I tiptoed into the hallway. Marie’s bedroom was very quiet. I touched the phone at my chest, wondering if I should check on her.
I stood at the top of the stairs for a long time, feeling the start of the carpet below my feet. There were small sounds of movement coming from the family room.
I could sneak out.
If I got caught, I could just say I was going for a walk. Wasn’t that reasonable?
Would I dare risk it?
I closed my eyes for a long minute, my heart thundering. Trying to be patient and let the guys figure out what to do next was the hardest thing to do.
However, I wanted to try again with Carol. A lot had happened last night. Could I change her mind? Could I turn this back to our original plan?
I took to the edges of the stairs, walking quietly through the house. I checked the master bedroom first.
The room was still. The bed was made. Extra pillows had been added. A few appeared to be decorative, with stiff lace and buttons.
The air smelled heavy with ammonia and bleach. I held a finger to my nose to stop myself from sneezing.
I followed the hallway around to the kitchen.
Carol wore blue slacks today, and another billowy shirt around her frame. This one had various pastel flowers and was a little sheer, but she wore a shirt underneath.
She knelt by the kitchen sink, pulling out various chemicals.
One was a bottle of vinegar. She took it in her hands, turned the bottle over. The light-colored liquid sloshed.
I backed up a step at the sight of the bottle. My body stiffened. My throat seemed to close in on itself. My hand covered my nose instinctively.
She put it aside on the floor behind her, next to various other cleaning chemicals. There was a trash can beside her, partially filled with dingy cloth rags and some old chemical bottles.
My lips twitched, wanting to begin and unsure how.
Eventually Carol looked my way and raised an eyebrow. Her voice croaked at first. “Still up with the birds?”
“I just couldn’t sleep.”
She nodded and then pushed off the floor until she was standing. She leaned against the sink with a heavy sigh. “Your father went into work early. He left before I had a chance to speak with him.”
It didn’t surprise me. He was escaping her, and escaping this house of secrets. How long would it be before he was spending his time away with some other woman and left Carol, too?
“I know I made a mess of things last night,” I said quietly. “My father said a lot of things.”
“You know,” Carol said, shaking her head, putting a palm up in a stop motion, “you don’t have to explain to me. Your mother sheltered you. Your father was away. When she went into the hospital this last time, and he left, the things you’ve done, I would have done.”
My lips twitched. She... sheltered me? I tried not to choke at the thought. What did she assume I was doing for the past few months? “Things have been tough,” I said quietly. “I don’t mean to cause trouble.”
“I appreciate that,” she said. “Which is why I hope you appreciate that I’ve taken charge. This isn’t easy for me, either.”
I nodded reflexively. However, I wasn’t sure I agreed with her choice to come here in the first place. “Ashley Waters isn’t too bad,” I said. “But I’m willing to try tests for a private school. I think Marie will go, too. We could try for a scholarship. It may make things easier for everyone.”
“I don’t see the point,” she said. She turned from me and knelt again, looking into the underside of the cabinet. Her voice echoed as she spoke to me. “I’ve decided we may as well move sooner than later. I can homeschool until the end of the year. We can work a schedule with an online school.”
Moving? My heart raced. She hadn’t changed her mind. “How...soon do you want to move?”
“With the money I’ll make from selling my old house, it’s enough to put a down payment for something nice in Savannah. I can possibly get us in within two weeks.”
Two weeks...I leaned against the wall of the hallway. My knees shook. I pressed a hand over my heart.
Two weeks and I’d be gone. It wasn’t enough time to convince her about any school. Kota...Nathan...the others...
There was no way they could convince her if she was determined to move now. My father should be here to stop her, and he wasn’t. He just abandoned us when he needed to be here to fix the mess he started.
I had to fix things, now. Or try to. “I...” I said quietly, swallowing back emotion to try to sound calm. “It’s all just so quick.”
“This house should sell pretty fast, too,” she said. “It only makes sense to do this now. The equity on this house won’t increase in a couple of months, and it’ll be better to do it before a divorce.”
“Have you called a lawyer about it?” That might be my chance. What if an Academy divorce lawyer said it would take too long? What if he put roadblocks in the way?
“A lawyer can wait,” she said. She reached under the sink and tore at the liner until it came up, revealing the wood underneath. She crumpled the paper and tossed it. Next to her was a roll of white liner paper, and she unwrapped it to measure it. “Your father owns this house, so he can sell when he wants to. If we sell before he files, then we can get out of here before that starts. So I’ve filled out a listing for the newspaper, and I’ll start making the proper phone calls later today to get that going.”
“Oh,” I said quietly. My face became numb, my limbs weak. Every counter or idea that popped up, she was quick to dismiss it. She wasn’t even going to wait for my dad to say yes. She was going through with it like this house was hers.
She continued, “You and Jimmy need new rooms. The school system is very bad. You didn’t tell me there had been bomb threats.”
She didn’t know the half of it. I shrugged. “A lot has happened.”
“A new start, Sang,” she said. “That’s what we all need. You’ll get a better school. I’ll make sure your father doesn’t neglect your health anymore. You want that, don’t you?”
