Authors: Chris Myers

Tags: #Parenting & Relationships, #Family Relationships, #Romance, #Contemporary, #New Adult & College, #new adult romance

Lennon's Jinx (35 page)

BOOK: Lennon's Jinx

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That
won’t stop her from leaving. She only stayed because she thought Jonathan would
return. It was never about Currie or me. I realize that now.

Jinx
just shakes her head and mouths, “Wow. That’s unbelievable.”

Those
are my sentiments exactly.

A
taxi drives up for Mom. She gets in and waves like she’s going to a party. I’d
give her the finger, but most of the town is here.

“Why
is she leaving us?” Currie asks. “She doesn’t love me.”

“She
loves you,” I say, kissing away her tears. “Not everyone is a good parent.”

Her
head rests against my chest. “You won’t leave me. Will you?”

“You
know I won’t.”

Currie
trembles in my arms. “What if you die? I almost did.”

“I’m
not going anywhere.” I grasp her tight until she stops shivering.

That’s
the worst part. If something did happen to me, who would look after her? I need
to talk to Mrs. Beckham today before she leaves.

I
hold Currie with one arm and take Jinx’s hand as I lead her to the gravesite.
“Would you rather go home?” I ask Currie.

She
shakes her head. Her tears have drenched my shirt. I pull my winter raincoat
around her so she’s warm, though the sun has peeked through the clouds.

Clive
takes two dozen white roses and places them on Zoe’s tiny casket. His eyes are
bloodshot. He closes them, and his mom drapes an arm on his shoulder. Each of
the Nowaks place a red rose amongst the white ones.

Currie
wiggles free from my arms. She takes a clump of violets—I had to trek all over
Chicago to find—and puts them with the other flowers.

She
returns to me. I pick her up while Jinx leans against me. After the family each
throw in a clump of dirt, I ask Jinx, “Would you watch Currie for a moment?”

“Sure.”

When
I put Currie down, she runs to Jonathan. He sweeps her into his arms, and she
hugs his neck. I have to stop letting her affection for him bother me.

“I
should say hello to Bailey,” I say to Jinx. “I’ll be back shortly.”

“Okay,”
she says without a trace of jealousy.

I
walk over to them. As soon as I step within arm’s reach, Bailey’s mom slaps me across
the face. “You have led my daughter on for years now. You used her.”

I
didn’t see that coming. “I think we both got something out of it,” I say,
rubbing my chin.

Bailey
leads me a few steps away. “You’re with Jinx now?”

“I’m
not sure. I am going to try a different approach with girls.”

Bailey’s
lips turn into a smile, and that surprises me. “That’s good. I still remember
you proposing to that little girl in fifth grade. That has always stuck in my
mind.”

I’d
practically forgotten about humiliating myself in front of the whole school.
All the guys laughed their asses off at me. “That was probably my most
embarrassing moment.”

Bailey
smiles. “I think every girl in our school fell madly in love with you when you
did that.”

I
laugh. “I seriously doubt that. Are you mad at me?” I don’t want her to be.

“No.”
She kisses my cheek. “I wish you the best. I got into Duke, my dad’s Alma
Mater.”

“Congratulations.”

“What
are you going to do after you graduate?”

“I
have no clue,” I say.

“That
is so you. I see your dad is here. You should take advantage of that and get
him to record your band. It’s the least he can do for you.”

I
look back at them. Jinx is talking to Denage and Rena. “It’s a thought.”

“I
hope you find peace,” she says and then she walks away to her car where her mom
waits for her.

When
I return, Jinx links her arm in mine. “Everything settled?”

Girls
know everything. Us guys are always in the dark when it comes to the female
mind. “I think so.”

“I’m
heading out. I’ll catch up with you later,” Rena says to Jinx.

“I
need to speak to Mrs. Beckham,” I say. “Will you be all right for another
minute?”

“I’ll
be fine.”

I
pull Mrs. Beckham aside. “Can I talk to you?”

“What
is it, Lennon?”

“Is
there a way to have joint custody where if anything should happen, I can take
Currie away from Jonathan without a new hearing or trial?”

“You
father is at a disadvantage with his record. Why don’t we sit down and discuss
this with him before he leaves?”

“Will
you have time on Monday?”

“I’ll
make time for you,” Mrs. Beckham says. “Are you planning on moving?”

“I’m
thinking our band should go to LA and record, see if we can tour.”

“Clive
would love nothing more. I’ll see you Monday after school.”

“Thanks,”
I say. I walk over to Jonathan who’s still holding Currie. “Mrs. Beckham will
setup a time for us to talk about joint custody on Monday if you’ll stick
around.”

“Of
course, I will,” Jonathan says. “Nothing would make me happier than to have you
both with me.”

“I
won’t live with you, but I’ll be close by for Currie.”

Currie
lifts her head from the crook of Jonathan’s neck. “I want us all together.”

“I
won’t be far,” I say, taking her from Jonathan’s arms. “I’ll still take you to
school, and we’ll go places on the weekend.”

“We’ll
talk more about this later,” I whisper into Currie’s ear.

She
nods with a pout souring her expression.

Jonathan
plants a firm hand on my shoulder. “I understand, Lennon, but if you need
anything, I’m here for you.”

“We’ll
see how that goes,” I say.

The
Nowaks come over to us.

“I
think we should all go for smiley face pancakes because Zoe would like that,” I
say.

Brea
wipes the tears from her eyes. “That’s a really great idea.”

Mr.
Nowak pats my back. “Let’s do that.”

“Do
you want to come with us?” I ask Jonathan.

“We’d
like that,” he says while holding Denage’s hand.

