In the attic of Jade's childhood was an old trunk, locked. And even though she couldn't pry it open, nor did she have the key, the muffled sobs coming from inside told her more than she wanted to remember.
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"How about I drop them off at school?"
"No."
"At least let me pick them up."
"No."
"I can take them out for dinner tonight."
"No."
I looked between my mother and Jordan as they went back and forth. They were going at it since six in the morning which wasn't a surprise - what did surprise me is that she was actually up so early. I could see that my Mom was trying but Jordan crushed every effort she put into making things better. Not wanting to be rude, I faced her and said, "You can do my hair if you want. Remember that thing you used to do?"
She beamed at me and I thought the smile kinda made her seem younger, not much but a little.
She grabbed my shoulders and turned me around, her hands buried in my hair. "I know exactly what you mean - half up, half down, with the braids on the side?"
"Yep, that one."
I sat down and let her work her magic while I ate my cereal with Noah.
Ashton walked down, dressed. He still looked tired but at least he was up. I realized I forgot to ask about his work last night and decided to do it now.
"You excited for work?"
He briefly stopped shoving some toast down his throat to look at me and laughed. "Excited? Who's ever excited to work?"
I shrugged. "You're making money, that must be something to be excited about. You know, since you're always nagging about needing cash."
"Yeah, sure, whatever."
"Whoa hey, don't get too enthusiastic," Noah said with a sarcastic tone.
"On your mark, get set, go fuck yourself," Ashton smiled.
"Hey, no fucking swearing in the house!" Mom said.
Three pairs of eyes, including mine, turned to look at her. Huh?
Ashton scoffed. "Don't fucking tell me what to do. If I wanna swear, I'll swear. This isn't your house."
"I don't care what you say Ashton, you're still my kid and you're still gonna respect me." She sounded stern and I winced a little when she pulled a bit too hard on my hair.
Ashton rolled his eyes. "I'm an adult, ma. Not a kid."
"So? I'm still your mother."
"Some mother you are," he muttered into his coffee, downing it all in one go. How did he not get burned?
Someone honked the car outside and Ashton groaned as he got to his feet. He put his jean jacket on and stuck an unlit cigarette in his mouth. "Later, losers." He roughly messed Noah's hair up and hugged my head from behind, almost choking me.
