Chapter Eight
“Mom, you’re not listening to me”
“What did you say, sweetie?” Brandi looked up from her plate. Her daughter’s lips were pursed.
“I said, I wanted to spend the night with Missy this weekend.”
“Oh, what night?”
“Saturday. Maybe Grandma can take me to her house Saturday morning because her parents will take us to the movies, then we’re going skating.”
“Hmm, I’ll call her mother to check, but I don’t see why not.”
“Does that mean I’m going to be stuck with Grandma and Granddad by myself on Saturday? They’re cool, but they always do old people stuff.” DJ scowled.
“Not if you don’t want to. And just remember you’ll be old one day, too, if you’re lucky, so how about cutting them some slack, okay? They really enjoy your visits.”
“Sorry.”
“All right, but you should be more aware of what you say, because you can hurt people’s feelings.” She gave her son a brief smile. He was a good kid and she knew he meant no harm by his comment. “Maybe we can do something together. A movie perhaps?”
“That sounds cool, but I don’t want to see a girlie movie, okay, Mom?” Her son was making a skyscraper out of his mashed potatoes.
“And what do you consider a girlie movie?”
“Any movie with people crying, and old women.”
Brandi had to cover her mouth. Her children always said the craziest things. “I see. I suppose you would like to see something with lots of blood, guts, and guns?”
“Well, yeah. That would be cool. I wouldn’t mind seeing Blood Ring, with Jean Stallone-Segal.”
“Yuck. Isn’t he that horrible actor who can barely speak English?” Brandi frowned.
“Jean Stallone-Segal kicks butt, Mom!”
“You know we’re not allowed to watch those types of movies,” Mya piped up, her mouth full of chicken.
‘Mya, I don’t need you to speak for me.” She gave her daughter a stern look before turning back to her son. “You know I’m not going to allow you to watch something like that. You’ll have nightmares.”
“Aww, Mom. I’m not a baby.” DJ looked mulish.
“I know you’re not, but I’m still not letting you watch something as violent as
Blood Ringsounds. Maybe we can see a nice family comedy.”
DJ looked less than enthusiastic.
“Hey, don’t look so sad about hanging out with your old Mom.”
“It’s not that it’s just…” his voice trailed off.
“Just what?” Brandi prompted, frowning at DJ’s worried expression.
“It will be just you and me? No Uncle Rodney?”
She frowned. That seemed like an odd question because she thought her kids loved Rodney. “Yes, sweetie, it will be just you and me. Do you have a problem with Rodney?”
DJ didn’t say anything.
“DJ, you do like him, don’t you?”
“I liked him better when he was just Daddy’s friend.”
It never occurred to her that DJ wouldn’t like Rodney. Why was it that everyone suddenly seemed to be having issues with him, and why hadn’t she realized it before?
“Do you feel this way, too, Mya?”
“He’s okay. He brings me toys.” Her daughter shrugged and stuffed some peas in her mouth.
“Toys aren’t going to make him my daddy. I hate him! I wish I had Daddy back!” DJ leapt from the chair and ran out of the dining room.
Before she went after DJ, Brandi looked at Mya, who sat as still as a statue.
Her son was sprawled on his bed, sobbing silently into his pillow. Brandi sat down next to him and stroked his soft hair.
“Honey, it’s okay. I know how you feel,” she whispered sympathetically.
DJ turned around with angry eyes. “No, you don’t! You love Rodney better than you love me. I know you do.”
She gasped. She could never love Rodney as much as she loved her babies! Where was this coming from? “Baby, why would you say something like that? You and Mya are the two most important people in my life. Nothing will ever change that.”
“Then why are you going to marry him? When I see you with him, it hurts me right here,” he said pointing to his heart.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn’t realized how her engagement to Rodney affected her children. They seemed to like Rodney, so she never thought to ask them how they felt about her getting married to him. Come to think about it, the night she accepted Rodney’s proposal was still kind of murky in her head. That entire night was a complete blank.
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, but she pushed those thoughts out of her mind to focus on her son.
“Do you feel this way about Rodney because you still miss your dad?”
“Dad was great. Rodney’s okay, but he’s not Dad.”
“Is it Rodney you have the problem with or just the idea of me being with someone other than your father?” She wiped the wet tracks from his cheeks. “What if I didn’t marry Rodney, but later I found someone else I wanted to marry?”
DJ seemed to be giving this question serious thought. “I dunno. On Friday, when I was at Ben’s I thought his dad was really neat. I liked him a lot. I guess I wouldn’t mind if you were with someone like him.”
Brandi froze. How was it that everything always came back to Mason somehow? How ironic that DJ would say this after her earlier speech to Mason about the kind of man she thought she might end up with.
