More Than Anger

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More Than Anger Page 6

by Bruce, Lexi;


  He gets his order

  and then sits down.

  I’m glad you texted me,

  he says, smiling.

  I missed you,

  and. .I was worried about you.

  I look him in the eye

  and tell him,

  I’m sorry

  for blowing you off.

  I was afraid you’d hate me.

  I was so moody at the dance.

  And such a drunken mess that other night.

  I have a lot of baggage.

  But. .I like you a lot.

  He grins even wider

  when I tell him I like him.

  185

  I can feel my fear

  melting into a smile.

  Anna,

  he says,

  I don’t think I could ever

  hate you.

  And somehow I believe that.

  186

  WANT TO KEEP READING?

  If you liked this book, check out another book from West 44 Books:

  THE WICKED EDGE

  BY NICOLE ELIZABETH

  NICOLE ELIZABETH

  ISBN: 9781538382554

  MOM GOT THE JOB FIRST

  Smoholla Indian School

  on the Colville Reservation

  in Omak needed teachers. And

  Amanda Robbins had a degree.

  She started teaching

  fourth grade

  in the K-12 tribal school.

  Drove across the river

  from Okanogan,

  where we lived

  and I went to school,

  to Omak every day.

  SOON SHE MET THE BOYFRIEND

  which seems like

  the wrong word

  for the 46-year-old guy

  whose trailer we live in now.

  Damon Adams is a tutor

  in Smohol a’s reading program.

  I guess it’s hard to resist a man

  who teaches kids to sound out words.

  They fell in love across

  sight words and stories

  or whatever. It was his charm

  and commitment, Mom says.

  It was my muscles and

  my dreamy Native eyes.

  Damon flexes. And then he

  started showing up to everything.

  SOCCER GAMES AND

  BIRTHDAY PARTIES

  When he stuck his pull-up bar

  in Mom’s bedroom doorway,

  I knew he was going to

  be around for a while.

  It bothered me and my brother at first.

  Someone around who wasn’t Dad.

  But we knew

  that Damon was a good guy.

  Mom was

  suddenly happy.

  He brought her joy.

  She teased him

  about being a meathead.

  And he pretended to get sad

  until she gave him a kiss.

  They’re always talking

  about the stars.

  MOM AND DAD NEVER FIT TOGETHER

  Something I couldn’t

  understand for a long time.

  The divorce happened fast.

  As a kid, it seemed very sudden.

  A twisted, wide tree,

  splitting in a lightning strike.

  After four years,

  it’s still hard to let go.

  Dad moved to the East Coast.

  As far as he could get, it seemed.

  And we stayed in Washington.

  We get to visit in the summers,

  but I miss him. How can your dad

  be your dad over a phone?

  After, Charlie left too. He graduated high school the year before last.

  Mom decided she and I needed

  something fresh.

  Wal s without her old memories

  stuck in the trim and the paint.

  SO WE MOVED TO DAMON’S TRAILER

  Charlie left for Seattle.

  Making his way at University of Washington with a loud girlfriend and

  all of his Dave Matthews CDs.

  He was gone and,

  like Dad, I knew

  he wouldn’t come back.

  Why would he?

  I am getting used to it.

  The trailer is smal ,

  but I have my own room.

  For Mom, it’s a half hour

  closer to Smohol a.

  It’s also out of

  Okanogan school lines.

  So my mother decided

  I would come to school with her.

  Check out more books at:

  www.west44books.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lexi Bruce is from Buffalo, New York, and received a degree in English and creative writing from Canisius College. She enjoys bicycling around her city and hiking whenever she can get out of the city. Lexi knows firsthand the toll divorce can take on a family, and on a young person hoping to find a healthy relationship.

  She wants this book to be a sign of hope for anyone who is going through this.

  ISBN: 9781538382646

  www.west44books.com

  Document Outline

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  WANT TO KEEP READING?

  Check out more books

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Back Cover

 

 

 


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