The moment Wade left with Lily to take her to work, I confiscated the phone. Meghan had given me her phone number that morning and while I was once again tempting fate, I dialed it anyway. I hung up abruptly when her stepfather answered. A few seconds later he called back. At least, that was my assumption. I didn't believe it was a mere coincidence someone else happened to call just as I hung up. We didn't get many phone calls and when we did they were usually from debt collectors and lately even they hadn't been calling since our number changed so much they couldn't keep up. I cursed the invention of star 69 while staring at the receiver in my hands and was again grateful we didn't have an answering machine. Frankly, I didn't want to hear what kind of message would be left behind.

The ringing stopped and there wasn't a second call back. Maybe he just thought it was a wrong number. I had a brief debate with myself on trying again a while later but concluded that it wouldn't be wise to play that kind of Russian roulette. I had the feeling that when he was home, no one else answered the phone. The odds of Meghan picking up just one time were not in my favor and I couldn't guarantee he wouldn't take the phone from her or listen on the other line.

Throwing the phone to the other end of the couch I ran a hand through my hair and looked toward the clock. It was still early. I was tempted to head to the tree fort and hope she showed up, even camp out there until she did, but my run of bad luck that day told me to just stay home and hope she would hold me to my word and call if she needed me.

Hours passed. Wade never came back after dropping my mom off which left me to assume he was either at the track or a bar, or more than likely the bar at the track. That was fine with me. Not that he was gambling away what little money we had, but that he wasn't in the apartment to continue our face off from earlier. The two of us home alone would not end well.

I enjoyed the solitude and kept busy by, believe it or not, cleaning. If anyone were to walk in and see me wielding a vacuum they'd surely project a snot-rocket across the room. I didn't go crazy. Just tried to straighten up and make the place look presentable – not that we had anyone to present it to. But it made me feel a little bit less like I was living in squalor. Sometimes it really was the little things that made a person happy.

We didn't have much – less and less every time we moved so wherever we happened to end up never looked like a real home. I kept most of my stuff permanently packed to make things quick when the next time came. It wasn't a matter of if. I learned at a young age never to get attached to anyplace, anything, or anyone. Nothing I owned held any sentiment. The tiger toy I used to have from the zoo was the last piece of my childhood I held onto and that went in the garbage before we moved the last time. That was pretty much when I became a full-blown cynic.

But it was because of the promise to myself about remaining impartial that I became aware of the strange attachment I had to Meghan. Tommy and Jason and Seth were good friends, but I wouldn't be heartbroken to move away from them. I wouldn't use that word to describe how I would feel to have to leave Meghan either, but I knew that I'd be more upset not getting to spend anymore nights secretly camped away in a termite-infested tree fort than I would sharing a handle of whiskey atop a water tower.

I felt stupid waiting with the phone within my sights for a call that I knew would likely not come. I did what I could to keep my mind in a safe place, but with only six cable channels it wasn't very easy. I was subject to either the news or infomercials. For the sake of substance, I chose the news even if it was depressing most of the time. Vehicular accidents, shootings, a fire in a warehouse and hidden in the doom and gloom was a passing segment about some police dog being honored with a retirement party. I chuckled to myself watching the dog "shake hands" with his fellow officers in farewell while he went to live with his handler on an acreage north of Vancouver. I had to turn it off when they started showing B-roll of the dog playing in a large backyard with a little girl, fetching a ball then making her chase him when he refused to give it up.

It struck me in a place I kept locked up tight and forgot even existed most of the time. I remembered then why that was and got up from the couch to get a drink before going back to my bedroom and turning on my stereo. The volume went up as loud as the neighbors would tolerate. I flopped on my mattress that sat on the floor and pulled out a back issue of rider and drooled over the vintage Norton that sat tucked away in the center fold. This was my version of a "dirty" magazine. I'll admit I had the real thing too. Easy Riders had some pretty little things plastered all over their motorcycles.

At some point I dozed off, my magazine open on my chest. I woke up to a presence in the room. I was a light sleeper most of the time but the volume of my stereo blocked out any noise, so I felt them there before they turned down the stereo and really made themselves known. My eyes popped open as soon as the buzz of the quiet began to ring in my ears. Lily was standing next to my dresser, about to come and nudge me awake until she saw I already was.

"There's a phone call for you," she was holding the cordless against her body, a sly little smile tight on her lips as she tried to keep it reined in.

