Chapter 3
3
Three hours later, Faith stepped off the bus, and started the ten-minute walk home.
Well, not to her home.
Cammie and Eric’s place. She moved quickly. She hated having to walk around on her own so late at night. Faith wasn’t an idiot. She watched the news. That’s why she carried Mace in her pocket.
Mace won’t save you from a bullet.
This was a safe neighborhood. The crime rate was low.
Doesn’t mean that a criminal won’t be waiting around the next corner, ready to strike!
As something streaked past her, she let out a scream.
Holy crap!
Faith stood there for a few minutes, trying to calm her breathing. It was a cat.
Just a cat.
She rubbed her lucky charm. It was a silver hair clip with a pale blue, sparkly butterfly perched on it. Her grandma had given it to her when she was young, and Faith had worn it every day since. Gathering her courage, she rushed to Eric and Cammie’s place.
Camden and Faith had been best friends since kindergarten. Cammie had met Eric in high school. He’d been a football player, while Cammie had been a cheerleader.
A match made in heaven.
As Faith approached the house, she heard yelling. She cringed as she heard her name.
Shit.
Eric had agreed to let her stay, but he still didn’t seem to like it. Even though she was paying three hundred a week to sleep in a damp, dark basement on a sofa bed that had seen better days, it was cheaper than she’d find anywhere else.
At least in a neighborhood she felt moderately safe in.
She really didn’t want to go in the house right now.
Big girl panties, Faith.
“Corn and camellias. Corn and camellias,” she whispered to herself.
They were her happy words. And she could use some happy vibes right now.
She knew Eric liked her to use the basement entrance, so he didn’t have to be affected by her presence in his house.
But she didn’t want to walk away and leave Cammie facing him on her own. Not that she ever said anything bad about Eric.
Faith opened the front door and walked in. “Evening, guys.”
Immediate silence descended on the house as she walked into the living room to find Eric in his favorite recliner, beer in hand, his face red.
She’d love to say that he’d lost his youthful good looks as he’d grown older and meaner. But the truth was, he was aging well. He worked out a lot, so he was thick with muscle.
He was also mean as a rattlesnake. Selfish and lazy. He never did anything around the house. Cammie worked full, long days and then came home and did everything. Well, she used to. Now Faith did the cleaning as part of her rental agreement.
“Hey, Faith.” Cammie smiled as she stood and walked over to her.
Cammie had a good job in marketing. She was still dressed in her work attire, a dark blue blazer with matching pants and a cream-colored silk shirt underneath. Her hair was slicked back, her makeup perfect.
Stylish and elegant.
Sometimes, it shocked Faith that they were still friends when they were so different.
Faith was lucky if she left the house wearing the same shoes on her feet.
“How was work?” Cammie asked.
“It was good.”
Eric snorted. “Cleaning up shitty toilets is good?”
Faith ground her teeth together. “Pays the bills.”
“Yeah, well, the electric bill is due, so you can pay it,” Eric said.
“Eric, you know that utilities are included in the money Faith pays us each week,” Cammie said gently.
Eric just grunted.
This was . . . uncomfortable.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t lived here long enough for him to know that. He was just stirring up shit.
“I have a lead on a new job,” she said hastily. “If I get it, I’ll save up for a place of my own.”
That would seriously eat into what she could send home, but it was obvious she was wearing out her welcome.
“That’s wonderful! What sort of job? As a florist?” Cammie asked.
“What? No!” She didn’t mean to snap, but she never wanted that kind of job again.
“Oh, sorry,” Cammie said.
“Hey! Don’t snap at her just because you’re a failure,” Eric snarled.
“Sorry, Cammie. It’s a personal assistant job for a lawyer. But it’s just a trial at the moment.”
She hadn’t even said yes to that.
“Oh, you don’t really have experience with that.” Cammie chewed her lip. “Still. How hard can it be?”
Plenty hard considering how many assistants this guy had gone through. But Faith just smiled politely.
After everything in her life collapsed, Cammie had been there for her. She’d offered her a place to stay while she got back on her feet. Faith just couldn’t . . . she couldn’t bear to go to anyone else, including her cousin who lived in Manhattan.
He was family. And she’d already messed up her family enough. Even if they’d all tried to reassure her that what happened didn’t matter to them. That they didn’t care.
She cared.
At least Cammie didn’t try to placate and coddle her.
“But you’ll need some better clothes. I’ll help you with that,” Cammie offered.
What was wrong with her clothes?
“Thanks. Well, um, I better go to bed.” Faith hurried to the door that led down to the basement. As she walked down the stairs, she made plenty of noise, so the mice could scurry away and hide.
Although they were growing less scared of her, which was disturbing.
When she got downstairs, she ran toward her bed and snatched up Colin, holding him tight. Then she screamed quietly into his large belly.
Colin didn’t care; he often heard her scream. He was huge and squishy and her best friend in the world.
“I just did a stupid thing, Colin.”
Colin didn’t reply.
She loved that he wasn’t judgmental. After a few minutes, she set him aside and grabbed her pajamas that Matt had given her for her last birthday.
They were a plain dark blue and boring as hell.
Shoot. She couldn’t do it. She needed some comfort tonight.
So, instead, she searched through her suitcase for her onesie. It was soft yellow with bright pink and blue flowers all over it. It even covered her feet and hands and had a dropseat. She loved it.
She did her hair up into two pigtails, then put on the onesie. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a mirror down here to look at herself. Heck, she didn’t even have an opening window.
A knock on the door made her freeze.
Oh. Shit.
What was she thinking? She couldn’t afford to go into Little headspace.
And now she needed to hide.
“Faith, I’ve brought you some old clothes that might fit. You may find them a bit tight and short, but we could probably have them taken out . . . ” Cammie was already halfway down the stairs when she stopped and caught sight of Faith.
Cammie wrinkled her nose, unable to stop a look of disgust filling her face. “Oh, you’re still doing that.”
Faith could feel her face flushing as shame flooded her. She never used to feel ashamed of her needs. Everyone in her family had always accepted her as she was. And so had Cammie. At least until she’d gone to college, where she’d changed.
Now she was embarrassed by Faith.
“S-sorry.”
Cammie glanced back up the stairs. “Look, it’s not that I care. But it is a bit weird for an adult to dress like a child. Colin is one thing . . . lots of adults have stuffed toys. But the onesie? If Eric saw you . . . ”
“I won’t do it again. I promise.”
Do not cry. Do not cry.
“Right. Good. Here are some clothes for you to go through.” Cammie didn’t move, though, and Faith had to walk up the stairs and grab them. “It’s just . . . it’s time to grow up, Faith. Accept some responsibility. All right?”
“Yeah,” she said hoarsely. “Okay.”
She nearly stumbled down the stairs as Cammie walked up into her perfect house, with her perfect hair, perfect clothes, and perfectly horrid husband.
Hands shaking, Faith stripped off her onesie and pulled on her boring pajamas before braiding her hair and climbing into bed. The last thing she did was text Asta that she’d do the trial.
The sooner she got this job, the sooner her life would improve.
She hoped.