He stuffed another French fry in his mouth, shoved his plate across the table, and came around. “I don’t see why we have to meet Mom and Dad. I like living with you and Booker.”
Katie had let him stay two nights. Since he was expelled and didn’t have school anyway, Travis had wanted to stay longer. But Katie felt it was time for Travis to make amends with their parents and go home.
“Booker has enough people to look after right now,” she said, thinking of that whole mess with Delbert and the fight. Fortunately, after a little badgering, Booker had made good on their trade and visited Hatcher’s office yesterday, so they knew his hand wasn’t broken.
“Booker doesn’t care if I stay,” Travis argued. “Booker’s cool. He gave me a ride on his Harley this morning.”
Katie tried not to feel a twinge of jealousy. She’d wanted a ride on the bike, too, but Booker had refused to take her until after she’d had the baby. “You’re fourteen, Travis. You need to be at home, and somehow, you need to get back into school.”
“You sound like Mom,” he grumbled under his breath.
Katie didn’t have time to respond. Her parents had reached the booth and were sliding in on the other side.
“You wanted to see us?” her father said, his voice clipped.
“Yes, I—”
Judy showed up almost immediately to offer them coffee, and winked at Katie as she walked away. Obviously she thought Katie and her parents were finally resolving their differences. But this meeting wasn’t about Katie. Her parents had taken their stand where she was concerned, and Katie had no intention of trying to change that. This was about her brother.
“Travis should be at home,” she said.
“He knows what he has to do if he wants to live with us,” her father said.
Her mother didn’t speak. She just kept looking at Katie. Katie got the impression that Tami was curious about the baby, but the table hid most of her belly and she folded her arms to conceal the rest. Her mother hadn’t wanted any part of her pregnancy before, and Katie didn’t feel inclined to share it with her now.
“I was hoping you could go over the rules with him, one more time,” she said.
“We’ve been over and over them,” her father said.
“He has to attend school, pass all his classes and do his chores every Saturday,” her mother recited. “No more rap music, no more coming in late, no more getting into trouble.”
“That doesn’t sound like too much to ask, does it, Travis?” Katie said hopefully. Booker had had a long talk with him on their way into town. He’d told Travis how important it was to get an education and not make the same mistakes he had. And Katie felt Booker’s words had made an impact. Travis respected Booker. She’d sensed a maturing in her brother, a recognition that he’d have to do better.
But despite those inroads, Travis grimaced now, obviously put out by their parents’ attitudes. “How can they tell me what kind of music to listen to?” he asked her.
“Have you heard the lyrics to some of those songs?” their father jumped in, obviously ready to do battle. “I’ve never heard such trash in my life.”
Katie searched for a quick compromise. “They have advisory labels on the worst ones. How about if Travis agrees not to buy or listen to anything with an advisory warning?”
“That’s not good enough,” he said. “Rap is nothing but a bunch of people screaming obscenities into a microphone.”
“Maybe his taste is different,” Katie pointed out, and to her surprise, her mother agreed.
“I think we could bend there, Don.”
Don glanced at Tami, clearly not pleased with her defection, but without her support, he gave in, too. “Fine. But I’d better not find one CD with an advisory warning. Not one.”
“Okay, Travis?” Katie said.
“They’ve given me an eleven-o’clock curfew on the weekend,” he complained. “All my friends can stay out until midnight.”
“I’m not going to change that until you show me you can be responsible about staying out later, young man,” their father said.
“How long would he have to keep out of trouble and come in at eleven o’clock before you’d trust him to stay out an hour later?” Katie asked.
Their parents exchanged a look. “I don’t think he’s capable of—” Don started, but Tami interrupted with, “Three months.”
“Can you handle three months in order to get your curfew extended?” Katie asked her brother.
Travis shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Great.”
Judy came with Don and Tami’s coffee, and Katie pushed her empty plate aside. “If you both keep your bargains, things should be easier around the house. Booker tried to tell Travis how—”
“Booker has no right to tell Travis anything,” her father snapped.
Katie felt her spine stiffen. “Booker has been good to Travis. He’s been good to me, too.”
“Booker’s no better than Andy. He was tossed into jail for fighting the other night.”
Katie’s fingernails curled into her palms. “Don’t pass judgment on something you know nothing about.”
“I know enough to—”
Tami touched Don’s arm. When he fell silent, she looked at Katie. “What about you, Kate?”
“What about me?” Katie said.
“Have you learned your lesson?”
Katie thought of the depression and desperation that had nearly destroyed her after her parents had closed their door in her face. How badly she’d needed a kind word from her mother. How hard it was to accept the fact that her parents didn’t love her enough to forgive her.
She was still struggling with that one. “I’ve learned a lot of lessons lately,” she said softly.
“So you’re ready to come home?”
Katie heard the hopeful note in her mother’s voice, but Tami’s offer was far too late and far too conditional. “I’m not coming home, Mom. Ever. You asked me about lessons. Well, I’ve learned that people aren’t always what they seem. And that I can’t count on you to be there for me if I ever make a mistake.” She felt a faint smile curve her lips. “Maybe when I’m perfect, I’ll give you a call.”
Tami’s cup hit its saucer with a clank, spilling coffee, but Katie ignored it. She’d done what she’d come to do for her brother.