“Okay,” Vallery said. “Just go home, be cool, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
The Grand Am died half a block from the supermarket after we got off the beltway. I managed to guide it onto the shoulder before it sputtered to a stop. I sighed and pulled out my cell phone. I dialed Eric.
“Have a few minutes to come pick up a cute girl and her delinquent brother?”
“You broke down?” he asked.
“Of course.”
He sighed. “It was only a matter of time.”
I told him where we were, and he talked to me as he drove. He told me how many magazines he and Frank had sold. I told him about the errands Vallery had me run. I considered telling him about Lenard Fry Jr., but then I realized I’d have to explain entirely too much for the story to make sense, so I didn’t bother.
When he got there, Eric piled the groceries in the trunk while I strapped Collin and his booster seat into Eric’s car.
“Long day,” I said to Eric, and shook my head.
When we got to my house, I didn’t see Lenard Fry Jr. hiding in the bushes. Collin ran to his room.
“Want to stay with me tonight?” I asked Eric. “Collin has to sleep with us, though.”
Eric shrugged. “All right.”
He went into the living room and turned on the television. I pulled out my cell phone and called Vallery at work.
“It’s your night to keep Collin,” I said.
“Lainey!”
“Do me a favor and I’ll let it slide.”
“Fine, what do you need?”
“The Grand Am is broken down on Franklin Boulevard.”
“Okay, I’ll call a tow truck or something. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Val.”
Eric and I hadn’t spent the night together before. With a six-year-old boy between us, it got even more awkward. Eric rolled over about fifteen times before I jabbed him in the side and said, “Just go sleep on the couch.” He kissed me on the cheek and then climbed over me and Collin and left the room. I would have just sent him home, but I wanted him there in case I needed him. I’d found a baseball bat in the garage and left it by my door, thinking that Collin and I could hide under my bed and I would call the police while Eric fought off Vallery’s boyfriend.
“Time to play?” Collin asked.
“No,” I whispered. I wrapped my arm around him. “Bedtime. Sleep.”
I wanted to feel safe knowing that Eric was in the living room and could take Vallery’s wimpy Texas boyfriend if it came down to it. Well, he probably could. Eric had skinny arms and he seemed like kind of a pacifist, but he’d do what he had to do.
I wouldn’t have worried at all if Riley had been there. He wasn’t a violent guy, but I knew he could throw a punch.
And he knew how to keep Collin in check.
And he seemed to fit perfectly in my bed. He’d never bail on me and sleep on the couch.
But he was probably, at that very moment, falling more and more in love with Gina and her stupid side ponytail.
As Collin snored beside me, I made a mental list of all the clichés Mom might have used in this situation.
A good man is hard to find.
The grass is always greener.
If you love something, set it free.
You always want what you can’t have.
18
AN UNEXPECTED DEPARTURE
After Collin woke up the next morning and ran for the television, Eric came back to my room and fell asleep beside me. We got out of bed a few hours later, and I went to the kitchen. I looked out the window and didn’t see anything suspicious.
“What are we looking for?” Eric asked. I turned and saw him at the window in the living room.
“Nothing. What do you want to eat?”
“Who’s that guy in your yard?”
I ran to the window, expecting to see Lenard Fry. Instead I saw Riley bent under the hood of the Grand Am.
“Oh, that’s Riley.”
“The old boyfriend?”
“The mechanic.”
“The old boyfriend.”
I nodded. “The old boyfriend.”
“When did you call him?”
“I didn’t. Anyway, breakfast?”
“Actually, I was going to head home.” He gestured to his clothes. “I’ve been wearing the same thing for like three days.”
I shrugged. “All right. I’ll walk you out.”
I stood on the front steps and hugged Eric. “Give me a call?” he asked. I nodded. He kissed me and then walked to his car.
As Eric drove off, I walked over to the Grand Am.
“Riley?” I said.
He stood up and pushed his hair off his forehead. “Hey.”
