The Dragon Lady of Hamilton High

by Lady Li Andre

  * * *

  11

  Time is really weird sometimes. I’ve heard people talk about their lives flashing before their eyes but for me everything slowed down. In that slow motion I saw everything happen. I saw my mom slip. I saw the bus driver’s face turn to shock. I heard the screech of the breaks and thud as the bus hit my mom. I saw the blood splatter upward across the windshield and the wipers, thrashing in the rain, spread it across. I heard people scream.

  And then I felt arms around me and time seemed to snap back into normal pace. I almost fell. “Erin?” Tony’s voice cut through the haze.

  “My mom.” I pulled away from him and ran toward her. The bus had swerved as the brakes slid unevenly on the wet pavement. It had hit a car parked across the street but the wheels had missed my mom. I knelt beside her, trying to remember everything I’d learned in first aid. She was still breathing but I could see the blood pooling around her.

  I heard Tony’s voice. He was on a cell phone talking to a 911 operator. “We need a med unit and officers in the 2300 block of Pacific. We have a female patient who’s been hit by a bus. She’s critical.” He hit a button on the screen and handed me the phone. “Hold this.” He pulled a pair of thin blue gloves from an inner pocket of his jacket and snapped them on. He began carefully feeling my mom. “She’s got a pulse and she’s breathing.”

  I could hear the sirens. Nothing made sense anymore. Tony was answering the questions someone over the phone was asking. This was no longer an obnoxious boy in school. He knew what he was doing.

  An officer ran up to us. “Palmer, what have you got?”

  “Female, late thirties, was in a struggle with some guy, pulled away and ended up in front of the bus.”

  “Rescue and ambulance are in route.” The officer pointed at me. “Who’s she?”

  “The lady’s daughter.”

  I could hear the different sirens coming. The lights reflected off all the windows of the shops along the street. Paramedics with cases and bags came running. It was Philip all over again. Tony filled in one of them, stripped off his gloves, and pulled me away. I felt numb.

  Tony put his arms around me. “Hang on, Erin. They’re doing everything they can.” All I could do was watch.

  One of the men, the one who had been at the end of the street, came up to us. “Erin Dawson?”

  Tony tensed. “Who the hell are you?”

  The man pulled out some kind of official looking identification. “I’m a private investigator hired by Johnathan Harmond. I have a warrant to take Miss Dawson into custody.”

  “I don’t give a rats ass who you think you are. At this moment, you’re an accessory to a possible homicide. And the only place that Erin is going is to the hospital with her mother.”

  “That woman isn’t Miss Dawson’s mother.”

  If Tony hadn’t been holding me, I would have flattened him right on the spot. “Easy, girl. Don’t kill him. Save him for the courts.” He whistled to get the officer’s attention. “O’Brian! This idiot was with the guy.”

  The man looked startled. He started to back away. Tony grabbed his arm. “Oh no you don’t. The only place you’re going is to jail.”

  The officer grabbed the man’s other arm. He tried to pull free. “I’m a private investigator. I have a warrant.”

  The officer shook his head. “Tell it to the judge.”

  The medics had loaded my mom onto a wheeled stretcher. One of them called to Tony. He pulled me forward. “Let’s go.” We followed them and Tony helped me into the back of the ambulance. Someone outside shut the doors.

  I leaned into his arms. I felt so lost. I watched the medics struggling to keep my mother alive. I could hear doctors talking to them over a speaker. They were waiting for her at the hospital. When we got there, Tony jumped out right away and pulled me down. He kept his arms around me. We followed them inside as far as they would let us go.

  A nurse stopped us. “Relationship to patient?”

  Tony held something up to her. “This is her daughter.”

  The nurse nodded and led us into a side room. There was a glass window. I could see them working on my mom. I pulled Tony right up to the window. I felt like I was in my bubble of stillness but for the first time in my life, I wasn’t alone in that bubble. Tony was there with me.

  He hung on to me and buried his face on my shoulder. “Erin, I’m so sorry.” I realized there had been no slur in his voice. This was the real Tony, not the act.

