Read Online Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach - Free Book Online Page B

helping? Mr. Corrigan wanted help. This is the kind of thing he was talking about, right? I help Maggie, and I help him at the same time.
    Maggie went directly back to my room. There, she removed her jacket, her shirt, her pants, her bra, and her panties. I watched all this action from just inside the door because I wanted her to have privacy if Darius came upstairs. She turned around slowly to face me. The blood was pumping all over my monkey body at that point, of course.
    Everything changes so damn fast that you’re lucky your head doesn’t get twisted right off from all the spinning. Six months earlier I hadn’t ever kissed a girl, much less had a naked one in my suite—a naked one who was pregnant with my miracle baby. And therein lay the rub. The babe.
    â€œMake love to me, Taco,” Maggie said.
    Well, that hadn’t been on the table since I found out about the baby, you know? “Uh. Is that a legit move?”
    â€œLegit? What do you mean? Like legal?”
    â€œWell, I don’t mean legal. I mean, the cops never occurred to me, but we should google that too. Is it legal to have sex when you’re pregnant in Wisconsin?”
    â€œJesus. I’m sure it is,” Maggie said. She paused. “I’m pretty sure.”
    â€œAwesome,” I said. “But we don’t want to traumatize the baby with our bumping.”
    â€œThe baby is like the size of a strawberry,” Maggie said.
    â€œWith tiny little hands,” I said. “I’ve done the research.”
    â€œThe baby won’t know about why it’s bumping, and I need you.”
    â€œYou do?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œOh,” I said.
    And so, pal, it happened. But holy balloons, I did not enjoy it, which again is something I could never have imagined even a few days earlier.
    Afterward, Maggie cried and cried. I held her in my arms and comforted her, and she made the suite sheets soggy. Turns out Maggie’s mom had said some pretty horrible things to her that I can’t even repeat. Maggie’s mom had slapped her too.
    I would never slap the person I love. I’d keep her safe forever and ever. I’d fight off any invaders with every ounce of my strength for her! That’s how it should be, right?
    My mom would never have slapped me either. This is what I don’t understand: Can a mom even call herself a mom if she’s slapping her own pregnant daughter? My mom loved me and Darius no matter what, even when we made it hard.
    And we did.
    Take Darius. He never did well in school, and he used to have what Dad called a smart mouth , meaning he’d back-talk and say crappy things to Mom and Dad when they got on his case about school or whatnot. Dad would sometimes shout or growl at Darius—but not my mom. My mom would say, “I’m sorry you’re struggling, sweet boy. I’m sorry you’re at odds with the world. Go down to your room and be quiet. I promise if you stop fighting, the situation will get better.”
    Darius might shout, “I don’t fight! Mrs. Wilson (or Faherty or Treine or Mr. Bachman) is just stupid!”
    But Mom would say, “Shh, sweet boy. Shhhh. Go be quiet now.”
    And she was right. By dinnertime, Darius was always calmer. Then she and Darius would talk about what happened and make a plan to make everything better. Mom was great at that. I sort of wish my mom was Maggie’s mom because Maggie could use a little quiet time and care, but then maybe Maggie wouldn’t be who she is. Also Maggie would be my sister, which would be pretty weird. And probably illegal.
    Anyway, slapping the person you love is wrong.
    Before I went to sleep, I set an alarm. (Maggie had already passed out.) I usually don’t need one, given how my excitement for the coming day wakes me up. But after our tardiness that morning, I also set the clock on the stove.
    Darius got home from his night shift at Captain Stabby’s while I was in