Is this the final stop? (Toni Shalifoe)

Chapter 22

Toni's eyes freeze on Bernice, as if she couldn't comprehend what Bernice had said to her. Dave got her the job. That Marty and her mom wouldn't be here without him. But when it hits her? Her eyes fall to the ground and she gets very stiff.

And Shelby notices it all. Shelby offers a half smile to Bernice, but looks over to Toni anxiously. Knowing that this is a threat to everything.

Toni just stands frozen on her feet, refusing to wrap her mind around the idea that Dave fucking Goodkind got Bernice that job and let her and Martha move here. Her eyes dart between Bernice and Shelby and Marty.

She knows it's all going to fall apart. And hurt the people she cares most about. She immediately starts retreating from the group, her eyes dropping, a sigh escaping her mouth.

"I... uh..."

Shelby drags Toni out of the conversation and into the girl's bathroom after giving a poor excuse to Bernice. Something along the lines of dehydration from the game. Hopefully Bernice didn't notice the lie.

Shelby's not sure how much Bernice can read Toni's face, but she can assume it's more than most people. And Toni was being pretty obvious that she was spooked. Shelby checks underneath all the stalls to make sure the bathroom is empty. Once she's confirmed that, she spins back to Toni.

Toni looks like she's seen a ghost. Her skin is pale, her eyes glazed over, looking at the ground. She doesn't say anything. Shelby kind of pokes her, which barely shakes Toni from her stupor.

"Hey, I think we're readin' into this too much. We don't even know the whole story, Toni."

Toni bites her lip, thinking. Definitely overthinking.

"Are you okay?" Shelby asks, meeting her eyes to Toni's. After a moment, Toni hardly nods her head.

"Verbal confirmation," Shelby finishes.

The corner of Toni's mouth slightly raises, thinking back to one of their earliest conversations when Toni was asking for verbal confirmation. She appreciates the gesture, and she almost smiles, but she can't say yes. She can't lie directly to Shelby, who she knows will read right through her.

Because nothing is okay.

"I don't know," Toni whispers.

"Okay... and that's okay." Shelby says, she steps back to think. She braces her arms on the bathroom sink. Tapping it repeatedly, as if it will unlock some secret in her mind, some sort of solution.

And then Toni erupts. She shoves one of the open stall doors and it bangs against the side, swinging back completely. She kicks one of the trash cans, it falls over onto the ground.

Shelby immediately locks the bathroom door entrance.

"Hey—"

"Don't tell me to calm down." Toni growls, already expecting Shelby's response. Everyone's response to her anger.

Shelby furrows her eyebrows, "I wasn't goin' to say that?" She looks at Toni for an extra moment, and reads on her face that this must have happened with someone else before. Someone close to her. "You've got every right to react how you feel. With what you know—"

"I don't fucking know anything! I don't know how Marty's mom even found out about this job. I don't know what the hell is going to happen now. Like is he just going to use her as bait to get me to do anything he wants? Or just waiting for the right time to rip me out of this house once Marty gets settled in? Is this the final stop? Or is the next one a group home a million miles away from here. From you—" Toni gasps for breath.