“What are you doing here?”
He waved his wrench around. “Trying to fix your car.”
“But—?” I stood there looking stupid and confused.
“Vallery called me.”
“Jesus. I swear I didn’t tell her to. I just asked her to take care of it. I thought she’d—”
“Look, I’m just fixing your car, all right? That’s what I do. That’s my job. It’s business. Don’t freak out or anything.”
“Why aren’t you fixing it at the shop?”
“This is a charity case. We can’t take charity cases to the shop.”
“I’ll pay you. I’m not a charity case.”
Riley shrugged.
“Well, do you at least want something to eat?” I asked. “I’m getting ready to make Collin breakfast.”
He looked at his watch. “You haven’t fed him yet?”
I rolled my eyes. “Never mind. Invitation revoked.”
“That’s fine. I have plans later, so I want to get a good start on this now.”
Plans. Gina.
Bastard.
My phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and held it up. “Sorry, I have to take this,” I said to Riley, and walked back into the house. It was only Vallery, but I wanted him to wonder.
“Vallery, what the hell did you think—”
“No, no, no,” she interrupted me. “We’ll have plenty of time for that later. You have to listen to me now. All right? I need you to pack some things for us. Get a couple days’ worth of clothes for you and Collin. And get about ten different outfits for me, because I don’t trust your judgment. Casual stuff, though, because I’m skipping work for a few days. And don’t touch my underwear—I’ll buy more. All right? And grab my Keds. And you and Collin wear comfortable shoes.”
“What’s going on? Are we entering the witness protection program or something?”
“Just pack. Then meet me on the corner in twenty minutes.”
“Are you serious? What’s going on?”
Vallery hung up.
I went to the front window and looked for Vallery’s ex-boyfriend. If we had to leave the house for a few days, he must be more dangerous than Vallery had been willing to admit.
I went to Vallery’s room, grabbed her suitcase, and piled in as many T-shirts, shorts, and socks as would fit. I threw in a handful of underwear too, just because she’d told me not to. I went to Collin’s room and packed some clothes in his backpack. Then I went to my room and packed. Before I zipped my bag, I picked up my mother’s copy of Another Day off the floor and threw it into my bag. I didn’t know where we were going or how boring it might be, so it was best to be prepared.
I went into the living room. “Come here, Collin,” I said. He ignored me, of course, and stood in front of the television, hopping on one foot. I slid his backpack onto his shoulders, which wasn’t easy to do when he decided to hop and not cooperate.
“School today?” he asked.
“No school. We’re going for a drive in the car.”
I went around the house again and made sure all the doors were locked. Then I put my backpack on and picked up Vallery’s suitcase. I turned off the TV and grabbed Collin’s hand and went outside. Riley must have gone into the garage, be
cause I didn’t see him when we walked outside. “Be quiet and hurry up,” I whispered to Collin as I pulled him across the yard. I didn’t know which corner Vallery had meant, so I just walked to the left.
We didn’t have to wait long before Vallery pulled up in the convertible.
“Get in the car, Collin,” I said. I threw our bags in the back. I buckled Collin in and then climbed into the front seat.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “Are we staying with Bunny?”
Vallery looked at me. “No.”
“Are we going to a hotel?”
“Yes.”
“Lenard Fry really is dangerous? Shouldn’t we call the cops?”
“No, Lainey, he’s harmless. I just don’t want to deal with him.”
“So…we’re just going to hide?”
Vallery nodded.
She turned onto the interstate. The top of the convertible was down, like always, and the wind whipped my hair around. We drove for about fifteen minutes, and then I started wondering where we were going. After thirty minutes, I asked. “Um, where exactly is this hotel?”
“Lainey, can’t we just have a quiet drive?”
“I’d just like to know where we’re going.”
“I want it to be a surprise.”
“Fine, but give me a hint.”
“Okay. Your hint is: It’s a long drive.”
