Queen of the track

VI

Chapter 6.

Raven

By the time all five of us have finished eating—and by that I mean Connor and Jonah—it's well after six pm. Jonah belches loudly as we walk through the parking lot with the sun setting low. I roll my eyes as Will and Mason laugh, impressed by him.

I'm not sure how I didn't notice it before, but now in the almost vacant parking lot, I see Connor's midnight blue Charger a few spaces away from mine.

"We're heading over to mine before we go to the ... um ... to watch football." Connor hesitantly looks at the boys and thankfully he managed to stop himself from saying what his evening's plans actually are. "Coming?"

I shake my head at him and gesture to the boys with the takeaway bag in my hand, "gotta get the responsible brothers home and feed the pre-teen delinquent." They both chuckle and shout good-bye's at me and the boys as we get into our respective cars.

"Are you really mad at AJ?" Mason asks ten minutes into the drive home, breaking the silence. "'Cause he said I'm responsible enough to look out for Will, and I think I am too."

"It's not that I think either of you are irresponsible," I shake my head and glance at him in the rear view mirror. "It's that we are the ones that are supposed to look after you. Right?"

"Right," two quiet voices reply to me and I sigh.

"It's bad enough we're doing this by ourselves, you guys, but if anyone finds out that there's no legal adult living with us, they'll look for any excuse they can to prove that we don't look after you two properly. Leaving you at home by yourselves is that excuse. Even if it's for ten minutes."

"But we know not to answer the door or anything," Mason defends. "I only did it for you because I heard your bike and I checked the window like you tell me to."

"I know, Mason." I nod. "You're smart, and I trust you ... but what if someone tries to break into the house because they know that we're not there? Or if one of you hurts yourselves? A lot of accidents and unexpected things can happen, AJ knows this as much as I do—so yes, I am mad at him, but that isn't for either of you to worry about, okay?"

"Yeah."

"Sure."

I release a breath, this journey home is a lot heavier than our fun drive to the diner earlier.

"I miss dad."

My hands tighten around the steering wheel at Will's quiet words. I look at him in the mirror to see him looking down at his hands, his floppy hair covering most of his face. I look back at the road and nod, even though he isn't looking at me. "Yeah, I know you do, bud. I miss him too."

"When can we see him?" Mason suddenly asks. "It's been two months—you said we could see him after two months."

"I ... " I'm lost for words. How do you tell your little brothers that their father doesn't want to see them? "I don't know, Mason. It's ... complicated."

Mason huffs and shakes his head as he looks out of the window. "It's bullshit."

"Mason!" I snap, whirling my head to him in shock before quickly looking back at the road.