Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
SILAS
FIFTEEN YEARS OLD
Sweat dripped down Silas’s spine as he pushed the shopping cart across the parking lot of Crimson Creek Market & Deli. The elderly lady hobbled slowly at his side, and he forced himself into keeping her pace.
He angled the cart up to the trunk of her car and loaded her groceries in. She patted his arm as she placed a few coins into his palm, her wrinkled face tripping up in a genuine smile. “Here you go, young man. I sure appreciate you helping me out.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” he mumbled, trying not to eye how much she was giving him because he didn’t want to be like that, but it was really difficult to stop himself.
Money was tight.
No matter how much his momma and Meems told him money didn’t matter, he could feel the stress rolling off them.
Could hear them muttering under their breaths about the rent being late again, and he didn’t think there could be enough coupons clipped in the world that would cover the cost of feeding him and his siblings, though he’d taken to sneaking the expired food his boss tossed into the dumpster each night into his backpack.
Most of it seemed decent.
His momma worked at the steakhouse almost every night, but it was the slow season for tourists, so the owner kept sending her home.
So Silas had taken it upon himself to pick up every extra shift that he could, and he made sure to walk every person out just in case they’d give him an extra tip.
He was pretty sure the thirty cents the old lady had given him wasn’t going to make a dent, but he figured she probably didn’t have a whole lot extra, either.
He made sure she was safely settled into the driver’s seat of her car before he turned to push the cart back toward the sliding door of the market.
The building was wood with a pitched roof like most of those around town, its awning painted red.
He was halfway there when he heard a rumble that made the hairs lift on the nape of his neck.
He knew that sound.
It was a sound that made his skin crawl.
He didn’t want to turn around when the truck came to idle behind him but, for some reason, he couldn’t stop himself.
He turned, and the passenger-side window was rolled down, his dad grinning at him through the opening. “There’s my boy.”
Silas wanted to scoff.
He wasn’t his boy. He didn’t want anything to do with him. Silas hadn’t seen him around town in at least a year. That was the way he wanted it.
“What are you doin’ spending your summer vacation slogging away here for?”
Silas didn’t answer him. His dad didn’t have any right to know what was going on with them. Not when he hadn’t given his momma a penny in all these years.
“Got something for your momma.”
Silas cringed, silently berating himself for even thinking about her in front of him, like maybe he’d plucked her face right out of his mind.
“She doesn’t want anything from you.” Silas hoped his voice didn’t shake when he said it.
“Ah, I’m pretty sure she’s gonna want this.”
Silas wanted to tell him to go to hell, but he got caught on the small paper bag his dad waved between them.
He looked around the parking lot, his thrumming heart rising to his throat, feeling like he was doing something illicit as he reluctantly edged forward and accepted the bag through the window.
The paper crinkled as he slowly peeled it open to look at its contents.
His stomach flipped over.
There had to be five hundred dollars inside.
“Whole lot more where that came from.” His dad paused like he was waiting for Silas to say something before he filled in the silence. “My boy shouldn’t be working at a place like this. Working his fingers to the bone without any reward. You gotta be smart like your old man.”
Smart was about the last thing Silas had ever considered his father, but he couldn’t deny the relief he felt at holding all that money.
“I’ll be back next week with more. Probably shouldn’t tell your momma where you got that, but I’m trusting that you make sure she gets it.”
It was the first time Silas thought maybe his dad had something good in him, giving him this and thinking about their family.
“I will,” he finally managed.
“That’s my boy,” his father said before he drove away.
A clatter of voices and laughter carried through the small house as Silas stepped through the door.
He scuffed the mud off his boots before he went clomping into the kitchen.
“Silas! You’re home!” Elena ditched the big bowl of dough she was working with her hands, jumping off the small stool where she stood beside Meems.
She threw herself against him, the way she did every time he came home.
His chest felt full as he hugged her back. “Hey, Lena.”