I shifted on my feet, considering what to do. I was sure some of the guys were awake and heard this. “Sounds...okay.”
I didn’t mean it. I didn’t want them to think I was giving in.
I didn’t see a way out, though. I didn’t see how I could avoid moving with her to Savannah. I didn’t see my dad saying no to this if she’d managed to bully him this far.
Fear crept inside me, especially for Marie. Once she heard this, she’d know our plan had failed and she might try to tattle on me, on all sorts of things.
If Carol found out the truth about me, what would she do to try to fix it?
There had to be something I could do. Yet my brain was foggy from lack of sleep and stress. I didn’t know how to convince her to let Marie and myself go.
The phone remained silent at my chest. No answers from them meant they were probably working on it. I just didn’t know what to do. “Maybe...maybe after we move, would you want to look at a private school?”
Carol marked where she needed to cut on the paper liner. “And honestly, Sang, I found a few notices from the school about Marie skipping school. You’ve got a detention and a suspension on your record. Your grades are okay, but the classes you were taking aren’t spectacular.”
“They were all AP classes,” I said, absently, unsure why I was pressing this. “Advanced...”
“Yes, they are advanced classes, but you’re taking your appropriate sophomore classes. It isn’t like you’re taking Advanced Calculus at your age. I don’t think it will be compelling enough for a private school. Especially given the detentions and in-school suspension on your record.”
My cheeks burned. I didn’t have a reply for her.
None of this was what I wanted.
She wasn’t even considering what I wanted. While I prodded her with questions about a private school, she was shutting the idea down.
A new state. Homeschooled. At
Carol’s mercy. Out of my control. No choice. No discussion about it.
There was a sharp knock. I jumped shortly. Carol dropped the roll, leaning back on her knees to look at me.
A second knock came. The doorbell sounded.
It was short, and different from the front door’s doorbell.
The knock sounded like it was coming from the garage door.
Carol rolled her eyes and waved toward the door. “That might be those friends of Jimmy wanting to hang out. Answer the door and then wake him up, please.”
My heart soared at the thought that it might be Kota, even if only for a moment. Would she let me go outside with them?
I needed them desperately. Tell me there’s hope.
Not that he could say much, but maybe I could sign to him. Did we have a new plan? What could I do with this? I couldn’t imagine anything that would convince her to stay, or change her mind about any of it.
I padded through the quiet family room and went to the door, opening it, ready with a smile, even if it were Derrick. I could easily send Derrick to go get Kota and Nathan.
I looked up.
Her eyes were wide and blazed with anger.
I choked shortly, blinking in utter confusion.
My stepmother stood at the door.
Scorn and Fury
She wore a loose-fitting sweater and pants, and I didn’t realize why this was odd and made me think I was just in a bad dream.
I hadn’t seen her wear anything other than pajamas or a robe in years.
Her graying strands were brushed neatly into a bun at the nape of her neck, and she held a small bag. She still carried a hospital smell of disinfectant and plastic.
The rage in her eyes, however, had not changed. Not one bit.
I shook where I stood, blood draining completely from my face. I blinked, sure I’d fainted at the door, was dreaming, and needed to wake up. The guys would have told me if she were released from the hospital. They would have come to get me.
She entered. “Why is the door locked?” she snapped at me. Her eyes were wide and she dropped the bag inside the door. “And whose car is that?”
My mouth moved without sounds coming out.
Carol.
Jimmy.
Me.
We were in danger.
I was about to reach for the phone, to hit every single red button until I reached someone. My knees shook, ready to dart out the door.
She walked past me, eyes darting all over the house. Her face contorted in disgust at the covered couch and the vacuum in the corner.
Movement in the garage broke my concentration on my stepmother.
Lily and Liam stood together on the steps. They’d been behind her and I hadn’t seen them until she had come inside.
My pulse thundered in my ears. Forget dreaming. I was becoming delusional.
Liam was dressed in dark slacks, a blue long-sleeved shirt and a badge attached to the breast pocket. He was freshly shaven and his red hair was brushed neatly. He stood beside Lily, a couple of inches shorter, but with the way he stood, he was imposing. His eyes were intense, his lips tight.
Lily wore a dress suit in a dark color, like I’d seen school administrators wear sometimes, and appeared official. She carried a badge tucked into the front pocket, with a seal I wasn’t sure I recognized, but which seemed familiar. The hospital badges?
My lips parted, and I backed up a tiny bit more, making more room for them.
My spine tingled, my whole body changing from numb to electrified.
What was this? Had she demanded to come back? How had Liam and Lily gotten involved?
My stepmother looked back to them and seemed to wait. She knew who they were?
“Hello,” Lily said quickly, and she reached for my hand. “I’m one of your mother’s visiting nurses. We tried to get ahold of someone to come pick her up, but it seems we couldn’t reach anyone with the numbers we had on file.”
I held out my hand, going through the motion of shaking hers and trying to figure out what they were up to. She wasn’t a nurse.
Liam winked at me as he passed us and followed behind my stepmother toward the kitchen.
