“Ugh,” Hannah groaned loudly as she followed. “Don’t make me chase you. Fight me like a woman.”
“You’re crazy and I’m going to report you to child services,” Shatford declared, walking backward down the darkened hall so she could keep an eye on Hannah.
“Oooh,” Hannah mocked. “Scary.”
Shatford quickened her pace.
“You’re just mad because I caught you. And I will tell every person I can find what I heard you say. And then we can all talk about your ugly, cunty soul together, you self-righteous motherfucker.” Hannah remained calm in her delivery, making sure to enunciate every word so Shatford heard her clearly.
Who knew how long this woman’s reign of terror had gone on? The idea of a school administrator not only believing the horrible things she’d said but actually acting on them filled Hannah with a fiery vengeance she didn’t know she had.
She was in charge of children.
Hannah was so focused on her quarry that she didn’t register Johnny had entered the hallway with them until he grabbed her by her biceps and looked her directly in the eye.
She scowled at him and leaned over so she could see Shatford, who was nearly running away from her at this point.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Johnny tried to get her attention. “What’s…” He shook his head, trying not to smile. “What’s your plan here?”
“To make her regret all of the choices she’s made that brought her to this moment,” Hannah replied seriously.
Was it mean?
Yes.
But maybe someone needed to be the mean one every once in a while.
“She’s crazy. She just started attacking me out of nowhere,” Shatford cried, turning on the waterworks now that she had an audience.
“Oh, fuck you.” Hannah shook her head in disbelief. Was she for real?
Johnny still held her arms in a gentle grip. But he also looked like he was holding back laughter,
“Is this funny for you?” Hannah asked. “Really?”
“Keep her away from me or I will call the police.” Shatford had made it to the exit and threw out her threat with about as much believability as a snowball in a tire fire.
“C’mon, Shatford,” Hannah called, taunting her. “Why are you running away? I thought you wanted to use your words. Why are you so scared?”
Shatford sputtered as she found the door handle, and then she left the building.
Hannah glowered at the empty space where the vice principal used to be standing. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll freeze to death.”
“That’s dark, James,” Johnny commented.
“Finding it hard to care, Torres,” she countered.
He put his hands on his hips, a lopsided smile on his handsome face, and shook his head at her.
She shrugged. “I’m not even sorry.”
His lips quirked up and he hooked an arm around her neck—much the same way that Ana did to Piper—and led her back to the gym.
“Don’t want to draw too much attention, huh?” he said.
They reached the door to the concession and he removed his arm but turned to look her in the eye. His dark eyebrows tipping up.
“What were you thinking?” he asked, sounding amused.
Which was good. Because if he’d been upset about it, she would have had a few things to say to him as well.
“You know the saying,” she replied lazily. “Stick and stones may break my bones, but verbal abuse is trauma that lasts forever.”
He arched an eyebrow. “That’s not how it goes.”
“Yes, it is,” she replied seriously.
He looked around, the corner of his mouth once again showing his amusement. He returned his gaze to her and sobered slightly. “What did she say that set you off?”
“She called your brother an anchor baby.” Just saying it made her get hot again. Shawn’s defeated posture, the disconnect in his eyes. It obviously wasn’t the first time he’d heard that.
Johnny took a deep breath and nodded. He pressed his lips together into a hard line, keeping his composure.
“Thank you,” he said to her. “For saying something.”
“I said all kinds of things. And I’ll say them again if given the chance.”
Johnny glanced over her shoulder and lifted his chin. “Get back to Sarahi. She saved your seat and she’ll want to know what happened.”
“Do I tell her the whole truth?”
“And nothing but.”
Hannah smirked and backed away from Johnny. She turned around and made it back to her seat. Unfortunately, she felt dozens of pairs of eyes on her. That probably wasn’t great. She didn’t need anyone looking too closely.
But she still wouldn’t go back and do it differently.
Maybe that made her a terrible person.
Maybe that was all she was ever going to be.
She sat down by Sarahi and gave her the details. To which Sarahi had a lot to say. Most of it in Spanish. After a few minutes, Shawn came to sit by them.
He sat very close to Hannah, his leg pressed against hers, but didn’t say anything.
For some reason, she understood anyway. It was a thanks, an acknowledgement, and a comfort. She wished she could do more. Make it so that he’d never had to hear those ugly words.
But Hannah knew how wounding words could be. That’s why it was her weapon of choice.
She reached over and dug through Piper’s coat pockets until she found the ugly hat she’d made for Shawn.
She spread it out gently on her knee. He glanced down at it. She handed it to him.
“Here. I made you this.”
He sniffed a laugh and immediately put the blue and yellow mottled mess on his head.
“How do I look?” he asked, grinning at her.
“Like I tried my best,” Hannah said honestly, with a disappointed grimace.
He bumped her with his shoulder and chuckled.
By the time the game ended, it seemed no one remembered the drama during halftime. The spectators swarmed their players on the court and made their getaways.
Hannah waited on the bleachers since she knew Piper would want to shower first.
Shawn waited with her.
