CHAPTER TWO
Nadine
“Mama, this is Carmen Salazar.”
Mama looked at Carmen and cocked her eyebrow. “I know who she is. I read the gossip sites online. I recognize her from pictures.” She narrowed her eyes and addressed Carmen. “What are you doing here?”
Carmen and Mama looked each other over, and for a minute I thought they might fight or something. But I think it was just two smart females taking each other’s measure.
“Go pack a bag, Nadine. Bring everything you want, but don’t worry about clothes. I’ll have clothes for you when we get to West Bay,” Carmen said.
“Mama, I know you’re not going to want me to go, but Carmen wants me to go work in her club and maybe be in an auction.” I cringed and waited for the explosion that was coming.
But when I peeked at Mama, she had a strange look on her face. It was somewhere between sad and thoughtful. She was quiet for a moment. Then she sighed. “Go pack that bag, Nadine.”
“Really?”
Mama nodded. Then she looked up at me and said, “This,” she gestured at Carmen, “is your way out of town.”
“You really think so?” I wasn’t so sure about this whole thing.
Mama looked at me as she picked up an ashtray I made her for Mother’s Day when I was in the first grade.
Most of the other kids made jewelry holders.
She held it and looked at it for a minute before meeting my eyes.
“Nadine. It’s this,” she gestured to Carmen, “or working two or three jobs to make ends meet while all kinds of men who aren’t good enough for you try to get in your pants.
And then one day you’ll wake up and realize you ain’t so pretty anymore and somehow the life you always wanted passed you by. ”
Well. That was specific. And sad. I knew she was talking about herself, not just me. I hesitated. I didn’t really want to leave her here.
Carmen looked at me, then tapped her watch. “Hurry up. It’s going to take us at least an hour to get to West Bay.”
I walked to my bedroom and started throwing everything I might need in a bag. I could still hear them talking, though. Carmen was explaining what it was she wanted me to do. I could only hear bits and pieces of it, but I assumed she’d tell me everything on our way to West Bay.
“You’re going to treat her well?” I heard Mama say.
“Yes. And by the time she completes her contract, she’ll be getting you out of here and setting you up with a decent home.”
“She don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine right here. I just want her to be happy. I don’t want to see her fade away in this awful town.”
“I get it,” Carmen said.
“But, um,” Mama lowered her voice, but I could still hear her, “she ain’t the brightest. She tends to make bad decisions and trusts everyone she meets. And she’s real sensitive. Don’t let anybody be mean to her.”
God. That was embarrassing. I wondered sometimes why I didn’t get Mama’s smarts. She’d been smart enough to go to college, but then she’d gotten pregnant with me. I wondered if my no-good daddy was also… not the brightest.
Carmen was quiet for a moment. “You know, Ms. Walker, I think Nadine is smarter than you think she is. But I won’t let anyone be mean to her. I promise.”
“I’m gonna hold you to it.” Mama used her mean voice, and if Carmen was as smart as I thought she was, she’d better listen. Mama could be a real bitch when she wanted to be.
I hustled back out of my end of the trailer before they started slapping each other or something. But when I got out there, the two of them were smiling.
“Take care of her.”
Carmen nodded.
“Bye, Mama.”
“Bye, peaches. You be good and do what Ms. Salazar tells you to do.” She looked at Carmen. “Don’t stick her with some mean guy.” She thought for a minute. “Or an old fat guy.”
Carmen made a funny sound like she was choking back a laugh. “I’ll make sure she’s only around hot, nice guys, Ms. Walker.”
Mama nodded. She didn’t have a smile on her face, but it was close.
She walked over and gave me a small hug.
She never was real demonstrative, but even less so after daddy left us and she had to grow a hard shell around herself for us to survive.
The tiny hug was more than I’d gotten from her in a long time.
“Love you, Mama.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” She gave me a too-hard pat on the back and almost knocked me right down the trailer stairs.
“Oof,” I caught myself before I went sprawling in the gravel.
“Damn. Sorry, Nadine. I forget my strength since I started lifting those weights after that creepy fella started following me to work.”
“It’s okay, Mama.”
Carmen just looked between the two of us. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked Mama. I was surprised. Carmen didn’t seem like the caring type.
“I’m always okay.” Mama’s voice sounded like steel. She didn’t like pity.
“Gotcha. See you later, then.” Carmen headed for the car and motioned for me to follow her.
I waved at Mama, but she’d already closed the trailer door. It made me sad until I saw her face at the kitchen window. She looked relieved now, not sad. She looked like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She must’ve been more worried about me than I’d realized.
“Get in, Nadine.” Carmen sounded impatient.
I got in.
Carmen threw the car into drive and left Puckins behind us in the dust.
I felt like I was in that song “Fast Car,” but instead of taking it and keeping on driving, Carmen was going to deliver me to a new, shiny life.
Even if it involved working as a waitress, or maybe a stripper, at a gentlemen’s club and maybe being sold in some kind of sex auction.
It was still better than staying in Puckins.