Twenty-Two
THE NEXT THING I HEAR is a squeaky voice whisper, “You’re right, Mom, he is cute when he’s asleep.”
“Joan?” I whisper as my eyes flutter open. I see a face smiling down at me. Out of focus, but I can see raven black hair.
“I told you I wouldn’t always be around to make sure you didn’t get hurt,” Helen quips.
My vision clears. I smile weakly.
“I thought I could scare them off,” I croak.
“You should have woken me up,” she says. “I do have my gun, you know.”
“I didn’t think you’d hear me because of the headphones, because when I—” I stop myself before I can finish the sentence, before I reveal my shameful secret to her.
I try to sit up. Pain shoots through me. I grunt.
“That’s enough of that,” Helen says as she helps me lay back down. “You lay still.”
“God, okay, I admit,
