I don’t have a response, but I don’t need one as a table is flipped from the same people the ruckus had come from earlier and before I know it, guards are rushing in and putting an end to today’s visit. “Thanks for coming, Henley,” Gina murmurs as she stands and waits patiently with her hands behind her back. “You’re a good kid and I hope to God that you can somehow save yourself because there’s no way in hell Anton is going to let you go.”
A guard reaches Gina and instantly starts cuffing her. “I’ll try. I’m not ready to give up yet.”
“I knew you were a fighter,” Gina murmurs with a proud grin and not a moment later, she’s taken away and disappears into a crowd of orange jumpsuits all being led out of the room, leaving me feeling as though I finally have a proper understanding of the woman who gave me away, and I couldn’t possibly be more grateful.
Chapter 10
“Ugh,” Tully groans, dropping down onto the couch and throwing herself against the backrest. “This is complete and utter bullshit.”
Aria jumps up from the ground, spinning around to point at Tully in horror as though she’s some kind of walking disease. “You said a bad word,” she squeals, jumping up and down before promptly bursting into a fit of laughter.
Tully rolls her eyes as we both watch on in amusement. “Well, you better block those ears of yours because I’m about to say a few more and they’re going to be the really bad ones.”
Aria gasps, slapping her hands over her ears as her laughter dies. Her reaction is like watching a fully blown balloon deflating into nothing. Aria bolts from the room and into the kitchen, and I can’t help but laugh as the very next words come pouring from her mouth in a loud, incessant howl. “VIOLET! TULLY SAID ‘BULLSHIT’.”
I turn to Tully with a smirk. “See what you’ve done? That’s somehow going to get back to my dad and I’m going to be the one getting in trouble for it.”
Tully rolls her eyes. “Trust me, that kid knows words a lot worse than ‘bullshit.’ I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the one at school who teaches all the other kids how to curse.”
Something tells me Tully is right but I’m not about to admit it. “What’s going on with you anyway? What has your panties in a twist?”
Violet walks into the living room with Ari hanging off of her. “Yeah, I was about to ask the same thing,” Violet says. “You’ve been in a foul mood all day.”
Tully huffs at her mother. “I have not been in a foul mood.”
“Uh huh,” she smirks, making a wide grin spread across my face. I mean, there’s nothing better than when Violet puts one of her twins in their place. “You slammed the bathroom door so hard I thought it was about to break free from the hinges, then you stomped around your room like a herd of elephants, huffing and puffing, and then you snapped at-”
“Ok, ok,” Tully cuts in with another huff. “So, I’m in a little bit of a mood. There’s no need to point it out.”
I shake my head as I turn to face her on the couch, crossing my legs under myself to give her my full attention. “You’re in more than just a ‘mood.’ What’s going on?”
Tully rolls her eyes and flops back into the couch, hating nothing more than talking about her ‘feelings’, though I guess that’s not quite accurate. She loves talking about herself and loves telling me all about her love life, but only ever when it’s something good. When something has her down, it’s like trying to get information out of a brick wall. “My letter still hasn’t come from BHU and it’s been forever. I’m sick of waiting.”
“I’m sure it-”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Violet laughs, grinning down at her daughter. “That letter came over a month ago. I put it in your room so you’d see it when you came home, just like I do with everything else.”
Tully gapes up at her mother. “What?”
As if it’s the most amusing thing in the world, Violet can’t hold back her laughter. “Did you not see it? I put it right on your bed.”
Tully shoots up from the couch and flies down the hallway like a flash of lightning. I hear as she barges through her bedroom door and it rebounds off the adjoining wall only to slam shut once again with Tully on the other side.
Things start getting thrown around and it’s not long before she’s screaming down the hallway. “I can’t find it.”
“I put it on your bed.”
“Well, I’ve kind of used it a few times since then.”
Violet rolls her eyes and sits down on the armrest of the couch. “You do realize that if your room wasn’t such a disaster, you wouldn’t be having this problem.”