Chapter 14 #2
It took every ounce of self-control I had to remain seated as I watched Memphis launch my daughter–wearing a hot pink helmet and football pads–across the concrete floor on a wooden platform into the waiting arms of her new favorite uncle.
The fact that she was squealing with excited delight didn’t register, because all I could imagine was what the staff at the emergency room would think of me when I brought her in with any number of injuries this activity could cause.
I had to look away before I screamed in fear and frustration, so I leaned my head back to watch Memphis’s mom, who was standing on some sort of lift, use a piece of machinery to cut a hole in one of the metal rafters high above us.
Her husband–who was wearing the same kind of helmet Jamie had on–stood close behind, watching over her shoulder.
I couldn’t help wondering what fresh and alarming hell awaited me when she finished.
I’d heard Jamie and Daughtry discussing plans for a swing set, and then all of a sudden they were pulling out tools and dragging hoses everywhere before riding up to the rafters and starting work.
I wasn’t sure whether they thought my toddler was an acrobat or if they planned to train her to become one, but I had to draw the line somewhere–and having her swing from anything that high up was it.
Hell. No.
The thought of breaking into Memphis’s safe, getting my passport, driving us all down to Mexico, and then hopping a flight to a non-extradition country sounded more appealing by the second.
“Honey, you look like you need a drink,” Memphis’s aunt said as she sat down on the bench beside me. “If you get any more tense, you’re gonna have a damn stroke. You’ve really gotta calm down.”
“What is wrong with these people?” I asked as Ivy went flying again, this time spinning like a top on her way to Memphis, who was laughing just as hard as she was.
As soon as he stopped the platform she was riding on, he set her on her feet.
She stumbled drunkenly before the helmet she was wearing smacked into the bumper of a nearby truck.
She was giggling so hard that she couldn’t stand up.
Memphis was just as bad, while his uncle dropped to his knees, cackling with laughter, and his brother Chevy filmed the whole thing.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “She’s one of them!”
Kim made a choking sound. When I looked at her, I realized she had her hand over her mouth, trying–and failing–to hold back her laughter. Tears streamed down her face as her entire body shook, and when I sighed, she completely lost it and started guffawing.
Now I knew they were all crazy–even the ones who had married into the family.
I had no idea where Scarlet and Dahlia had taken my sisters, but as soon as they got back, I was packing us up and getting Ivy the hell out of the loony bin we’d somehow landed in.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered as Ivy hopped back onto the platform.
“More! More! More!” Ivy squealed, gripping the edge. She tipped her head back to look at Memphis and promptly fell backwards with a loud thump, which set off another round of giggles.
“At least she’s wearing proper head protection,” Kim managed to say through her laughter.
I looked down at the chalk drawings Ivy had created on the floor with help from Memphis, Chevy, and Dahlia. I pointed at them and asked Kim, “Who does that?”
Kim looked at the outlines of bodies that were scattered across the concrete and started cackling again. I let my head fall forward in defeat.
I was clearly having an out-of-body experience, because there was absolutely no way that this had been going on long enough for everyone in the family to think it was normal.
It couldn’t have.
Otherwise, how had any of the children survived?
Although that might explain why Memphis could be so maddeningly dense sometimes.
“Cassia,” Kim said gently, “let me explain something to you that took me a little while to get used to.”
“Please. Any help you can give me is welcome.”
“The Forresters–and everyone who loves them–are born without the DNA strand that allows them to give a fuck. They’re also missing the one that gives people a healthy fear of things that might injure them.”
Ivy squealed in glee as Memphis shoved the cart again, sending her spinning toward Kim’s husband.
I sighed and looked at Kim, waiting for her to continue.
When she didn’t, I prompted, “Isn’t this the part where you tell me it gets easier with time and offer platitudes about how every day is a learning experience and Ivy will be better for having learned so many dangerous things at such a young age, and . . .”
I stopped abruptly when I noticed Jamie and Daughtry had returned to ground level.
Daughtry announced, “We’ve got the swing installed! Ivy, are you ready?”
My eyes went painfully wide as I followed the chain from the harness all the way up to the ceiling–at least six stories above us.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I yelled, jumping to my feet and pointing at the swing. “You’ve got to be kidding me if you think she’s swinging in that!”
“Why not?” Daughtry asked reasonably. “Our kids had one, but it was over there in front of where we’ve got the tv hanging now. We moved it so she won’t hit the wall or something.”
Kim snorted with laughter. I glared at her before forcing my voice into something resembling calm.
“Mr. Forrester . . .”
“Call me Daughtry, sweetheart.”
“How high can Ivy swing in that?”
“As high as she wants.”
“And how will we find out her limit?” I asked calmly.
“When she starts yelling, we slow it down,” he explained with a shrug. “That’s how the other kids told us.”
“I think I need to . . .” I cleared my throat before I inhaled deeply through my nose and slowly exhaled through my mouth. “We should go home and get Ivy cleaned up.”
“You know what you need?” Kim asked.
“A getaway car?” I replied, only half joking.
“You need to meet Martha,” Kim announced as she stood up and held out her hand. “Let me take you over there.”
“Summer might be a good person to introduce her to,” Jamie added, hooking her arm through mine. “She’s been around longer than any of us, so she’s probably got some really good insight.”
“It helps that her sons are some of the craziest in the bunch,” Kim added as she linked arms with me on the other side.
They started walking, and unless I wanted to start a fight, I had no choice but to go with them.
I looked back and saw Clem and Memphis adjusting the straps of the swing over Ivy’s shoulders.
I called out, “If she gets a scratch on her, I’ll kill all of you!”
Jamie laughed as Kim proudly announced, “See? She’s already learning!”