White Trash Damaged by Teresa Mummert

bus.
    “Pizza,” Chris said, shoving his brother in the shoulder.
    “We could hit the food court in the mall. They have a little bit of everything,” I called out, and all eyes turned to me. Tucker hooked his arm around my neck and kissed me on the temple.
    “I love you.” His breath tickled my ear and sent a shiver all the way down to my toes.
    “I love you, too.”
    “All right. Let’s not make us all sick before we even eat,” Eric yelled, but he was smiling; a rare sight.
    We made our way to the mall, laughing together in one cohesive group, and I was filled again with a new sense of hope. Maybe they were starting to let me in.
    I ordered a milk shake and burger from Mooers and Shakers as the guys spread out to order their food.
    “You want me to take that?” Tucker asked as he grabbed a fry from my tray and popped it into his mouth.
    “I think I can handle it, Tucker,” I replied as he made a face when the fry burnt his tongue. We picked a corner booth away from the chaos of the teenage girls who crowded the mall.
    “I know you can. I like doing things for you.”
    “You’ve done enough.”
    “A lover’s quarrel? Dinner and a show.” Eric sat his tray at the end of the booth and grabbed a chair from a neighboring table, turning it backward to straddle it.
    “We aren’t fighting.” I blew on a fry before biting off the end.
    “Shame. Tuck writes better when he is all sad and bitchy. The lovey-dovey shit is hell on his creativity.” He laughed and Tucker smacked him on the chest.
    “I think we’ve had enough sad times to last us a lifetime.” My eyes fell on the twins as they slid into the bench seat across from us.
    “My writing doesn’t hold a candle to Cass’s.” Tucker grabbed his slice of pizza from his plate and took a bite.
    I laughed nervously as I took a bite from my burger.
    “I’ll be the judge of that. Lay it on us.” Eric folded his hands together, giving me his undivided attention.
    “You’re out of your damn mind! How did the meeting go?” I asked the twins, wanting to divert the attention from me.
    “It was all right. If you have some new material for us, we wouldn’t mind taking a look,” Terry replied. So much for diverting attention.
    “I don’t know how to write songs. It’s more of a poem.”
    “Same difference,” Chris said, and the others nodded in agreement.
    “So do you have a new manager or what?”
    Tucker shrugged and dropped his pizza on his plate, grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth. Eric watched him for a minute before responding.
    “I think she would be good for us,” he responded, and Tucker sat back in his seat, lacing his hands behind his head.
    “You don’t agree?” I put my hand on Tucker’s thigh and felt him tense beneath my fingers.
    “She’s younger and more into our scene.” He shrugged.
    “So what’s the problem?’ I asked as I looked around at the others.
    “She wants to fast-track our careers. She has lots of ideas,” Chris replied.
    “That doesn’t sound so bad.” My eyes moved to Terry.
    “She’s made huge deals in the past for other bands, like Lip and Crawl Space.”
    “That’s great. I’m not seeing the problem.”
    Eric grinned as he tossed his crumpled napkin on his half-eaten food.
    “She doesn’t think it’s wise to have groupies . . . or girlfriends . . . on the road with us.” His smirk faded, and I knew he wasn’t being an asshole.
    “Oh.” I sat back in my seat and glanced over at Tucker.
    “It’s not going to fucking happen. Either Cass stays with me, or I don’t go.” The muscles in Tucker’s jaw ticked.
    “Nobody wants Cass to leave,” Terry replied, and I felt marginally better, but the pit in my stomach felt like it was going to consume me.
    “So we hire her. She can be an assistant or personal shopper or some shit.” Eric was actually throwing out ideas to keep me around? I couldn’t help but smile.
    “A writer,” Chris suggested.
    “I’m not a writer.” I shook my