Social Themes
My mother might be dead, but she was still my mother. I knew that, even if my dad seemed to have forgotten.
The door opened and two guys with ski masks on walked in. One walked straight to me. The other went straight to Lacey at her register. As they approached, I saw the guns come up. Lacey, Cam and I froze. The room suddenly went dead quiet except for the sound of hamburgers sizzling in the back and the buzz of the overhead fluorescent lights. I'd never even noticed the hum of the fluorescent lights before.
Justin looked over at me. Then he looked at the baby. But he turned and started up the old river road. "You said you just wanted to see her," he said.
"So I lied."
"Evie, you can't just take someone else's kid."
"I didn't steal someone else's kid, Justin," I said. "She's mine and I'm keeping her."
She drops the rifle to her shoulder. "Like I'd let you run around the forest with a loaded gun." She aims the rifle at the ground, and it occurs to me she's going to fire it. She thinks it is unloaded because that's how she keeps the gun, but I'm thinking about the cartridge I loaded, and I can't get the words out in time. She squeezes the trigger.
I felt strong. And angry. Angrier than I've ever been. His bare, wet chest collided with my palms, and I shoved him—hard. He staggered and fell backward.
