Chapter 10
After hanging out with Grant the last three nights in a row, I felt like I was walking on air. We hadn’t so much as kissed, yet I felt more sexually charged than I’d been my whole life. I consistently reminded myself to be friends with him, that he was my repair guy, and there was no need to complicate things.
I didn’t even have time to watch Netflix, much less have a relationship with someone. No matter how appealing it sounded.
After finishing the school day, I decided I would finally tackle the hole in the wall I had been avoiding for the last couple of weeks. I moved a plant in front of it in hopes of not having any students play with dusty drywall, but I knew I had been procrastinating too much.
I fumbled with the lid on the spackle jar, cracking a nail in the process. I got the purple cap off and played with the pink putty inside, spreading some on the new spatula I bought.
I referenced the YouTube video on my phone, glancing back and forth, trying to see if I did it right. I smeared the putty on the wall till it looked satisfactory enough to let it dry. I took a step back for a better view.
It looked rough. Actually, it looked similar to the stain on the other wall a student had last year caused by spreading purple Play-Dough everywhere and letting it dry.
I giggled at my sad attempt at wall patching and gave thanks that I never went into this line of work. I shoved the plant back in front of it and made a mental note to come back tomorrow to sand and paint it.
I heard my phone buzz. It was my mom. I breathed in deeply through my nose and out of my mouth, preparing myself for the conversation to come.
“Hey, Mom.” I heard her fumbling with something in the background. “Hey, Lil June. You never answered my text the other day!”
I wasn’t sure if I had purposefully ignored her or simply couldn’t process her nagging tacked onto everything else lately, but either way, I paid no attention to her message.
“I didn’t see what you said. What was it about?” No need to ask; I knew what it was about.
“Well, I sent you that Realtor’s number so you can list the house. You need to sell while the market is good! You know interest rates are low, and buyers are—” I blocked out the rest, sick of the same old story. More money meant more happiness to her. Nothing else could get through to them.
“Mom. We went over this time and time again. I am redoing the entire place to live in. I don’t want to sell. I don’t care about the market, or rates, or anything.”
I heard her click her tongue against her teeth. “There are bigger things with selling this house that you would not understand, not everything is that simple. Besides, You haven’t even done any work on that property in a year.”
I had no idea what she meant by it not being simple. To me it was quite simple: Inherit a house you loved growing up, fix it up, live in it, the end.
“Actually, I hired a contractor. One who consistently shows up on time and does a great job.” One who has been running through my mind for the last two weeks, but I’m not ready to confront that just yet.
“Who could you have possibly found that would do that for a good price?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Grant Dawes. He’s the best one over here.”
She let out a small gasp. “June. He’s not a good man; the girls at the club have told me what he’s done. He didn’t even finish high school. Marie says that he had done some terrible things before he moved here. You shouldn’t be anywhere near him. It’s not good for our image.” Our image? We had no image. And I would rather live in a small ugly house with a family who actually loves each other than a large mansion with strangers you are related to.
“All right, Mom, this isn’t productive anymore. I think it’s best if we agree to disagree here.”
“Now listen, Ju—” I hung up before she could finish her sentence. I immediately opened up my text thread with Ashley.
Me: What are you doing tonight? I need to get out.
∞∞∞
I might regret telling Ashley I needed to leave my apartment tonight, but if you were looking for a distraction or a good time, Ashley was your girl. She wasn’t exactly a drinker, but she did enjoy a party, and liked to get me out any chance she got. She always called me a hermit crab and poked fun at my tendency to stay home and watch movies.
But once in a blue moon, I was willing to let her talk me into it, and since school was almost done—and after the previous phone call with my mother—I needed to get out of the house.
I walked into Jaded Pub and saw Ashley at one of the tall tables off to the side. I waved to her and made my way to the counter level barstool.
Our waitress came by to take our order. She brought me a water bottle and Ashley a craft beer. She insisted I expand my palate, but I enjoyed my routines, so craft beer was out of the question for me.
“So, what’s got you wanting to go out tonight?” I took a sip of my water and sighed. “Mom’s pressuring me to sell again. I think I just hit a breaking point after so long. She said I ‘wouldn’t understand’ and it’s more complicated than I know. I just feel like she still thinks I’m a child with no life experience.”
Ashley provided a sympathetic nod and a pat on my arm. “Well, just think about it; you won’t have to worry about it anymore after a couple of months.” That’s true. By August, this place would be wrapped up. Judging by how fast Grant had been working, it might be sooner than that. I ignored the feeling in my stomach that I felt almost disappointed he would be done so quickly and gone from the house.