“Shouldn’t you be helping clean the kitchen?” she teased.
Shawn just shrugged and remained pensive.
Sarahi followed Ana back to the locker rooms and then returned to Hannah and Shawn. About that time, Johnny joined them as well.
“Do you like my hat?” Shawn asked Johnny.
Johnny narrowed his eyes at Hannah. “Where’s mine?”
Her mouth dropped open. “I thought you were kidding.”
“That doesn’t sound like me.” He shook his head.
“Okay, well, it’s gonna be a few days. And also, it’s going to suck. So you’ve been warned.”
He cracked a sideways smile.
“Hannah,” Sarahi said gently. “We were wondering if you and Piper would like to join our family for lunch today.”
Hannah’s mouth opened in soft surprise. Her eyes darted from Sarahi to Shawn to Johnny, looking for confirmation.
Johnny nodded, as if reading her mind.
“I’ll have to check with Piper, but…” She lifted a shoulder. “That sounds really fun.”
And she wasn’t kidding.
How had that happened?
Had…had she made friends?
“I’ll text you the address?” Johnny asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “That would be great. Thanks.”
He held her eyes for a beat and then smiled, like he couldn’t quite believe this was happening either.
She was deep in thought when Piper emerged from the locker room.
“Hey,” Hannah said, approaching her little sister. “How do you feel about going over to have lunch with Ana’s family?”
Piper jumped up and down. “Yes! Please tell me you said yes.” She tilted her head, worried Hannah had said no. Which made sense. Hannah sa
id no a lot.
“I said yes.”
Piper breathed a sigh of relief and skipped to the door of the school.
Hannah wasn’t sure what she’d expected.
Family dinner sounded intimate.
And this was.
To an extent.
But it was also very large.
She couldn’t be sure, but she guessed there was probably close to twenty people in the house.
It was a large two-story older home with a brick structure. When they’d pulled up outside, Hannah thought they had it wrong.
For one, it was in Rogers Park on the far north side of the city. She double- and triple-checked the address. She and Piper stared out the car windows, wondering together if they should go up to the door before Shawn opened the front door and waved them inside.
After that, it was a lot to take in.
The house’s interior had obviously been completely refurbished. Glossy wood floors, granite countertops, trendy light fixtures.
And it smelled amazing.
Like all of her favorite foods that she never knew she loved.
Very quickly she was ushered into the kitchen and put to work slicing peppers.
Shawn actually showed her the ropes on that. She had no idea where Piper had ended up.
Through the kitchen window she could see the snow-covered backyard. It had a high fence and was large enough to host this entire party out there comfortably. She pictured them there during warmer months.
It was a surreal experience.
The last time she’d been around her family in a large group setting, it had been the Fourth of July and her fifteenth birthday.
Her mother’s then-boyfriend, Blaze (no, really, that was his name), had started a fight with her uncles about whether or not the Indianapolis Colts were the greatest football team in the NFL. And long live Peyton Manning.
The cops came and arrested damn near everyone on outstanding warrants.
Yep. That was life back then.
But this family? They actually seemed to like each other.
And while some of the adults were drinking alcoholic beverages, no one was drunk.
The music they had on in the background was a variety of old-school hip-hop, modern pop, country, and some blues. It was eccentric and unpredictable and fun.
“What church do you go to?” Carmen asked Hannah when she went to hand her the bowl of sliced peppers.
Hannah’s eyes darted to Shawn’s, but he made an “O” with his mouth and ducked out of the room.
“Uh...”
“She doesn’t go to church, Mama,” Sarahi interrupted, handing Hannah a bowl of apples. “Peel and slice these.”
“Yes.” Hannah took the bowl and turned back to her previous station.
“Who doesn’t go to church?” Carmen asked, sounding offended.
If this was a test, Hannah was going to fail.
“Sometimes people don’t go to church,” said one of Sarahi’s sisters. Hannah wanted to say her name was Daniela?
“Did you hear about the church the Diegos were going to?” the other sister, Mia, asked. “They had to leave. It got too wild for them.”
“Ah, I thought they really liked it there,” Carmen replied.
“I guess they are really strict.” Daniela leaned against the counter at Hannah’s side and stole a slice of apple, popping it in her mouth with a wink.
“What’s so bad about being strict?” Carmen asked with accusation.
“No, Mama,” Daniella continued. “They spank their wives and stuff.”
Hannah’s back straightened and she turned wide eyes to Daniela.
“So? What’s so bad about a good spanking?” Sarahi asked.
The kitchen went stone silent.
Sarahi, oblivious to what she’d just said, took the rice and peppers to the dining room.
Hannah’s gaze darted back to Daniela, whose eyes were just as big and round as Hannah’s. They both cracked up.
“No,” Carmen scolded them with a finger wag. “We will never speak of this again.” Then she too left the kitchen.
Hannah, Daniela, and Mia burst out laughing.
JOHNNY
“You look a little overwhelmed.” Johnny took a seat on the stairs beside Hannah.
She cracked a smile. “You’re not wrong. But it’s not a bad feeling.”
