Neither of her parents moved or touched their utensils.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Kenzie said.

“What did they do?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter. Our food’s fine,” she said. She picked up a fork and stabbed a piece of pasta on my plate. “We should eat.”

“No, Kenz,” I said. “We need to talk about this.”

“You said you were hungry, and she really is a good cook,” she said.

“I lost my appetite,” I said, my voice soft. I wasn’t lying, either. The gnawing of hunger had become a pit in my gut instead.

She set her fork down with force. “Okay.”

“Can I get more of an explanation? This isn’t okay at all.”

“In the garage?” she asked.

I nodded. “Okay.”

She pushed her chair away from the table in a way that pushed the table toward her parents. She started to walk toward the garage, my hand on her shoulder to guide her and support her, and then she stopped. She turned toward the two, who were stone still, eyes downcast.

“This was supposed to be a nice dinner, and it was just, what, you invited her here because you thought I’d be distracted?” she laughed, one note, smiled wide. “I’m never going to be distracted. I’m always watching, okay? So stop. Be better.”

Neither adult moved or spoke. Irene visibly seethed, nostrils flaring.

Kenzie stepped into the garage, me right behind her. She kicked a plastic bin of nails, and sent the contents flying across the garage.

“I’m sorry my parents are such fucking embarrassments,” she said, before slamming the garage door.

Torch Interlude 7.x

This could be fixed. This wasn’t as bad as it could have gone.

What was she supposed to say?

It made her heart hurt. It bothered her, because they were stupid and shortsighted and it threatened to ruin everything.

That, and what they’d done to the food.

She had to calm down. Being upset only made things worse. She was angry, even pissed, but as that feeling faded, a door between her and her stupid-ass idiot parents, it left her with an ugly, all-too-familiar feeling in her middle. That didn’t help either.

“Kenzie,” Victoria said, behind her.

Kenzie turned around. Victoria hung back, near the door of the workshop. Kenzie stood in the middle of everything.

This could be fixed.

“What’s going on?” Victoria asked. She made her voice so gentle, so caring, that it made all the anger and hurt from elsewhere feel worse.

“I can explain.”

“Okay. Before you do, I have to ask… are you okay?” Victoria asked.

Kenzie smiled and nodded.

Victoria was a threat. Not an enemy threat, but a problem and a danger. If she talked to others, said the wrong things, then everything could blow up out of control.

“Are they okay?” Victoria asked. She put a hand on the doorknob, opening the door a crack.