Chapter 12
The sound of the rain against the windows was hard enough to make me jump. The storm ensured that we were stuck inside for the afternoon. I sighed and looked over at Charlie. She sat on the shaggy living room carpet next to me, listlessly holding one of her dolls.
Usually playing Barbies with Tana made her happy but today it wasn’t working. Not when we could all hear my mom on the phone, despite her attempts to whisper.
“The poor thing. I don’t think she understands what’s happened … ”
Tana winced before shoving her doll next to Charlie’s. “Let’s play beauty shop!”
It was their favorite game even though they got into trouble every time they cut their doll’s hair. Last time Mom had taken Tana’s dolls away for a whole week. I sneaked a glance over my shoulder to where Mom sat in the kitchen.
Somehow, I knew they wouldn’t get in trouble this time.
“Lena is just broken up, of course. What is she going to do now? Raising a child is hard enough but to do it alone?”
Charlie closed her eyes.
She’d shown up out of the blue a few hours ago clutching her mother’s hand with a haunted look on her face. Her mom had dark circles around her eyes like a raccoon and had disappeared into the kitchen to whisper with my mother. Eventually she’d left after kissing Charlie on the head.
Charlie hadn’t said a single word, not even to Tana.
Tana bit her lip. She’d been at a loss trying to play with a silent friend. They’d already played two rounds of Candyland and some version of poker that she’d claimed Van had taught her.
“Um, I’ll get the leftover Halloween candy from the bottom drawer in Mom’s room. She won’t even notice.” Tana got up and ran down the hall toward the bedrooms.
I watched as she left before my eyes returned to Charlie. She squeezed her eyes shut. She’d been doing that a lot since she got here. Mom told us before she arrived to be extra nice to Charlie today because her daddy was going to be working in another state for a while.
I sat next to her on the floor. She looked over briefly before pulling her Barbie closer. It made me smile. The last time she’d come over, I’d popped the head off and it was one of the only ones left with long hair. Tana had yelled at me until I muscled the head back on.
“When Carter’s dad left, he got a new bike.”
Charlie didn’t give any indication that she heard me other than a soft sniffle. But she didn’t tell me to go away either. That was something.
She rested her head on her knees.
“Anyway, now Carter gets two Christmases. That’s not so bad. Maybe you’ll get two Christmases. Then you can ask for more Barbies.”
She still didn’t say anything else, but I could hear her breathing. On any other day I would have told her to go breathe somewhere else but not today.
Today it was okay.
“He didn’t even say goodbye,” she whispered.
I bumped her shoulder. “He didn’t say bye because he knows he’ll see you later.”
She looked at me with big, liquid eyes. “Do you think he’s mad at me?”
The idea of someone being mad at her was so stupid I almost laughed. Charlie was nice to everyone. Well, everyone except me. Plus, she always smelled like strawberries. She was a girl and girls were annoying but at least she smelled good.
“He’s not mad at you.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. You’ll see him later. And you’ll definitely get two Barbies.”
When she smiled at me, it felt like flying.
“One day I’m going to live in Gran Grace’s house with my kids. And we’ll get to stay there all the time and I’ll never have to leave.” She wrapped her arms around her knees again but this time, she didn’t look as sad.
I looked over my shoulder at the window. “The rain has stopped. Maybe we can go outside now.”
Tana flopped down on the floor between us, pushing me out of the way. “Which one do you want, Starburst or Skittles?”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, she hadn’t brought me any. Besides, everyone knew Skittles were Charlie’s favorite.
“Skittles,” Charlie whispered.
Tana reached out but before she could drop them in her hand, I snatched them and took off running for the back door.
I could hear them yelling behind me as I cleared the back steps. The rain had stopped but the ground was slippery. They would never reach me before I made it to the treehouse and neither of them could climb up once I pulled up the ladder.
Safely in my aerial hideaway, I watched with delight as they threw rocks at me. Charlie stood with hands on hips. When our eyes met, I stuck out my tongue.
I felt a little bad for eating her candy, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore.