Breathless by V. J. Chambers Read Free Book Online Page A

punched. I got in a fight with Toby. And we all had to ride home with Lilith, and her car is very small. To that end, I don't think we need any more punishment. We've all learned our lesson."

    "We're not going to punish you," said my mother.

    What?

    "All three of you are seventeen years old," said my father. "You are young adults.
    You're practically old enough to make your own decisions legally."

    "We'd created the curfew as a boundary for you," said my mother. "We knew it was only a matter of time until you tested that boundary."

    "Now that you have," said my dad, "it proves to us that you've outgrown it."

    What?

    "Um," said Jason. "I didn't have a curfew. And I was the one who broke someone's nose."

    "And we want to talk to you about that," said my father. "But first, we want to let you all three know that we are going to allow you to make your own decisions about when you come home at night."

    "Bear in mind," said my mother, "that those decisions will affect all manner of things.
    Your performance in school for instance. Your ability to get your chores done at home. Your relationships. These are all things you'll need to weigh as you make your choices."

    Yuck. Leave it to my mom to make a privilege sound like a burden.

    "Now," said my father, "Cameron and Jason, I want to talk to you about this fight with Eric."

    Cameron and Jason looked at each other. They didn't look too excited about this chat.
    Jason was catching on to the way my parents worked. They made you feel so adult.
    The guilt was almost too much to take. When you were around them, you just wanted to do...better. They totally sucked.

    "Why did you choose to engage in an altercation with Eric, Cameron?" my dad asked.

    "Alter-what?" asked Cameron.

    "Argument," I said.

    "Why didn't you just say argument, then?" Cameron wanted to know.

    Neither of my parents answered.

    Cameron sighed. "He was pissing me off. He said that he was sick of seeing all those motherfucking Jones orphans at his party. Then he said, 'Oh, wait. I forgot. They don't have mothers.'"

    "And that comment was designed to make you react, wasn't it Cameron?" my mother asked.

    "Yeah, I know. He was just trying to get under my skin," said Cameron.

    "If he made you angry, he had power over you," my mother said.

    "I know!" said Cameron. "And I tried to do what you said. I told him to shove it and shut up, and I started to walk away."

    Jason spoke up. "I thought that guy needed to be taught a lesson."

    "Oh?" said my dad.

    "Yeah. People shouldn't say things like that."

    "And if they do, they should have their noses broken?" my father asked.

    "Well, something like that." Jason shrugged. "Weren't you just talking about consequences, Mr. Jones? Eric said some awful stuff. The consequence was that I beat him up."

    Huh. Jason kind of had a point.

    My father considered what Jason had said. "I don't agree with what Eric said either,"
    he said. "But let me ask you this, Jason. What if it hadn't gone your way? What if Eric had broken your nose? Then what consequence would he have received?"

    "Well, that wouldn't have happened," said Jason. "I wouldn't have gotten in the fight if I didn't know I could win."

    Really?

    "How could you have known that?" my father asked. "Eric's a lot...bigger than you.
    He's a strong boy. He works on his parents' farm. He's on the wrestling team at school."

    "He was drunk," said Jason. "I could tell that his reaction time was pretty screwed up and that he could hardly stand straight."

    "So you got into a calculated fight with Eric because you were sure you could beat him?" my father asked.

    Oh. My father was backpedaling. When he started rephrasing people's statements, I knew it was so he had some time to think about what they'd said, so he could formulate a response. In addition, sometimes restating someone's argument caused them to start arguing with themselves or backing down.

    Not Jason. "Yeah," he said. "I wasn't angry with him. It's pointless