“How long is a long drive?”
“Um, a few hours.”
“Hours? How many hours?”
“I don’t know exactly. Maybe fifteen.”
“Vallery! You’re taking us back to Dallas?”
“No. Dallas? No way.”
“Do you realize that we’re running away?”
“It’s a trip. Not running away.”
“So where are we going?”
Vallery sighed. “Florida,” she whispered.
“Florida?” I screamed.
“God, Lainey!”
“Disney World?” Collin yelled from the backseat.
“Yes,” Vallery said, glancing back at him. “That’s exactly where we’re going.”
“Oh my God,” I muttered. And after that we had a quiet drive for a while because I was too shocked to form a coherent thought.
After we crossed into Virginia, my cell-phone battery died. Had I packed the charger? Of course not. I convinced Vallery to stop at the next rest area so I could use the bathroom. While she was at the vending machines outside buying snacks, I went inside and looked around. Lottery tickets? Check. Virginia mugs? Check. Beef jerky? Check. Cell-phone chargers? Of course not. Well, it wasn’t like anyone wanted to talk to me anyway.
When I came back out, Collin and Vallery were both eating chocolate bars. Vallery handed one to me.
“Thanks,” I said. We got back in the Mustang, and Vallery drove back onto the highway.
“We’re really actually going to Orlando?” I asked. “All the way to Orlando?”
“Yes.”
“Just because you don’t want to face your ex-boyfriend.”
“Oh, it’s more than that. I don’t want to deal with Len. And I don’t want to go to work on Monday and answer the stupid telephone. I don’t want to go to this conference and talk to this woman whose kid Collin beat up. I don’t want to look at all of Mom’s stuff still lying around my room. I don’t want to think about the bills. Don’t you ever just lose it? All the little stuff adds up and then you snap?”
“Mom called it being on the verge,” I said. “But she never drove us all the way to Orlando when it happened. She usually just cried.”
“Well, your mother and I are very different.”
“First, she’s your mother too. And second, no, you’re not.”
“Whatever, Lainey. I guess you’d know better than I would. It’s not like I ever got to know her. I barely existed.”
“I know what you mean.”
“You do not.”
“Yes, I do. After she got Collin, I was practically invisible.”
“You were what, twelve?”
“Fourteen.”
“Yeah, well, Mom divorced my dad when I was three. She let him have custody and she picked me up on the weekends. Some weekends. And sometimes only for just an hour. And then you were born when I was seven, and she couldn’t deal with two kids at the same time, so guess which one she forgot all about?”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d never really thought of it that way before, that Mom had let Vallery go. I’d always assumed that Vallery’s dad decided to take her away and there wasn’t much Mom could do about it. “I’m sorry, Val.”
“The funny thing is, I was excited when she got pregnant. You have no idea how much I wanted a sister. Did you ever wonder why I didn’t come around, or did she just pretend like I didn’t exist?”
Okay, honestly? I’d kind of liked it that she was far away. I’d never wanted a brother or sister. I’d never wanted to share anything.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I always thought you were lucky, because you got to leave.”
“Are you on crack?” Vallery asked. “I have maybe three good memories of Mom. Collin’s hardly going to remember her at all. You have almost eighteen years of memories of her. Eighteen years!”
“They’re not good memories. I hated living with her. I always wished she’d let me move in with my grandmother.”
“Well that’s really sad. She’s your mother.”
“But she wasn’t a good mother.”
“Yeah, well at least she kept you. And at least she didn’t kill herself before you even started first grade.”
“Oh God, let’s not do this. Let’s not argue over who Mom screwed over more.”
“It’s Collin,” Vallery said. “There’s no argument.”
I nodded. “You’re right. Can we put the top up now?”
“No.”
“Well, can I drive for a while?”
“Not yet. You can drive when I’m tired.”
“So how long are we staying? How will we know when Lenard Fry’s gone?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe he’s really just upset that you left him,” I suggested. “Maybe he came to Baltimore to win you back.”
