Chapter 6 #3
It had been nice too. Three bedrooms and a lovely kitchen that she rarely used.
There was a pool, too, that she could use—again, not that she did.
But Lori got a lot of use out of it. She’d spend her summers at the pool instead of pestering her all the time.
Which is what she loved. Having Lori opened a lot of doors for her and even shut quite a few of them when she turned sixteen and decided that she’d be better off on her own.
Lorena liked it too until the welfare place realized that she was living alone without any idea where her daughter was living.
It was another thing that she’d hated her daughter for.
Taking away all her special perks for having a child.
She didn’t know that she actually hated her daughter.
Lori was good for some things. Like money, mostly when she was running short.
She’d never hit her daughter either, though it had been tempting at times.
Lori wasn’t a good daughter either. Forever telling her no about things that she wanted.
She just knew that she had more money than she’d been telling her about, but didn’t know how to get it.
Whenever she was over at her house, she would search it for the stash that she had and would come up empty-handed every time.
Wherever it was, it was in a better hiding place than she could find. And that pissed her off, too.
“Why does she have to be so selfish with her money? It’s not like she’s spending it on anything.
” But she’d been dating, and that didn’t sit well with her either.
She didn’t want Lori to find someone to love her.
Then she’d not need her in her life. “Not that she does that now. I’d just be tossed away like I’ve never been in her life. ”
Again, not that she had ever been anything but a pain in her ass since she’d left home.
She’d told her that often enough. That she was a pain in her ass.
But Lorena didn’t mind that so long as she came through with money when she needed it.
And that was going to be more often when she got a better paying job, too.
It wasn’t as if she spent her money on much.
She knew that she didn’t have any good clothing.
She’d seen Lori in her best, and it wasn’t worth calling it much more than hand-me-downs.
The only thing that she spent her money on was the lottery twice a week, and she’d never even won anything off of that as far as she knew.
“She’d tell me. Being all excited about winning fifty bucks.
” But would she? She had to think about that for a bit to remember if she’d ever won anything.
And she might well not tell her because she’d want a piece of it.
“That would be really selfish of her to win and not tell her own mother that she’d won something.
It would be just like her to have won something bigger, too, and not tell me about it either. Like winning the big lottery.”
She’d know if she won that. There would be changes in her life to tell on her.
Like she’d be getting her a car and a better place to live.
She knew Lori well enough that she’d not be able to keep a secret like that from her.
No way would she win much more than fifty bucks without there being signs that she won.
Lori didn’t even own a new pair of shoes, so she knew that she’d never win anything like the big lottery and not have signs telling her about it.
She might be selfish, but she was stupid, too.
For the rest of the day, she made beds and cleaned up rooms. She didn’t take a nap today; there were people around forever to catch her doing that.
Besides, she couldn’t afford another cut in her hours without the help of Lori.
And since she’d quit her own job, it was up to her to make sure she had enough money in her accounts to pay her own bills. As best she could, anyway.
Finishing up for the day, Lorena was headed home when she decided to stop by Lori’s house to make sure that Lori was going to be looking for another job.
She’d certainly harped on her enough about getting a job that she didn’t want her to slack off on her staying working.
She had said something about starting on Monday, but that was still days away.
She was going to have to work a bit harder at her job if she was ever going to be able to hit her up for cash again.
When she got there, she was happy to see that she appeared to be home.
But when she rang the doorbell, no one came to let her in.
She just knew that she was hiding from her, and that pissed her off more.
Pounding on the door only brought out the neighbors to see what was going on.
She told them to mind their own business.
“She’s not home. Some man came by to pick her up about two hours ago, and I’ve not seen them since.
” She asked where they’d gone. “Why would I know that? They left together, and that’s all I know.
Fucking Christ, woman, don’t you have better things to do than to annoy her neighbors?
It’s supper time. You should be home, not out making noises like you own the place. ”
When she went back inside, Lorena pounded on the door harder than before. She was still standing there when the police pulled up in front of the apartment. She was asked what she was doing, making all that noise.
“I’m looking for my daughter, if you must know.
She’s in there hiding from me.” The neighbor stuck her head back out of her door and told the officer the same thing she’d told her.
That she’d left some hours ago. “She’s lying.
I know that she’s in there. Why would she need to be going out with some man when I’m all she has in the world? ”
“Apparently not. Why don’t you move along before I have to run you in for trespassing and disturbing the peace?
I’ve better things to do than to haul your ass downtown so that you can spend the night in jail.
I’m serious right now. Move on, or I’m going to run you in.
” She said that she had a right to know where her child was.
“Last time I looked, Lori wasn’t a child but a full-grown adult.
You’d best be moving along, Lorena, or I will be running you in.
I don’t want to have to do that because I know you’ll be a pain in my backside the entire time you’re there, but I will if you force my hand. ”
“I’m leaving, but I’m not happy.” He just stared at her. “Don’t you have better things to do other than to chase down stupid people about making too much noise?”
“I do have better things to do, but you’re the one who is requiring my attention right now, and I don’t have to put up with you for much longer.
Either move along, Lorena, or I’ll run you in.
I’m sure that you don’t have bail money, so you’ll be staying in jail for a while.
You have better things to do other than to harass your daughter, who is a grown adult.
” She said that she wasn’t an adult until she said so.
“That makes no sense at all, and I believe you know that. Move along before I have to arrest you. I will too, just to get you out of your daughter’s hair for a while. ”
“I’m not moving on until you can prove to me that she’s not in there hiding from me.” He said that if she was hiding from her, then there was a good reason for it. “You’re a bastard. I hate all of you on the police force.”
“We’re none too happy about you either. This is your last chance to move along before I have to arrest you.
” She shoved her hands out in front of him and told him to try.
He had cuffs on her before she knew what he was about to do.
“Good. Now I’m going to put you in my cruiser, and I don’t want to hear a word from you all the way to the stationhouse.
I know that’s just me, hopefully thinking you’ll go along quietly, but a man can dream, can’t he? ”
By the time she was put in a cell, she’d been calling him every name that she could think of.
Fat lot of good it had done her. He just laughed at her when she’d done it.
Men were going to ruin the world, and she just knew it.
As it stood right now, she was going to lose her job because of the fucker who had arrested her.
Life was getting more complicated daily, and she was going to take it out on Lori when she saw her next time.