Page 53 of Unlikely to Stay

“I know, right?But anyway, he tricked me by saying he wanted me to stand by the tree because he was afraid to do it.When he swung back to the bank, he grabbed me and threw us both in the water.He wasn’t afraid at all.He just wanted to throw me in!”

Her friends looked at each other knowingly and grinned.CC chose to ignore it.“We had to come back to change because we were wet, but he asked me if I could cut his hair.I told him yes, so after we both got cleaned up we went to the shop.I was cutting his hair and it was really quiet because we were listening to Ed Sheeran.He didn’t know who he was.”

“What?”Annie screeched.“Who doesn’t know EdSheeran?”

“That’s what I thought, too, so I was letting him listen.Out of the blue, he asked me how I got the shop.It startled me and I…well, I cut my finger.Although cut is an understatement.I had to have five stitches.”

Both of her friends stared at her, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

“But youhategoing to the doctor,” Breckin whispered.

“Like,hatehate,” Annie added.

CC rolled her eyes.“I know!But what was I supposed to do?Let my finger drain all the blood from my body?”

“I’ve never had stitches,” Breckin said.“Do they hurt?”

“Like a bitch.”

“Did you puke?”

“Almost.But I held it together.”

“So, I know you cut your finger and all and I’m really sorry about that,” Annie said.“But on a scale of one to five, one being awful and five being the best date ever, what would you rate this one?And be honest.”

CC contemplated her answer.Yes, she cut her finger and it hurt like hell.Yes, she had to get stitches.Yes, she was thrown into a freezing creek.Even with all of that, she knew what her answer was.

Grinning at her friends, she told them, “I’d have to say a six.”

“That good, huh?”Breckin said.“I’m impressed.Even with the cut?”

“Even with the cut.”

“Why six?”Annie asked.“Why not just stop at five?”

“I just wanted to really drive it home that I had a fabulous time,” CC said.Even as the words came out of her mouth, CC couldn’t help but think the number six came to mind when she thought about little Brant with the chocolate eyes and big dimples bouncing between six foster families before he finally found his home.

“So you’re tellin’me you threw that poor girl in thecreek?”

Brant was sitting in front of his laptop, Betty’s surprised face displayed on the Skype screen.When he had told her he was taking a job in a small town two and a half hours away from the city to have some of his student debt forgiven, she had tried to put her foot down.

“You ain’t leavin’ me here all alone with all the hoodlums running ’round the city,” she had told him.“Who’s gonna defend me?”

“I’m pretty sure you can defend yourself, Mom,” he had replied with a smile.“Everyone here knows who Betty Billings is…they also know not to mess with her.”

When the threat of defending her hadn’t worked, she had harrumphed him and said he was going to lead her to an early grave because she was going to die of loneliness.Never mind the fact she played cards with the ladies from her church every Tuesday and Thursday, went to church every Wednesday and Sunday, visited all the sick people in the hospital on Monday, and shopped for groceries on Saturday.She wanted him to think she was going to be sitting at home, twiddling her thumbs and counting the hours until her son returned home every weekend.

He understood where Betty was coming from.When he moved into her house at the age of eleven, he stayed until he finished nursing school.He went to college at UCO in Edmond, which was only about a thirty minute drive from their house.Then he was accepted to nursing school at OU, whose campus was at the Health Science Center in downtown Oklahoma City and evencloserto home.It made more sense to live at home and save money.Besides, the thought of having a roommate sent Brant into a mild panic attack.

However, when he realized he could get almost all of his student loans forgiven if he would go to Parker, Oklahoma and run their clinic for three years, he couldn’t turn down the opportunity.So hehad puthisfoot down and told his mom he had to go or he’d be poor all his life.

She finally relented with one condition…Brant buy her a computer and show her how to use it so she could talk to him on the screen.She had seen a commercial about Skype and said that was the only way she would allow him to leave her.Brant had gone to Wal-Mart the following day and bought her a laptop with the biggest screen he could find.

“I didn’tthrowher in the creek, per se,” he said with a smile.“I dropped her…accidentally.”

“Accidentally my behind,” she replied, returning his smile.“Sounds to me like you dropped that poor girl in that ice cold water on purpose.”

“Maybe I’m not as strong as I look,” he said, flexing his muscles on the screen.