SKIPPING TIME

Chapter 6

Jess plodded to the bus stop, scowling at the thick clouds that quilted the sky. The leaden air felt hot and hushed, as if the world were on the brink of something. It would just be more rain though, endless rivers of it that rinsed the color from the days and drained into sullen nights. In the month since the museum trip the weather seemed intent on mimicking his mood. Both were constantly grey and dreary.

He barely hung out with Cace anymore. Twice he'd cut class to eat lunch with her. Sometimes he made sure they ended up in the same hallway so he could walk with her for a few minutes. He hadn't seen her outside of school at all. He knew it was better this way. Looking back, it was clear that he'd been starting to depend on her. But he'd never counted on it being this hard. He didn't understand what the hell his problem was. Before her, he'd always been alone. Before her, alone had been the easiest way to be.

But now...he missed her. And, instead of the time apart making it easier, each day without her was worse than the one before it. The whole situation pissed him off royally--at himself for being so goddamn weak. At Cacee for making him want her. At the rest of the world for not staying the hell out of his way. Even knowing he was seeing her today didn't improve his mood. It just aggravated him more that his whole body was already wound tight with anticipation.

To make everything way worse, it hadn't been more than two days after the museum trip when Social Services had finally gotten in touch with him. They'd found his mother living in a homeless shelter. His social worker confessed that his mother believed she was working as a spy for some secret government agency. It's why his mom had gone so long without contacting him. She hadn't wanted to put him in danger. Fuck.

Social Services had gotten her checked into another psyche-ward. The hospital had put her on meds, "straightened her out" and promptly released her—all in the course of a week. According to the hospital, they'd given his mom a referral to a halfway house. His mother had never shown up there. Social Services had confirmed she'd checked in twice with them since then. Nobody would give him his mother's contact information—if she even had any. They claimed his mom was, "currently too unstable" to be in his life. He was pretty sure that was code for: "Hey kid, your mother is a nutcase living on the streets again." And now...shit. The longer he went without hearing she was safe, the worse he felt. And the more he desperately wanted the only person who could make him stop thinking about it for a few hours.

Jess let out a low curse as he wandered to the outermost edge of the bus stop and saw Chad Davies. Chad must've spent the night with his cousins. Jess had never bothered learning the names of the brothers, he just thought of them as: Thing One and Thing Two. The first time he'd met Thing One, the boy had bummed a smoke off him and then almost choked to death on it. Instead of laughing it off, he'd gotten sullen and pissy. Both he and his brother had hated Jess ever since--which made no sense whatsoever.

For the most part the brothers left him alone. On the days Chad visited, things were different. Chad was big, around 6'2 to Jess's own 5'11. Nothing about him looked gangly; the guy looked like he spent all his spare time in the gym. Jess had no real urge to tangle with Chad, and no reason to either. So the kid made snide comments every time they saw each other, so what? He'd managed to ignore him all year. Chad caught his eye and leaned over to say something to his cousins. All three boys snorted with laughter.

Jess's temper, always close to the surface these days, simmered. In the weeks since the museum trip he'd been in four fights. It was a miracle he hadn't been caught yet. He could not let Chad bait him.

Chad said loudly, "Hey Renazari, you're wearing those clothes every time I see you. Maybe you should shoot over to Goodwill and pick yourself up something new."