Lover's Rock Leap

chapter 7

"What's up with you, Flapjack?" Salem asked, eyeing Grayson sideways in the passenger seat, dropping one hand off the steering wheel. She sat in black jeans and a baggy blue sweatshirt borrowed from Warren's closet. She held onto the bottom of the steering wheel, half driving with her knees. Auggie sat buckled into his car seat in the backseat, his pink and blue blankie pressed to his face, as he leaned back, dozing off in his cushioned blue puffer jacket.

"Nothing." Grayson muttered, leaning against the window. He shrunk back into his brown work jacket a few sizes too big.

Salem turned to face him, pulling up at a stop sign. "Gray, you're snappier than usual. I know we like to joke about Warren's inability to raise a spatula, but it's like you have personal beef with him."

"I don't." He blurted out.

"I know. I just wanna know what's up, kid." she offered. Grayson wouldn't meet her eyes, leaning against his door. Salem pulled off to a curb in front of a house, throwing the car in park. She locked the doors, turning her body to face Grayson.

"I'm gonna be late." He muttered.

"I'll write you a note." She said, "Are you hurting yourself again?"

Grayson looked up at her, his eyebrows pulled together in angry confusion. "No." He scowled.

"Grayson," she said, her voice softer as she continued. "Whatever's going on you know you can tell me. I'm not gonna go to Warren or your counselor. If you really don't want to talk, I won't push it, but I'm just worried about you. I won't judge you or make you feel bad, I just want to be there for you because you're family. It's my job to worry about you."

"You're not my mom." He grumbled, his eyes welling with tears, he blinked away.

She sighed. "I'm not, and I can't dispute that. But I've known you your entire life. You've always been like my baby brother, and I love you more than anything in this world. When I found out about Rodney, I was gonna take him on myself."

Tears skipped down his cheeks and he swiped them away quickly. "If I tell you something, you won't tell anyone?" He asked.

She nodded. "It goes in the vault. I'd never tell anyone something you told me in confidence."

Grayson glanced at Auggie asleep in the backseat, exhaling a shaky breath. "There are just some dumb kids in my classes." He started. "They don't know what happened or anything, but they just started making jokes about me asking what fight I could possibly be in, and it didn't help missing all that school for court and being in the hospital. They say I'm such a freak it's no wonder my parents beat me."

"Who are these kids? Is it someone from the group home? They don't know anything about you and just joke about your parents beating you? How is that even remotely funny?" she asked, her eyebrows creased with disdain.

"No, it's no one from the group home. I spent more time in the hospital than I did at the group home, and when I was there, I was in counseling." he said, "You can't go to my school and tell my teachers, Sale, that'll just make it worse. The last thing I need is my aunt sticking up for me."

She let out an exasperated breath because she knew he was right. If she went to his school and hunted these kids down, it would only make the bullying worse, Grayson needing his aunt to fight his battles for him. "I won't go to your school." she agreed. "But how long has this been going on?"

"It started recently, sometime last week. When I sat out during PE, these guys started messing with me. It didn't bother me at first, but then they started saying it was my parents and I got mad which just made them laugh." He explained. "I'm not trying to be so mean to Warren. I'm just...I don't know, I hate thinking about going back to school and any classes I have with those assholes."