I glanced at the clock on my night table as I became more awake, moving the magazine aside and sitting up. It was almost two in the morning. My whole world felt askew as I took a moment to comprehend time and space.

"Who is it?" I asked, my voice thick with sleep. I didn't even want to try and figure out what my mother was smiling about or why she was still dressed and so awake. The diner closed hours ago.

"A young lady." Oh. That's what the smile was about. "I told her you were sleeping but she was persistent." She handed me the phone. "Not too long, okay? It's late."

I gaped at her with the phone still in midair. Was she serious? "Since when are you such a parent." I mumbled as she left the room, then brought the receiver to my ear. "Hello?"

"Ty?" I was wide awake at the sound of Meghan's voice despite barely being able to hear it.

"Hold on." Springing up from my mattress I peeked out my door to see what my mom was doing. I felt like she too would be one to pick up the other line and try to listen in on my conversations with a girl. For some reason she thought it was so adorable when I mentioned anyone of the opposite sex like I was still a little boy with a crush. Unfortunately, or fortunately I suppose, she wouldn't be around later to know what I did with those girls. At this point in time I was still pretty innocent, so to speak. I'd fooled around some but nothing I could get into trouble for later. I couldn't say the same for her as I caught her and Wade giving googly eyes at each other, his hands once again groping places I couldn't un-see no matter how badly I wanted to. I made a face but was satisfied that there would be no eavesdropping on my phone call as I backed up and shut the door.

"Are you okay? I thought you were going to meet me this morning." I wasn't going to waste time on pleasantries when I'd been sweating bullets all day wondering what happened to her.

"Can you meet me?" I didn't like the way she evaded my question, especially not when she sounded like she did. My heart began to thump hard in my ears.

"Yeah. Where are you?" I began to pull on my shoes, glad I didn't unpack my duffel bag.

"I'll meet you same place as last night." Once again her response was vague, but I didn't bother to press for clearer answers. I knew where she was talking about so I didn't see a reason to while still on the phone. My assumption was she didn't want to be overheard and tailed so I just left things at that and hung up just as quickly. I would get my answers in a few minutes one way or another. First I just wanted to see her and assure myself that she was okay and my naiveté this morning didn't do any damage.

The only barricade was my mother and Wade still in the living room. I opened the door and could hear her girlish giggle as he murmured something close to her ear then leaned in for a kiss. Something definitely happened between them within the last couple hours for Wade to suddenly turn so loving and outwardly affectionate. Lily was eating it up while she could. I didn't have time to hang around and figure it out. What I wanted was to shield my eyes and make a mad dash for the door.

"Ty. Where are you going?" Lily spoke up when she caught sight of me with my bag again. I could hear the urgency in her voice as she was fully distracted from Wade, who did not seem pleased at being ignored and gave me the stink eye for it.

"Out. Don't wait up." I didn't want to give a real answer as that would prompt further questions I wasn't prepared to answer.

"It's the middle of the night!" Lily shifted to get up, but Wade stopped her by grabbing her hips to pull her back onto the couch with him.
"Let him go, Lily. He's made it perfectly clear he's adult enough to take care of himself. If he wants to get mugged in a back alley then let him face the consequences."
Don't you wish, I thought bitterly.
"Wade! He's just a child," my mother protested. "Are you going to meet that girl?"
Ah, the question I wanted to avoid. I could spin lies for days but somehow found it difficult to lie to my own mother. Evade and misdirect, sure, but I couldn't flat out lie. "She needs a friend right now. I'll see you later."
I heard Wade chuckle as I turned again toward the door. "Got a nice piece of ass waiting for ya, hm?"
I bristled.
"Ty!" Lily gasped, seemingly appalled by Wade's inference. "You're not having sex with this girl, are you? Because we need to talk about-"
I cut her off before she could turn even deeper into mother-mode. "No, I'm not. And even if I was, I don't see how it's any of your damn business. Besides," I added as an afterthought, wanting to leave her with a revelation that would keep her attention away from Wade for a while, even if it would probably startle her a great deal, "you already missed out on that parental milestone. Sometimes the best way to learn something is from a hands-on approach." I left them with that thought, effectively stunning my mom into silence as I quickly left to meet Meghan in the vacant lot.

A/N: I am so sorry guys. I posted this chapter on my Tumblr last year and somehow neglected to share it on here. Only when I went to see if I could pick up where I left off did I realize there was a chapter missing. Ack, so sorry.