Confess

Owen worries Auburn’s not going to show up, but finally, she does. He considers, “It’s amazing how much distance one truth can create between two people” (106). He wishes he had been able to keep his secret because she’s clearly reserved. She asks if he has a drug addiction and whether he’s going to jail. She says they would use his situation against her in her custody battle.

He tries to explain he has no issues with drugs. He does, however, have an issue with her involvement with Trey because he’s dangerous. He suggests she use her instincts. He tries to hold her, but she tells him she can’t. He’s afraid this is truly the end. She goes to leave, but he races after her and kisses her.

As Auburn and Owen kiss, she feels how painful it will be to lose him. She thinks, “I’m so tired of having to give up the only things in life I want” (171). Owen makes her feel good for the first time in a long while, and now she has to give him up. He’s understanding. When she leaves and he closes the door, she puts her fist to her chest like he did when he explained how badly he misses his mother and brother. No one makes her feel like he does, especially as a mother. She cries as she walks home.

Trey pulls up beside her and tells her to get in the car. He asks her if she was just with Owen, and she considers how to answer. “Of all the people in the world, I need both Lydia and Trey to see that everything I do, I do for AJ” (173), so she tells him she saw Owen because he owed her money. Trey grows angry because he warned her Owen is dangerous. Auburn gets out of the car, and Trey is immediately in front of her. She tells Trey he’s acting like he’s jealous, and he says he is. At her apartment, he asks her if she ever thinks about them romantically, saying it makes sense for them to be together. She argues that he’s AJ’s uncle and Adam’s brother, so it makes no sense, but he tells her they could all be together, including AJ, if they started dating. She considers that Lydia trusts Trey, and they could be a family. She misses AJ so much, she’s willing to do almost anything.

Sunday dinners are the only time she knows she’ll be allowed to see her son. After this week’s dinner, with AJ asleep on her lap, she tries to get Lydia to talk to her about custody. They debate how often Auburn gets to spend time with AJ, and Lydia mentions Owen, calling him a “convicted felon,” which means Trey told Lydia about Owen’s arrest. Trey sees how angry Auburn is, and he offers to take AJ to bed. Lydia argues that children need set routines that shouldn’t be disturbed. Auburn gets angry enough to raise her voice.

Trey gives her a ride home and tells her she was sexy when she yelled at Lydia. Auburn is more turned off. He tells her he’ll talk to his mother about Auburn spending more time with AJ. When he leaves, Auburn is surprised to see Emory holding Owen-Cat. Owen dropped off the cat earlier and left a note telling Auburn he wished he had known she would enter his life because he would have done things differently. His note says, “Please don’t allow anyone to make you feel less than what you are” (183). Auburn takes Owen-Cat to her bedroom, and the cat lies next to her.

Owen is in a holding room, and Cal arrives as Owen’s lawyer. Cal is angry with Owen for not agreeing to go to rehab to avoid jail time, but Owen asserts he doesn’t need rehab. He tells his father to go, and Owen gets the guards to take him back to his cell. He finally understands that enabling his father hasn’t been helping anyone, and it’s too late because he’s lost Auburn.

Owen remembers three weeks earlier: He’s with Auburn, and he receives a call from his father. He only wants to spend more time with Auburn, but his father calls again, and this time Owen answers. His father sounds bad, so Owen goes to find him. He finds him with his car off the road, lights on, doors locked, and he’s passed out in the driver’s seat. Owen bangs on the window until Cal lets him in. He gets in the driver's seat and gets the car back on the road. Cal starts crying. Owen acknowledges that he used to feel bothered when his father did this, but now he’s unfazed. Cal apologizes over and over while he cries. Each time this happens, it brings Owen back to the night his mother and brother died. It feels like they’ll never be free of it.

A police car pulls them over, and Trey is driving it. Owen hopes he doesn’t remember him, but when he sees his license, he does. He knows Callahan, too. Trey tells them to get out of the car and asks about drinking and drugs. He searches the car and finds Cal’s pain pills. Owen is disappointed in his father because he thought he was finally getting off the pills. Trey tells them that Cal will almost certainly lose his lawyer’s license, and he asks Owen about seeing him earlier with Auburn. His father starts to claim responsibility for the pills, but Owen stops him and says they’re his. Trey arrests him for possession.