Vallery snorted. “You met him. Does he look like the sentimental type? He just wants the stupid car. He thinks I’ll be dumb enough to give it to him like I was dumb enough to do everything for him before. And why do you want to go home, anyway? You have no job. You’re caught up in this ridiculous love triangle. All your friends are mad at you.”
“I sell magazines.” Sometimes. When Frank didn’t feel like it.
“That’s not a real job.”
“Have I been giving you real money?”
“Sorry. Point taken.”
“Are you sure we can’t put the top up?”
“Just deal with it.”
I reached into the backseat and grabbed my backpack, hoping I’d find a ponytail holder to wrangle my hair under control. As I dug around in the pocket, my hand closed around something sticky and melted and disgusting.
“Oh no,” I muttered. I pulled my hand out, and it was covered in chocolate.
Vallery looked over. “Oh, nasty. Don’t touch anything!”
“Well, get me some napkins!”
Vallery steered with one hand and dug around in the glove compartment with the other. “Why are you so messy?”
“It wasn’t me!” I turned to look at Collin. “Did you stick your chocolate bar in my backpack?”
Collin looked away.
I shook my head. “Why do you care if I get chocolate on the seats anyway? You’re going to have to give it back to Lenard Fry soon.”
“I’m leaving you at the next rest area,” Vallery said. She found a handful of napkins under her seat and flung them at me. One blew away in the wind, and I grabbed the rest and wiped off my hands and then did the best I could to clean the chocolate out of my bag.
“How many more hours?” I asked.
“I don�
�t know. But no more food in the car. I knew that was a bad idea.”
As we drove through North Carolina, the signs for South of the Border accosted us at every mile. I wasn’t even sure what it was—some sort of bizarre amusement park rest stop? But we’d been driving for so long. Come on, how could you read a billboard that said “You never sausage a place” and not stop?
“Please, Vallery,” I said as we passed another billboard.
She knew exactly what I was talking about. “It’s just a stupid tourist trap.” She sighed.
“I think Collin needs to learn about his Mexican heritage.”
“I’m not falling for that. You already told me he’s not Mexican.”
For the next twenty miles I started the argument every time we passed a new billboard. I’d given up on actually going to South of the Border. Now the fun was just in seeing how much I could annoy Vallery. But as we crossed the state line into South Carolina, Vallery took the first exit.
“You’re the best sister ever!” I screamed when I realized we were headed for the Border. I’d been cooped up in the car for hours. I was getting kind of giddy.
After Vallery parked, I led the way to a gift shop, which I figured would be air-conditioned. Vallery wandered off, so I took Collin’s hand, and we walked up and down the aisles. He picked up every other thing and asked if I’d buy it for him. Finally I bought him a sombrero because he looked adorable in it, and I got “Amigo of Pedro” buttons for each of us. I pinned mine on and then stuck one to Collin’s shirt.
“We should get some dinner,” Vallery said, catching up with us as we walked away from the register.
I looked at my watch. “Yeah, I guess so. Hey, I got you something.”
Vallery stepped back when I came at her with the button. “No way am I wearing that. You are not punching holes in this shirt.”
“Vallery, come on. Are you seriously going to be uptight on vacation?”
“Yes.”
Collin pointed to his button. “I got one,” he said. “Lainey’s got one.”
Collin and I both stared at her until she finally took the button from me and pinned it to the belt loop on her jean shorts.
When we got outside, Collin ran straight for a cactus statue, so Vallery and I sat in the grass and watched him climb on it. After a while a family with about ten kids came up. The mom had her camera ready. The kids stared at Collin. The family turned and gave us dirty looks, but Collin didn’t get down, and we didn’t make him. Finally the mom hustled the kids over to another statue. After they were gone, Collin hopped down and ran over to us, waving his sombrero.
The Snowball Effect Page 21