  Things began to get hectic in the room on the other side of the glass. I could tell something was wrong. The doctors and nurses were moving even faster. Tony looked up. I heard the catch in his breath. “What is it?”

  He hugged me tighter. “Those monitors over there. That’s your mom’s vitals. When they are blinking like that, it’s not a good thing.”

  “I’ve never actually been in a hospital before.” I wondered if this was the same hospital where Philip was. Tacoma seemed like a big city to me. There could be more than one. Max had promised to take me there tonight. I thought about Max. I didn’t even know his phone number.

  The activity in the other room seemed to stop. Everyone just stood there for a moment. I looked at the monitors. There were lines going across them. The doctors and nurses started to leave the room. Tony was shaking. I realized he was crying.

  One of the doctors came in to our room. “I understand you’re the daughter?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m very sorry. We did everything we could. Her injuries were just too severe.” He paused a moment. “If you need to speak with a Chaplain or a grief counselor, we have resources available.”

  It sunk in. Mom was dead. I shook my head. “Thank you for trying.” I didn’t know what else to say. The doctor nodded, turned, and walked away.

  I felt empty. Tony was sobbing quietly on my shoulder. I didn’t know what else to do. I turned and held him. He pulled me close. “I’m so sorry, Erin. Did I do something that endangered you?”

  “No. This doesn’t have anything to do with you, or any of the crazy stuff at school. It’s my own crazy stuff that I’ve been fighting with most of my life. And he finally won.”

  Tony pulled back and looked at me. “Who did?”

  “My grandfather. The man who hired that private investigator.”

  “Why did that man think she wasn’t your real mother?”

  “I don’t know. I have my birth certificate. Her name is on it. So is my dad’s.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He was in the army. He was killed in a battle before I was born.”

  Tony pulled me close. “Oh man. I’ve got to find some help for you.” His pocket began to vibrate. He pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. He groaned. He hit a button. “Before you even say anything…”

  “Where the hell are you? Anderson said you took off after Erin and left school.” It was David’s voice.

  Tony sighed. “Yeah. We’re at the hospital.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Erin’s mom just died.”

  There was a hiss. “Holy shit. Is she okay?”

  “Well, considering she’s standing right next to me and can hear you, you pretty much just asked her.”

  “Oh.”

  Tony looked at me. “Got any words for the nerd without brains?”

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  Tony’s look softened. He sighed and hugged me. “I need to help her get all this sorted out and then I need to help O’Brian with the paperwork because I was first on scene.”

  David gasped. “What? Was there an incident?”

  Tony looked at his phone. “Next time I get to be the nerd. Sometimes you’re dumber than a rock.”

  “Yeah, well it just so happens Erin is smarter than both of us. She figured out the source.”

  Tony got an odd look. “I vaguely remember you mentioning that. Who is it?”

  I could hear David’s sigh. “The chemistry class, only they don’t know i
t.”

  Tony looked like he was choking on something. “Do you mean your chemistry class?” David didn’t say anything. Tony started to snicker. “The captain is going to fry you.”

  A lady in a dress suit was headed in our direction. I tapped on Tony’s arm and pointed at her.

  He nodded. “Look, I got to go. We’ll exchange notes later.” He looked at me. “Hey, do you think Diana would take a case?”

  “For what?”

  “I think Erin is going to need some help.”

  “Why?”

  Tony looked at the official looking lady. “Just ask her. Tell you later. Bye.” He put his phone back in his pocket.

  The woman looked around the room. “I was told there was an officer here with the deceased daughter.”

  Tony inhaled sharply. He frowned and pulled something out of his pocket. “That would be me.”

  All of the puzzle pieces suddenly fit into place. The picture finally made sense. The man I’d seen in the fog was probably their captain. A whole new set of emotions plowed through me. That’s why he couldn’t tell me what was going on.

  The woman said my name. It startled me. She had a sad smile on her face. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Miss Dawson. This is a very difficult time. Did your mother have any life insurance?”