“How was your day? Did you make a lot of money? Meems and I are making cherry pie for dessert. We know it’s your favorite.”
Elena’s head was up to his waist, his little sister getting ready to turn eight.
Meems hummed from where she swayed at the counter. “That’s right. We figured our Silas has been working hard all day, so he deserves a special treat.”
Unease rolled through his stomach, the money he had hidden at the bottom of his backpack feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds. He swallowed it down and ignored it.
“What do you think?” Elena beamed.
“I think it’s the best surprise ever,” he told her.
She laughed before she went blazing back to their grandmother’s side and climbed onto the short stool so she could reach.
“Hi, Silas!” Brody came running into the kitchen, two Transformers in his hands. “You want to play?”
“Give your brother a minute to relax, Brody. He’s been working outside most of the day and he needs a little breather,” Meems instructed.
“Ah, man,” Brody whined.
Silas roughed his fingers through his little brother’s hair. “How about after I take a shower we go play ball out front?”
“Deal!” Brody went running right back out.
Meems tsked. “That boy has so much energy he’s liable to tear down the house.”
Chuckling, Silas shuffled the rest of the way into the kitchen and pecked a kiss to Meems’s cheek.
“Missed you,” she said.
His chest tightened as he dipped into the fridge and pulled out the almost empty bottle of orange juice.
One he’d snagged from the dumpster two days ago.
“Missed you, too. Where’s Mom?” he mumbled.
“Getting ready for her shift.”
He spun the cap off the bottle and tossed the whole thing back, guzzling down the cold juice in three big gulps.
He sent Meems a big grin when he saw that she was giving him the side-eye. “Already almost empty,” he said, tossing it in the trash before he ducked out and went wandering down the hall toward his mother’s room at the back.
He poked his head inside the open door.
She was at the mirror, pulling the big curlers from her hair. She was dressed in black jeans and a black undershirt, but she hadn’t put on the black western shirt that was part of her uniform yet.
“There’s my sweet Silas,” she said with her soft smile through the mirror.
“Hey, Mom,” he muttered, not sure why he felt so nervous as he stepped inside and crossed the room, welcoming her tight hug.
“How was your day?”
“It was really good.” He pretty much stammered it.
She must have sensed it because she pulled back with a frown, studying his face. She had to look up now since he was an inch taller than her.
“What’s going on?” She’d always been able to tell when something was up with him.
When he was upset or sad or secretly excited.
He wavered, unsure what to do or what to say. He’d always hated lying to her. He knew he wasn’t good at it and knew even more that it wasn’t right.
But he knew she needed this even though she’d refuse it if she knew where it came from.
So he tried to twist his mouth into a genuine grin. “I got a big bonus today.”
Her frown deepened, but not in a bad way. “A bonus?”
“Yep. Mr. Barker said I was doing such a good job that he wanted to give me something extra.”
“That’s amazing, Silas. Of course he thinks you’re doing a good job. You’re the hardest working, most caring person I know.”
His chest stretched with guilt, and he hid his face by kneeling to set his backpack onto the worn carpet, his hands shaking as he unzipped it and dug to the bottom to pull out the bag.
Standing, he extended it to her.
Confusion traipsed through her expression as her eyes darted between the bag and his face.
“Take it,” he urged, and she seemed wary as she took it.
A soft breath of surprise left her when she peeked inside.
“Silas, this is…” She couldn’t seem to find the right words before she was looking at him deep. “This is a lot of money.”
He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “It’s for you.”
Her frown deepened. “No, honey, you’ve been working hard this whole summer and you deserve this.”
“No way, Mom. It’s for our family. I know we need it.”
Moisture made her eyes glassy, and the guilt made him feel like he was going to pass out.
But she needed it badly. He knew she did. So any guilt he felt was worth it.
“Please, Mom…I need you to take it. You work so hard to take care of all of us.”
She reached out and set her hand on his chest. Whispered, “Silas, my sweet boy. It’s your heart.”
That heart felt like it was going to bust.