I
drive Currie and Jinx over to our favorite breakfast diner while the Nowaks and
Jonathan and his entourage follow us.

Currie
blows her nose into a Kleenex. “While I was out, I dreamt you were mean to
Denage. Were you?”

“I’ll
apologize,” I say. She must’ve heard what I said while she was sleeping.

“Good.
I don’t want Denage to hate you. Are you thinking about us moving to LA?”

“I
am. We have the rest of the school year to work out the details.”

“Okay,”
Currie says.

I’d
never live under Jonathan’s roof, but that doesn’t mean Currie couldn’t stay
there while I live close by. It would be hard on me, and many conditions will
have to be set first. I craved Jonathan’s attention for years and never got it.
I can’t do that to Currie. I don’t want to deprive her of something I missed
out on, especially after Heather’s departure.

We
lost Zoe, and I almost lost Currie. Life is unpredictable, so I need to take
charge of what I can control. I’ll never trust Jonathan, but Denage seems to
have her head on straight, even if she’s with the world’s biggest loser. I think
I can trust her. I don’t believe she’d do anything to endanger a child.
According to what she told me before we parted ways at the hospital, she came
from a hundred percent normal family.

I
take Jinx and Currie to the car. After strapping Currie to the seat, I open the
door for Jinx.

She
looks expectantly at me. “Are you moving to LA?”

“We
have almost three months until we graduate. I’d like to see what the band
thinks.”

She
grins at me. “The whole band?”

“Yep.
All of us.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-EIGHT
LENNON

After we finish pancakes and
Currie giving Jinx the death stare for ordering bacon, Jonathan drives Currie
back to the house. It’s something I’m going to have to get used to.

I
take Jinx downtown to the Navy Pier in Chicago. We walk around for a few hours.
The lake breeze clears my head. I do my best to win her a cheesy stuffed
animal. Instead, I lose a lot of money.

“Are
you going to tell me that secret?” Jinx asks.

“Maybe.”

She
loops her arm in mine.

I
take in a deep breath because what I’m about to say I can’t take back. “Would
you like to go on a date…with me?”

Her
expression is skeptical. “You’ve never asked a girl out before, have you?”
She’s laughing at me, and that hurts. She must recognize this because she tugs
on my arm until I bend down and kiss her.

“It
depends on what you consider a date,” I say. “When I was in sixth grade I took
this little Japanese girl Mei Lin to an art show.”

“How
cultural.” Jinx laughs. “What happened to her?”

“Her
parents whisked her away to art school. Seems she was some sort of child
prodigy. Her work now sells in New York and Paris. I don’t think a sixth grade rendezvous
really counts.”

I
kiss Jinx’s hand. “Dating is a huge step for me, so don’t get your hopes up
that I’m miraculously no longer a pig.”

“I
don’t have any expectations, but I am setting a few ground rules.”

I
don’t really expect her to hop into bed with me, but I won’t complain if she does.
“Okay.”

“So
you have no experience with a real relationship?” she asks.

“Other
than the Nowaks, I don’t have any role models to follow.”

She
still hasn’t responded to my question. “Aren’t you supposed to say yes to me for
asking you out?” The thought of her turning me down presses on me. I wouldn’t
like it because it would hurt after what we’ve been through.

“Isn’t
this a date?”

“I
don’t know. Is it?”

“You
asked me to come here with you, so I believe that counts,” she says. “What are
we going to do on our next date?”

Her
wry grin sets me on edge. “I dunno. What do you want to do?”

She
presses her index finger to her temple. “How ‘bout you make Currie and me
dinner. Something really good. I love Italian. And we can work on those new
songs. We could enter the Battle of the Bands at the end of the school year.”

“I
can do dinner. We’ll ask the guys about the competition. I’m sure Danny Boy
will want in.” Somehow she’s managed to control the date, which is fine with me.
This is a good start for me. I drape my arm around her and pull her close to me
where she belongs.

“It’s
already five in the afternoon,” I say. “Ready for dinner? I’m in the mood for
pizza. I’ll buy.”

Jinx
loops her arm around my waist. “Good, cuz I’m broke.”

THE END
Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Carol
Nugent, Lynde Iozzo, Michael Hope, my daughter, my copy editor Michelle Borek,
and Christine Mandeville for critiquing this manuscript and to Pikes Peak
Writers, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and SCBWI for their constant guidance
and workshops. Writing is a long, arduous, and lonely process that is not for
the timid. My family and Epub friends: Anne Eliot, DeAnna Knippling, Marty
Banks, Lana Williams, Michelle Major, Jennie Marts, Mike Shepherd, Robin Nolet,
and Cindi Madsen have encouraged and helped me through the publication of this
book, and for that, I am forever in their debt.

Author’s Note

Two critiquers, whose names
remain anonymous, threatened my life while reviewing this book. If the
character they had grown attached to died, they said they would kill me and
never read for me again. Needless to say, tears were spilled—author’s dream of evoking
strong emotion—and the ending turned out satisfactorily to all beta readers.

This book has had many titles:
Slut
Boy
,
Slut Puppy
because puppies are cute until they chew on a pair
of your Manolo Blahniks (in my case Nikes),
Easy
because an agent liked
that title, then
Lennon's Jinx
. The book has always been a three book
series and follows Lennon's growth from a horny teenaged boy to a young man.
Unfortunately for Lennon, his world escalates out of control by the third book.
Authors are so mean. I hope you enjoy this novel and love to hear from fellow
readers.

I chose Chicago, Illinois because
of its cultural diversity and its size and location. Chicago has always been
one of my favorite cities that I’ve visited more times than I can count.

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