I tried to release Lily’s hand quickly to turn and see what was going on.
Lily held on to me too tightly and wouldn’t allow me to let go. She tugged me closer. “Stay right here,” she whispered.
My cheeks filled with warmth, and I waited. Ready to run.
This whole house was about to go down in flames.
Lily eased how tight she was holding my hand, but still hung on to me. She motioned for me to keep my eyes on her as we listened.
“Who the hell are you?” my stepmother’s cracking voice rose.
Silence for a moment. Liam was standing behind my mother in the doorway. He shifted to peer over her shoulder. “Are you a house cleaner?” he asked.
Carol said, “Of course not. Who are you people entering my house?”
“Your house?” My stepmother reared her head back, laughing. She stepped further into the kitchen, where I couldn’t see her. Liam followed. “You’re the woman he left me for?”
“You must be Mrs. Sorenson.”
“Not for much longer,” she snarled. “Get out.”
“You can’t kick me out. My son...I...”
“I’m sorry,” Liam said. “There’s obviously some confusion here.”
“Who are you?” Carol asked.
“We were escorting Mrs. Sorenson home and setting up the medical equipment she needs to stay at home like she requested. She told us this was her home.”
“It’s mine,” my stepmother snarled. “The divorce papers I’ve had drawn up are very clear about that.”
Lily urged me toward the back stairs. My limbs were numb, so I hesitated. She tugged my hand.
I followed, the voices rising behind us, but I couldn’t hear the further we got away from them.
At the top of the stairs, Lily stopped and held out a hand for me to stand behind her.
Jimmy left my bedroom, rubbing his eyes and stumbling toward the front stairwell. He waited only a moment before he disappeared, the thundering footsteps joining the loud voices from the kitchen.
Lily tugged me down the hallway. She pointed to the last door. “Marie?” she asked quietly.
I nodded, unsure getting her involved would be good. I didn’t understand what was happening. Carol and my stepmother in a fight? What was this?
I realized now that the guys or someone in the Academy had a plan.
I hadn’t been made aware, for whatever reason.
It was happening so suddenly, all at once. I didn’t have time to think of any consequences.
I couldn’t begin to imagine why.
Lily knocked on Marie’s door quietly and waited.
Marie opened the door, hair a mess and pajamas wrinkled. She blinked out at me, rubbing her eyes. She spotted Lily and her head recoiled. “What’s going on?”
Lily urged her into her bedroom and motioned for me to follow.
Marie allowed it, backing away. When I was inside, Lily closed herself in with us. She turned to us and held a finger to her lips.
“Marie,” she said quickly. “Your mother is back.”
Marie’s eyebrows went up, her lips parting. “What?”
“I’m a visiting home evaluator,” she said. “I’ll be here now and again to check on her to ensure she’s medically able to stay here. She warned us that she was divorcing your father. We came to make sure the environment was stable for her to return.” She pressed her lips together tightly for a moment. “I know this must be hard for you. I didn’t realize he’d moved his mistress into the house.”
Marie grew animated all at once and bobbed her head up and down. “She came in changing everything and talked about taking us out of school.”
“She isn’t your mother,” Lily said, her expression changing to sympathy. “So she has no rights to you. My partner is downstairs. He’ll try to sort this out.
We don’t want to have to take her back to the hospital.”
“Carol has no right to be here,” Marie said. “I can take care of my mother by myself if...” She paused, hesitating, and looked at me.
I didn’t know what to say. It was what Marie wanted. Her mother had returned. I wasn’t going to argue with her.
But...her mother hated me. Last time she was here, she’d wanted me gone and to go with my dad...
“I can help,” Lily said. She turned to me. “I understand you might be a little stressful, too, to her mental health.”
I nodded, and a finger rose to my lip, hovering. My nerves shook me through. “She won’t want me here.”
Voices rose downstairs, first Carol, then my stepmother, and then Liam barking at them to calm down.
“It may not be best if you stay at all, then,” she said quietly. “Do you have a friend nearby you can stay with?” she asked with an eyebrow raised delicately. “Someone whose parents may be home? We can speak with them about the situation if you need.”
Parents might be home...
Erica? She wanted me to go to Kota’s.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “But...”
She shook her head and smiled. “It’ll be better if you’re out as soon as possible. Go to your room, pack what you need. I’ll go with you so you’re escorted out safely.” She turned to Marie. “After she leaves, I need you to go downstairs and help me get your mother up here. Once she’s safe, I’ll help Liam sort out Carol and move her things out. This wasn’t expected, but a call from the lawyer should be enough to convince Carol she has no right to be here.”
Marie bounced on her toes excitedly. “We need to be up here? Why?”
“Keep her from getting any more stressed,” Lily said. “If she has another attack, she’ll be back in the hospital. Let’s prevent this.” She opened the door and motioned for me to follow her back out into the hall. She kept her finger to her lips. “On feather feet,” she said to me. Then she spoke to Marie. “No matter what you may hear, stay until I come back?”
Marie nodded, a smile on her face. The happiest I’d seen her since her mother left for the hospital.