Chapter 8 - The Diner Booth
The vinyl booth at the twenty-four-hour diner was cracked, patched with black electrical tape, and smelled faintly of maple syrup and stale coffee. It was the best place Andre had been all day.
Devin sat on one side of the table, staring down at an untouched plate of French fries. Maya sat next to Andre on the other side, sipping slowly from a chocolate milkshake.
"Eat something, Dev," Andre said gently, pushing the basket closer to the teenager. "You haven't had anything since breakfast."
Devin shook his head, keeping his eyes glued to the fake wood-grain table. "I should’ve said something earlier. About the tickets. She told me two weeks ago that Maya wasn't coming. She told me not to tell you because it was a 'surprise budget adjustment.'"
Andre paused, his fork resting against the rim of his plate. He didn't raise his voice. "Why didn't you come to me, Devin?"
"Because she’s my mom!" Devin choked out, tears finally spilling over his eyelids. "She said if I told you, you’d cancel the trip and make a huge scene! She said Maya didn't even like the beach anyway! I wanted to go to Hawaii, Dad... I really wanted to go. And I let her do it."
Maya looked across the table at her stepbrother. The anger that had been simmering in her eyes all afternoon softened. "Devin... it's okay."
"No, it’s not okay!" Devin wiped his face with the back of his grey hoodie. "You’re my sister. We’ve lived together for five years. I knew it was messed up, and I just kept my mouth shut because I wanted to learn how to surf. I’m a terrible brother."
"You’re sixteen," Andre said firmly, leaning across the table until Devin was forced to look him in the eyes. "You’re a kid. It wasn't your job to police your mother’s integrity. That was my job, and I dropped the ball by trusting her too much."
"What happens now?" Devin asked. "Her firm is gonna bail her out in the morning. She’s gonna come back to the house. She’s gonna be out of her mind."
"She won't be coming anywhere near that house," Andre said, pulling a folded legal document from his jacket. "While the deputies were taking my statement, I called Judge Miller. Emergency temporary restraining order is already in the system. She gets thirty minutes with a police escort on Tuesday to collect her clothing and personal effects. That’s it."
"And the house?" Maya asked quietly.
"We sell it," Andre replied without hesitation. "We split the equity down the middle like the law says, and we find a place that feels like a home, not a showroom where you have to earn your right to exist."
Devin looked up, a flicker of panic crossing his face. "What about me? My biological dad is in Atlanta and he hasn't called me in four years. Am I... am I supposed to live with her?"
Andre reached across the table and grabbed Devin’s wrist. "You listen to me, Devin. You didn't choose your mother's actions today. If you want to stay with me and Maya, my door is open. I raised you since you were eleven. I’m not throwing you away either."
Devin let out a ragged breath, putting his face in his hands as he broke down in quiet, relieved tears.
For the first time all day, a sense of real peace settled over the three of them.
Then Andre’s phone buzzed on the table.
May you like
It was a text from an unknown number.
You think you’re smart, Andre? Check the corporate LLC accounts. Good luck paying for a lawyer with zero dollars.
