LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

escape your punishment. Sooner or later, you’ll have to come out, and when you do, I’ll be waiting.”

      The door opened. Ari glowered up at me. “Is that a threat?”

      “It’s a promise.”

      “But I didn’t do anything!”

      “You stole half the store,” I argued. Which was a stupid thing to do. Arguing, I mean. Since, like Ted, Ariel knew how to fight.

      Immediately, she turned the accusations back on me. “It’s not like you ever give me anything.”

      “I do give you things,” I argued. “Swimming lessons, a cell phone – ”

      “Yeah, but Grace gets whatever she wants because she’s your daughter, and you love her. Not like me.” She dropped her head.

      “That’s not true!” Her arrow struck right where she knew it would, piercing my heart. I had tried and tried to make Ariel understand that I loved her, but no matter what I did, she refused to believe it.

      “I wish Tommy was here,” she said miserably. “At least he loved me. But then you chased him off, and I’ll probably never see him again.”

      I wanted to argue that she was wrong and that I hadn’t chased him off, but unfortunately, she was right. “Well,” I said. I picked up a dirty T-shirt from the floor. “Well.” Now, I was the one who felt like a heel. How had that happened?

      The doorbell rang. Before I could stop her, Ariel dashed down the stairs to answer it. Thinking it was Vickie or Casey or some other neighbor, I took my time gathering more dirty laundry and composing myself into the happy, suburban housewife I was supposed to be. Halfway down the stairs, I paused, listening to the conversation. It wasn’t a neighbor that Ariel was talking to.

      It was her mother.

      I dropped everything I’d been carrying and hurried to the door, wanting to cut Tanya off before she made it inside my house. Ariel was a good thief, but Tanya was a professional. I’d lose everything from the espresso machine to the plasma TV if I didn’t hurry.

      Luckily for me, Tanya was still on the porch, but to my surprise, she looked better than the last time I’d seen her. She’d put on a little weight. Her hair was freshly washed and neatly combed. Although her T-shirt was old and the decal was starting to flake away, it too was clean. Her teeth were still that bottom-of-the-ashtray brown from her meth use, but her eyes were clear, and she no longer jittered. In fact, she was very calm.

      “Hey, Lilith.” She grinned like a whipped dog begging for a treat. “How are you?”

      Ariel had her face buried in her mother’s stomach and was clutching her around the middle.

      “Hi, Tanya.” Ari’s mom might have looked good, but I was still wary. The only time she ever came to see her family was when she wanted something.

      She peeked around me to look inside. “Your house looks really nice.”

      I shut the door behind me to block her view. “What’s going on?” I asked.

      “I’m clean.” She grinned again, but with a little more pride this time. “Five weeks.”

      Ariel lifted her head and smiled. “Mom, that’s awesome! Isn’t that awesome, Aunt Lilith?”

      “Yes. Terrific. Good for you,” I said, trying to sound like I meant it. Who knew? Maybe the impossible really had happened, and Miss Spry’s realm had frozen over after all.

      That tiny ray of hope was extinguished in a heartbeat, however, when Tanya said, “I stopped by so I could ask you something.”

      My stomach clenched.

      “I’m living in a new place now…”

      Ari’s head popped up again. “A real place? Like a house?”

      “An apartment. A real nice apartment with a pool.” Tanya licked her lips. “You’d really like it, kiddo.”

      “Cool! I’ll get my stuff.” Instantly, Ari was in the house and pounding up the stairs.

      Tanya blinked and looked at me as if I had the answer to whatever question she wanted to ask. All I could do was shrug. Ariel was a worldly-wise preteen who knew how to roll a joint, steal pseudoephedrine, and tell a dead person from a stoned one. But for all that knowledge, there was one thing Ariel didn’t comprehend: her mother didn’t want her.

      Tanya shuffled her feet. “I’ve got this new boyfriend.”

      Great.

      “In fact, the apartment is his.”

      Knowing where this was going, I crossed my arms over my chest.

      “See, he doesn’t know I’ve got a kid.”

      “Uh huh.” I wondered how many of my neighbors were watching us right now. The only person they feared more than Ariel was her mother.

      Ariel was back on the porch before my sister-in-law could get to the point of her visit. Seeing her daughter standing there with her packed suitcase, Tanya licked her lips again. “Well, I stopped by because I need a few extra dollars. You know. To hold me over until I get a job.”

      Ari looked up at me, her eyes pleading. She thought that a few extra dollars might give her an inroad with her mother whereas I knew that a few extra dollars would probably mean a phone call to Tanya’s supplier or a trip to the liquor store.

      “Tanya, I’m sorry, but I can’t. Not this month.”

      Tanya looked like she’d been expecting this, but Ariel, furious, flew at me. “What do you mean you can’t? You’ve got all kinds of money. You just put in a pool. And you’re getting Grace a computer. I heard you talking to someone on the phone about it.”

      Tanya’s eyes lit up. “Sounds like you’re doing really good, Lil.”

      “She is! But she and Uncle Ted are so selfish.” Ariel was crying hard now, her thick mascara making tire tracks down her cheeks. “They give everything to Grace, but nothing to me.”

      That accusation cut me to the quick. True, Ted treated her like garbage, but I loved her. “Ariel, I’m sorry you feel that way.” My voice was so taut that the slightest breeze could have snapped it. “Unfortunately, I have a policy of not lending money to family members.”

      “That’s bullshit!” Spittle flew from Ari’s mouth. “You used to give your stepsister money all the time.” She looked at her mother. “She did! I watched her do it.” She turned back on me. “You don’t like my mom because you think you’re better than her. You think you’re better than everyone! Well, to hell with you!” She grabbed her mother’s hand and started down the stairs. “C’mon, let’s go. We don’t need her.”

      Tanya’s look of vicious triumph suddenly changed to surprise. “Wait! Hold up!” She yanked her hand out of her daughter’s. “Ari – ”

      This time, the look of triumph was on my face as I waited for Tanya to admit that she didn’t want her daughter. Instead, Tanya flashed an evil smile and said, “Okay, kid. You want to go with me? Let’s go.” Then she turned and walked off with Ariel.

      It was a blow I hadn’t seen coming. I stood on the porch gaping in astonishment as they got into the car, then blinked back tears as they drove off. Somehow, Tanya had bested me by taking the one thing I had wanted all along: my niece.

       Chapter Four

      Back in the house, I immediately picked up the phone to dial 911. Before I could punch the final number, however, I hesitated. Technically, Tanya had done nothing wrong. After all, she’d never signed custody of her daughter over to me. Legally, I wasn’t even a guardian. Not only that, Ariel had willingly gone with her mother. Her sober, in control of her faculties,

Скачать книгу