  “I have no idea. She didn’t even have a bank account. Her employers paid her in cash and that’s how she paid all the bills.”

  “Do you know if your mother had any assets?”

  I wanted to laugh. “We have a car but that’s it. I’m not even sure what state it’s registered in. We moved around a lot.” But that wasn’t going to happen anymore. A new kind of uncertainty hit me. I didn’t have a paying job. How was I going to pay the rent on the apartment? And what about the car? I didn’t have a driver’s license. What was I going to do? I started to shake.

  Tony grabbed me. “Whoa, there. This is no time to be testing gravity.”

  The woman gasped. She called for a doctor.

  Time seemed to shift again. This time it sped up. Before I really realized what was happening, I was in one of the beds and had an IV stuck in my arm. Time snapped back to normal. Tony was sitting next to me, holding my hand. The doctor shone a bright light in my eyes and I blinked.

  “Her pupils are responding. Erin, can you hear me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. When was the last time you ate?”

  “I ate at breakfast. I never had a chance to eat lunch.”

  Tony groaned. “Because Davy started talking to you and you don’t eat and talk at the same time. I’m going to smack him.”

  The doctor wrote something on a chart. “I’m going to have some dinner brought in for you and we’ll see how you’re doing. If we can get your blood sugar up, I’ll release you. Otherwise, you’re going to spend the night with us.” He walked out.

  “Dinner?” I looked around for a clock. “What time is it?”

  Tony looked at his watch. “Almost six.”

  “Oh no. I’m way late for work.”

  “Erin, considering everything, I think your boss will understand.”

  “I can’t even call him.” Tony pulled out his phone. I shook my head. “I don’t know the number.”

  He frowned, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. “It just so happens that I do.” He held up the coupon that Max had given him. He handed both of them to me.

  I dialed the number. It rang a couple of times and Ryan answered. “Hey Ryan. It’s Erin. I know Max is still in class but…”

  “Hang on, Erin.” I could hear him running. Max’s voice got louder. He was calling out moves to his class. He called them to pause. “It’s Erin.”

  “Will you take over the class for me, please? Erin? Where are you?”

  I looked around. “I’m in a hospital.” Tony held up a document and pointed to a name. “Tacoma General.”

  Max gasped. “What happened?”

  I suddenly couldn’t talk. It was like someone had grabbed me around the throat and blocked off everything. I could hear Max calling my name but just couldn’t do anything.

  Tony took the phone and touched my face. “Hey, breathe!”

  Some alarm started to go off. Things started to feel distant. I heard Tony talking to Max. He got out the way as the room filled with nurses and doctors. I felt like I was sinking. One of the nurses tried to push Tony out of the room but the doctor told her to let him stay. Tony thanked him and came to my side. “Hang on, Erin.” He touched my face.

  I focused on him. The sounds in the room took on a strange quality. I heard the doctor say he’d given me something to relax my muscles. The tightness in my neck loosened and the air began to flow without restriction. People began to relax. Tony leaned over and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes.

  I heard voices and opened them again. Tony, David, and the man I’d seen in the fog were talking quietly at the end of my bed. David was explaining what we’d discovered to him.

  The man looked like he didn’t believe it. “Are you trying to tell me that the chemistry teacher is the source?”

  David handed him the notebook. “This is all of them. I managed to talk to all the kids in my chemistry class. I wasn’t the only one taking notes. Have a chemist look at them. Erin said two of them made some drug that was used to treat mental disorders. And she was right. I got a look in the office. He’s got a bunch of certificates hanging on the wall over his desk.”

  “Nick, I’m going to need more than that to convince the court to issue a warrant for a science teacher. You’re going to have to give me solid proof. You know that.” He looked over at me. “And what about the girl?”

  Tony growled quietly. “Her name is Erin.” He looked over at David. “Did you talk to your sister?”

  “She wants to know what’s going on before she takes the case.”

  The other man crossed his arms. “I’d also like to know what’s going on.”

