "Do you want me to stay here with you?" I asked. "You should go home, sweetheart. I'm fine." He patted the top of my head and disappeared inside the house. It was dark now and it had begun to snow. I let out a sigh, giving the house a last look before I started my walk back to my car. I startled when I saw my mother leaning against a van, looking up at the dark sky. What was she still doing here? And was that hers? I thought Dylan said she didn't have a vehicle? When she saw me, her eyes widened. She reached for the door. "Wait," I said. "Before you leave, I'd like to ask you something." She didn't answer, but she stopped and looked at me, waiting. When I looked at her, I didn't feel any familiarity or remembered any intimate moments with her as my mother. She just looked like a...stranger. "Why did you leave my dad?" Because even if Mike Hawthorne hadn't been my dad, I would know if I met him that he was one of the best people on Earth. Her brow furrowed and something crossed her face that looked like... was that regret? "He wanted me to be independent." I blinked at her. "What?" She let out a bitter chuckle, angled her head a little as if she was taking in every feature of my face. "Oh, why not? I'll tell you." I braced myself. "I wanted to stay at home, but he wanted me to help him earn money to support the family," she began. "I didn't even want kids in the first place. When we had you, he wanted me to be able to stand on my own feet, but all I really wanted was to be taken care of. Just in case he dies unexpectedly, he said, I could still take care of you and Dylan. I can see that you don't approve, but listen before you judge me, Kara." I hadn't said anything, but maybe the look on my face told her everything. "Mike. He wasn't what I expected. My life with him wasn't what I wanted. He had ideas about me making my own decisions. All the time. He'd always tell me, do what you think is best," she said, shaking her head in disapproval. "He'd always share his concerns about his job, if we'd have enough money to take care of you and your brother. I don't want to be worrying about those things. I need a man to take care of those things. That's how I grew up and there's nothing wrong with that." "Everyone's needs are different," she continued. "You can keep pushing what you want, what you think is right on someone, on a person you love especially, but that doesn't mean they'll accept it. Sometimes what you want isn't what the other person wants and the best thing to do is go your separate ways. That's what happened between me and your dad." "Then I say to you thank you," I said. "Thank you for leaving us. I had the best childhood any kid could wish for. Goodbye," I said, opening the door of her van for her. "Have a nice life." I walked to my car, drove back to Tala's place. It didn't quite feel mine yet and in my head, I still called it Tala's place. I walked up the porch steps, heard a dog howling somewhere on the street, smelled someone's cooking in the air, a car trying to start. Slowly I walked to the column where Dylan and I had scribbled silly things. I ran my hand on it, then frowned when I saw a different writing beside mine. It was too dark to see. My phone rang. Heart beating fast, I fished it out of my purse and answered. "Kara." "Cameron! Where are you?" "Is everything sorted out with your shop?" "Yes, but..." I let out a breath. "Cam, can you come see me at Tala's place?" There was a pause. "Yeah," he answered quietly. "I'll meet you there." "I'll see you soon." My palms started to sweat as soon as I hung up. Why did the tone of Cameron's voice made me nervous? What is going on? I opened the front door, stepped inside. I slid off my shoes, hung my coat, my purse, my keys. Then I sat on the couch. And remembered Cameron said that he used to do this when he was a child. When he waited for a mother that never came. An image of that broken, unrepairable bridge crossed my mind again. I was stuck, but I didn't have to be. If following the trail like a good, responsible person didn't mean safety and promised success, then what would happen if I just did whatever the hell I want? What if I gamble and take the chance and say fuck it and just jump? Where would the current take me? What if it was good? What if it was better? I rose, walked to the windows, stood there. And waited for Cameron.