Page 101 of Mistaken Prejudice

“Miles!” It was Dad’s voice, authoritative and full of warning, but I didn’t care. Instead of stopping, I scanned Elliot’s face. The way his brows were pulled together in distress, like a victim. That’s what he always was, a victim. A pitiful man who had no integrity. He was the one who told Andrei shit about me, and now he was pretending to be all innocent?

“What? You think I don’t know? You think I’m blind to how you handle even a little bit of stress?” I mocked him. “I know everything there is to know, Elliot, and you’re the last person I’ll be listening to when it comes to dealing with shit. I probably turned out as fucked up as I did thanks to you. If only it was Dad’s DNA that ran through my blood.”

“Enough!” Dad pushed me away from Papa, and only now did I realize how close I stood to him. I was practically looming over him.

“No matter how mad you are, you will not speak to him like this. Ever,” he said in his professional tone that was always reserved for the accused. To the defendant in the interrogation stand. Not to me.

“Fine.” I didn’t want to stay there and watch Papa cry. I didn’t care. It wasn’t his right to be sad. It was my relationship, not his, and yet, he ruined it.

Chapter 30

Miles

I spent Sunday in bed. Andrei didn’t answer any of my texts or calls. At first, I wanted to go to his house, but my parents didn’t allow it. They said I needed to give him space.

And as the day turned to night, so did my willingness to go. Impulses turned to despair that sat heavily on my body to the point I couldn’t move.

I didn’t want to move.

I was tired and drained that even opening my eyes felt meaningless, so I didn’t. I kept them closed, hoping the heaviness that found home in my chest would go away.

“Mon lapin,” Papa said as he moved strands of sweaty hair away from my face. I foggily remembered the way I talked to him. I didn’t mean to be so cruel, but I was mad. I wanted to apologize, but I was too tired for that.

“How are you feeling?”

I hummed my response, wrapping the blanket tighter around my cold body.

“I need to go out for a couple of hours, but while I’m gone, Shay-Lee said he’ll come to visit.” Shay-Lee? I forgot about him. I think he called, but I didn’t pick up.

“Okay, thank you,” I said quietly before Papa kissed my forehead.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” he asked as he handed me two pills and a glass of water.

“Yeah. Don’t worry,” I said after I swallowed my medicine. I couldn’t remember the last time someone handed me my meds.

That was a lie.

I clearly remembered the last time it happened. No matter how much I wished to forget.

But this was a different case.

Medication wouldn’t help. Swallowing pills wouldn’t bring Andrei back. And yet, I took them. I took them because that’s what Papa wanted me to do. He couldn’t understand my sadness had a reason. It’d been almost a week, and Andrei still wouldn’t talk to me. But I knew that everything would be fine once Andrei loved me again.

But could he? Could he love someone who was not perfect? Someone as sick and fucked as me?

“Dr. Schwartz is abroad right now, but he’ll be back today. I’ll call him and set an appointment for tomorrow. All right?”

I nodded. “All right.”

He kissed my forehead one more time before he left the room, not closing the door behind him.

***

Shay-Lee’s presence made me feel a little bit better.

He was warm, sweet, and funny, and most of all, he didn’t try to make me get out of bed as Papa did.

“So, there we were, in the middle of science lab, when Don pulled out…” He paused and looked at me, building the tension. “Are you ready for it?” he asked, his leg nudging my own.