Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 67 of 70

Friday came fast. Violetta stood in the kitchen in the jacket Lymber had bought her at the mall. She was going to meet Jordie at the park. Lymber said she would drive her there and pick her up at seven. Violetta said, Mom, I can walk. Lymber said, I'm driving you. Violetta didn't fight it. Lymber dropped her at the curb by the park. She watched her daughter walk to the gazebo where a boy with black hair was already waiting. Lymber recognized the shape of him from Violetta's phone screen. She drove home and looked at the clock every ten minutes. Paul told her to sit down. She sat down. She stood up. At six forty-five she got back in the car. She pulled up to the same curb at seven. The gazebo lights were on. Violetta and Jordie stood on the steps. He was talking close to her face. Lymber kept both hands on the wheel. She saw him lean in. She saw him kiss her daughter on the mouth. It was short. Violetta didn't pull back. Jordie said something Lymber couldn't hear and Violetta laughed once, quiet, the way Lymber used to laugh at seventeen when a boy told her she was pretty. Then Violetta walked to the car. She got in and pulled the door shut. She buckled her seatbelt. She looked straight ahead. Lymber said nothing. She put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb. Violetta touched her own lip once with two fingers and dropped her hand into her lap. Lymber knew what that felt like. She knew the boy's words were already stuck in her daughter's head, the way Paul's first words to her had stuck, the way words like that stayed for years. She thought about saying wait. She thought about saying two weeks, you promised. She said nothing. She drove home with both hands on the wheel and let her daughter keep the quiet.