He handed her a sparkling water, hoping for another soft smile. He was rewarded.
“I guess I had no idea Piper was such an extrovert. No wonder she’s been so pissy lately.” Hannah cracked open the can and took a drink.
“What about you? Introvert or extrovert?” he asked.
She took a deep breath and hummed lightly. “I think I’m one of those ambiverts. I’m comfortable with crowds and people and attention, but I also really enjoy my alone time.”
“My family didn’t scare you too much, did they?” he asked, knowing it would take a lot more than that to scare Hannah.
She chuckled and then scrunched up her nose. “Not scare, no. But I know more about your cousin’s sex life than I ever wanted.”
“Ah, yeah. Sometimes that happens.” He scratched his chin and leaned his elbows back against the stairs.
“Sarahi’s husband is…”
Johnny nodded, rolling his lips inward. “Yep.”
Hannah turned her head to address him directly. “He’s very white.”
“So white,” Johnny agreed, trying not to laugh.
“I don’t know why that surprised me,” Hannah said.
“Truthfully, it surprised us all at first. But he treats her like a queen, so…” He ended it with a shrug.
“They’ve been together a while?”
“Since high school.” Johnny thought back to that time. “We grew up in the same village. It wasn’t an easy life. I think that’s one of the reasons why her husband dotes on her and spoils her. He’s trying to make up for the shit hand she was born with.”
Hannah sat quiet, thoughtful, before she swiveled on the stairs to face him. She rested her back against the wooden banister, her bent knee resting against the stair.
“But this house doesn’t reflect a bad upbringing,” she pointed out curiously.
He nodded and cleared his throat. “You’ll understand this better than anyone.” He adjusted his can in his hands and rested his forearms on his bent knees. “For some people, there’s a hard line between Life Before and Life After. We grew up poor. Our parents were poor. We came here when we were kids, and they seized an opportunity. Carmen is a doctor now. She married a doctor. They have this nice house and live in the best neighborhood in the city.”
He turned to her and smiled sadly. “But there’s always going to be the memories of life before.”
“That’s what I call it too,” she said, voice rough.
Sometimes when he looked at her, he could swear she was being born right in front of him. Never had he met a person so dedicated to their own growth that he could witness it in real time.
But that was Hannah Lee, wasn’t it?
A surprise, blooming with every sunrise.
When Shawn had come to get him during the hallway showdown with Shatford, he’d been worried. Worried for Hannah. Worried she’d get in over her head with that black-hearted self-appointed headmistress.
But seeing her declaring profanities with such gusto, such passion…
It was enough to make a grown man cry.
Which he almost did.
And then finding out what it was that had sent her over the edge? That had done it.
He’d forgiven her a while ago. But today he decided he might actually adore her.
Which was scary and confusing all at once.
“Would you tell me about your Life Before?” she asked cautiously.
It wasn’t a demand, just an inquiry. One he was certain she would drop if he resisted. But he actually did want to tell her. For no other reason than letting her know more about him. For whatever that was worth.
“I was born in Honduras.”
“Wait. You’re not from Mexico?”
“Ah, no. And try not to say that too loudly around here,” he warned with a soft laugh.
Her eyes darted around them. “I’m sorry. I don’t know…things.”
He nodded in understanding. “Honduras is a little further south of Mexico. It’s in Central America. Yeah, we speak Spanish, but we’re our own people.
“Our village was small. We didn’t have a lot. My father was an enforcer in a local drug cartel. Sometimes I think back to some of the things we saw and lived with and it’s a miracle we didn’t die there.”
He swallowed hard, images of Life Before springing to mind.
“One time we saw a woman get shot in the street to make an example. Her body stayed there for three days because everyone was afraid to move her. We had to walk past her to get to school.”
Hannah went completely still.
If she thought his stories would be easy to hear, she was mistaken.
“Another time, Sarahi fell into an old cistern. She was five, I think. I went to get help, but it took a long time. Her mama, Auntie Carmen, used a long tree branch to get her out. Sarahi was covered in cuts from broken glass. People used the cistern as a dump of sorts. She was down there with floating pig heads and garbage.”
“Oh my God,” Hannah breathed.
“Yeah, so if her husband wants to buy her fancy shoes and spoil her for the rest of her life, none of us are going to stand in his way.” Johnny cleared his throat. “But that was so long ago now, it feels almost like it didn’t happen.”
“When did you move here?” Hannah asked softly, shifting toward him.
He liked that. That she wanted to know more and to be closer when he told her.
“I was a teenager. Carmen convinced my mom to leave with her. They secretly applied for their visas at the same time, but my mom’s came through first. She packed us up and we left in the middle of the night. I didn’t know it at the time, but she was pregnant with Shawn.”
“Do you guys have the same father?”
“Yeah.”
“Where’s your mom?” Hannah asked, looking around. “Is she here?”
“No.” Johnny dropped his gaze to the floor. “She went back. To be with my father. She never could quite let the life go.”
Key Change: A Slow Burn Rockstar Romance (Common Threads Book 3) Page 23
