THUGLIT Issue One - страница 19
“But you’re doing so well. They love you at the clinic. And every month you volunteer…”
“It’s not enough, Erica. I want to help people here. That was always my plan. I just got sidetracked.”
“Sidetracked?” I stared at him. “You have a great life. These people here, don’t you think any of them would kill to get what you have? You got out. That’s what the people here want to do.”
“It’s not like your old neighborhood, Erica. There are a lot of people happy to be living out here. I’m sick of being in the city.”
“This is just guilt talking,” I said. “Your mother died, and now you feel bad. Never mind that she was an evil person who told lies about people to try to manipulate you.”
“Erica.” He looked at me, his face serious. “That time we visited her…you didn’t accidentally take her earrings or anything like that, did you?”
“I can’t believe you’re even asking.” Now I was getting angry. “I told you then, and I can’t believe you’re making me say it again, but I swear to you, I didn’t steal her earrings, accidentally or otherwise.”
“It’s just… it’s kind of funny you found those replacements. It is a little weird.”
“I guess your whole family thinks I’m a thief and a liar.”
“Of course not, Erica. I’m sorry, I just…”
I walked out of the room. We were silent on the drive to the church; at least, I was. Jake made a few attempts at conversation, which I ignored. At the church, I sat next to him, but stared straight ahead, ignoring him. Jake was busy consoling Kady, who wore a frumpy black dress and a big black hat with a veil. The two of them stood over their mother’s casket for the longest time.
“Can’t say I miss the old bat,” Kady’s husband, Ry, whispered to me. “She was a pain in the ass. She was always fighting with somebody.”
I’d thought to pack a form-fitting black designer dress that hugged my curves. Jake was too preoccupied to notice, but it didn’t escape Ry.
Back at the house for the wake, Ry whispered, “So, Kady says you planted fake pearls at her mama’s house. She’s all steamed about it.”
“What makes you think I did something?” I smiled at him.
He grinned back. “You’re the kinda gal who’s always up to something, Erica.”
“Well, it’s never good to be boring.” We clinked glasses. Ry was drinking bourbon, while I was guzzling more wine than I’d planned. It was frustrating, knowing I was right about something and not being able to prove it.
“It must’ve been awful, living only an hour away from Mrs. Carlow,” I said.
“Lemme tell you about that.” He did, and he made me laugh, which earned some dark looks from Kady. Then Ry followed me when I went upstairs.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you staring at me,” I said. We were standing in the guest bedroom where Jake and I were staying. I looked in the mirror and unpinned my hair.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you enjoying it,” he answered.
“Do you think anyone will come up here?”
“Not if we’re quiet.”
I pounced on him. Ry was a surprisingly good kisser. I thought about Kady’s sour face and figured he must be getting practice somewhere else. He started to unzip my dress. “No,” I whispered. “Rip it off.”
“But it must’ve cost a pretty penny.”
“Rip it off,” I ordered. There was a sound like a series of pops as the fabric broke apart at the seam.
“Oh, I like this,” Ry said.
“I bet you do.” With that, I reached out and raked my nails over his face.
“What the fuck?” He pushed me away and touched his skin. I let out a bloodcurdling scream, opened the door, and ran from the room. Jake was on the stairs and I ran into his arms. Then I sobbed and sobbed.
The trip home to Los Angeles was uneventful. Jake was silent most of the time. I wore a little eye mask so that I could sleep, but occasionally I would tug at the corner to watch him. He was drinking whiskey, his jaw taut. Every so often his eyes would narrow, but mostly he just drank.
“Do you think I did the right thing?” I asked him. “By not pressing charges against Ry, I mean.”
“I think that would’ve been a mistake,” Jake answered. “Those kids don’t need their dad locked up in jail.”