“I see,” she said lamely.
“Anyway, I don’t think Rodney likes me and Mya that much.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, he smiles at us a lot around you, but when you’re not around, he treats us different.”
“Like how, baby?”
“When you’re not there, he looks at us like he wished we weren’t around and he doesn’t really talk to us.”
“I never knew. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was afraid you’d get mad and I didn’t want to spoil things for you.”
“What if I were to tell you that Rodney and I aren’t getting married, after all?”
“You’re breaking up with him because of me?” He had a hopeful look in his eyes. She didn’t want DJ to get it into his head that he could wield this much power in her decisions, although he certainly did.
“No. It wasn’t because of you or your sister. I think I have been having second thoughts for a while now. To tell the truth, I don’t know if I’ll find someone like your father again. Maybe I was meant to be by myself for the rest of my life.” She sighed.
After a few moments, she said, “So you liked Mr. Collins?”
“Yeah! I think he’s great. He played video games with us and he let us stay up really late while telling us ghost stories. He’s a lot of fun, just like Da… He’s a lot of fun,” he finished with a frown.
Brandi knew what DJ had been going to say and it struck a chord. From the moment she’d meet him, she’d been trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar, and now it suddenly struck her. He reminded her of Damon. It obviously wasn’t his appearance, but there was something in the way he looked at her and his mannerisms. It was almost eerie when she thought about it. Could that be why she was so attracted to him? Whatever it was, she figured the sooner she could get him out of her system, the sooner she would be able to move on with her life.
“Mom?”
“Yes, baby?”
“You said that you would be alone for the rest of your life. That’s not true. You have me.” DJ threw his arms around her neck.
“And me, too.” Mya said from the doorway before running into the room to wrap her arms around them. Brandi should have known that her daughter would eavesdrop.
Her heart swelled with joy and pride for her two treasures.
Rodney walked to the house with an armful of toys and rang the doorbell.
“Rodney! How good to see you. We were wondering when you would be around again.” Mrs. Thornton opened the door wide to let him in. “I’m sure Tina will be glad to see you.”
He looked at the woman with a big smile. What a stupid woman she is. He’d been visiting the Thornton home for two years now and they still had no idea of the real reason. They thought it was because he actually gave a shit about their foster daughter. If he had his way, the little brat would be dead, too. Then at least things wouldn’t be so complicated.
“Would you like something to drink? I just made a fresh pitcher of lemonade.”
“That sounds nice. I would love a glass.”
He watched in disgust as the rotund woman walked to the kitchen, her flabby ass jiggling with each step. He wanted to throw up. Mrs. Thornton was no Brandi Evans. No one was as perfect as Brandi.
Jeff Thornton came out into the hallway. “Hey, Rodney, it’s good of you to come. Tina’s been making a lot of progress lately. She’s been talking a little more each day. The doctors say with a little more therapy, she’ll be functioning like most seven-year-olds.”
That’s exactly what Rodney didn’t want. “How nice,” he lied. “Do you think she remembers that night?” He tried to sound casual.
“That’s one thing she won’t talk about. Whenever her therapist brings it up, she goes into hysterics. He thinks she might remember what happened that night but that she refuses to talk about it.”
Good. Rodney intended to keep it that way. “Where is she now?”
“She’s in her room. Probably reading. It’s something else really. She’s so smart. The kid likes to read better than watching TV. I’ll have her come downstairs.”
“Please. I’m very eager to see her.” And to see how she reacts to me now that she seems to be getting better.
Jeff walked halfway up the staircase before calling Tina down.
The little girl appeared seconds later, bounding down the stairs two at a time until she saw Rodney. She froze. Her eyes widened as she looked at him.
Rodney looked over the little brat. She was a pale child with a mop of unruly brown hair. Her hazel eyes nearly took up her entire face and she was small for her age.
“Come down, Tina. Officer Mitchell came to see you. Look at all the toys he brought you.” Jeff gestured to the child to come off the stairs.
Verna Thornton walked back into the room with a glass of lemonade. “Here you go.”
“Here, let me take those toys for you.” Jeff removed them from Rodney’s arms so that he could hold the glass.
Rodney’s eyes never left Tina’s face. He took a step forward. “Hi, Tina. I hear you’re doing well.” He smiled.
The little girl let out a shriek and ran back up the stairs.
The Thorntons frowned at each other.
“I’m really sorry about that. I’m not sure what’s gotten into her.” Jeff scratched his head.
Rodney was pissed. The little bitch obviously remembered him shooting her father and Damon. She would have to die. They all would.