The Truth About That Summer

sixty-eight

Laura notices me then, rolling her eyes at my presence before turning to Talia.

I hardly care, about her dirty looks or whoever the hell Dev is.

I'm too wound up, repeating what Mr. Henson said to me again and again, my fists clenching tighter and tighter against my sundress until I feel my nails leaving crescent moon marks in my palms.

"You okay?" Luke murmurs, pretending to kiss the side of my head as he whispers in my ear.

I say nothing, hardly move a muscle. I can't. I can't see past the red rage clouding my vision.

Why do the people in this town talk to me that way? Talk about the accident that way? Why do they think it's OK to throw around the death of a persons loved one so easily, so cruelly? Why?

My throat feels dry, my knuckles cramp.

Luke mistakes my silence for my being okay. So he turns to Laura, taking a long drink and rejoining her conversation with their mother.

"He was invited?" His tone is disapproving.

"He's Finn's dad. Of course he was." Laura snaps, her eyes once again finding me. "At least it makes sense for him to be here."

Her words, like her glare, are directed right at me. My jaw starts to ache from how hard I'm clamping my teeth together.

I want to hit her. In that moment, I really do. And it's probably not even her fault - I'm angrier with her father, but she's who's here right now and so... my fist clenches, the thin fabric of my dress becoming wrinkled between my fingers.

"It would make sense," Luke shrugs, passive-aggressive in his return dig, "If the bum ever showed up at all."

"You know what Luke? You should take your little girlfriend and you should go fu-"

"That's enough." Talia's maternal voice is enough to shut the both of them up. Enough to ground me, even just a little bit, even just momentarily.

Wordlessly, Laura and Luke stare at each other, both obviously biting their tongues. I don't know if they normally fight this way, if it's my presence that's disrupting the peace so much.

The tension in the air is so thick, the silence so loud that no one even noticed the soft pads of little feet that approached who knows how long ago.

We do notice, though, when Finn's sweet voice pierces the air, the tears audible even though he's behind us.

"Daddy's not coming?"

My chest gets tight. Apparently long enough to hear the entire conversation.

Poor Finn, he shouldn't have heard any of it.

Luke whips around, practically falling to his knees to begin making it up to the boy. "Finn, buddy,"

"Oh, baby, Daddy had to work!" Laura's voice is ten times kinder already as she rushes towards him. As she passes Luke, she purposely rams into his arm with her shoulder, muttering under her breath, "Way to go, asshole."

She kneels in front of Finn, gripping his chubby hands in hers. "He had to go to work, but he promised he'll see you next weekend, okay?"