  “A couple of bozos, at least one claiming to be a PI, went after her mom. She tried to get away from one and ended up getting hit by a bus. She died a few hours ago. But while we’re on the scene, this so called PI comes up and claims he’s got a warrant to take custody of Erin and tries to tell her that her mom isn’t her mom.”

  David shook his head. “What? You lost me somewhere.”

  “Trust me, Erin was just as confused. I don’t know all the details. I know that Erin and her mom moved around a lot. My guess is the guy who hired the PI has been dogging them for a long time.”

  “Why did Ms. Henning call her back?”

  “I don’t know.” I wiggled my toes. Tony grinned and captured them in his hand. “But I think the person who could answer some of these questions is awake. Just be gentle. She’s had a rough day.”

  The man looked at me. “Then why don’t you do the asking?”

  Tony came to a chair by the side of the bed and sat down. “You back from the land of the lost?”

  “I’m still lost but I seem to be back.”

  He chuckled. “Good to hear that. By the way, Max is here. But you were out of it. He went up to see Philip. He’ll be back down in a bit.” He glanced over his shoulder. “For Pete’s sake, she doesn’t bite.”

  David grinned and came to the other side of the bed. I could see a badge clipped to his belt. He perched on the side of the bed. “Hey, Erin. Sorry about your mom.”

  I couldn’t help but remember the chapter I’d read for Grapes of Wrath. “Thanks.”

  Tony pointed at the other man who had come a little closer but still stood with his arms crossed. “And this is our captain, Henry Pierson.” The man nodded. He was wearing a light jacket but I caught the glint of metal on his belt, too.

  “I know you must have a lot of questions. Tony, do you know what they did with my backpack?”

  He looked around. “I’m betting it’s in the big white bag in the corner. I’ll grab it for you.”

  “I just need the large envelope from the ba
ck pocket.”

  “I can do that.” He brought it over and handed it to me.

  “I’ve learned to carry certain things with me all the time. Especially important things. I also have all my transcripts in that red folder that was next to this if you need further proof.” I opened the envelope and let the contents slide out. I picked the documents out of the pictures. “Here is my parents’ marriage license and my birth certificate.”

  Tony took them. “Oh, look at that cute little foot. Wow. You were born in Vegas.”

  David leaned over. “Can I see that?” Tony handed it to him. He pulled something out of his pocket and opened it. It was a jeweler’s lens. “Good lines. Erin, can I look at your foot?”

  “I guess.”

  Tony grinned. “This little piggy went to market. Just kidding. Nick has taken classes in forensics. He’s pretty good with prints.”

  I was a little confused. “Nick?”

  David pulled the blanket back over my foot. “Yup. That’s my real name. Nick Kinslow. But I don’t mind if you call me Davy or David. Half the people I work with do.”

  I looked over at Tony. He sighed. “Alexander Palmer but I’d much rather you called me Tony. Just about everybody calls me Tony.” He looked over at David. “And what did the piggies say?”

  “It’s a match.”

  Tony sighed. “Good. One less battle.” He started looking through the pictures. “You sure were a cute baby.”

  I pulled out some of the other things that weren’t pictures and glanced at them. “Here’s the car registration. I don’t know if my mom meant to give that to me or not. And here’s a list of names and addresses. I recognize a few of them. I think these are all past employers.”

  “That’s useful. Between that and your school transcripts, you’ll be able to pull together a history.”

  I unfolded a piece of old looking paper. It was a letter. I glanced over it. “This is from my dad.” I could feel the tightness threatening again. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breath.

  Tony took my hand. “Hey, there, girl. What’s going on?”

  I gave him the letter. “My dad knew about me. He was going to try to get leave so he could be there when I was born.”

  The captain shifted. “Your father was in the military?”

  Tony held the letter up so the captain could see it. “He was an E-3, PFC.”

  “That’s Private First Class.” He took the letter and copied some information down in a notebook. “I have a friend in Vet-Admin. I’ll see if I can get his record.”

  “Mom said he died in a battle. A chaplain came to tell her.”

  The captain looked sad. “How old were you?”

  “I wasn’t even born yet. Mom said my grandfather had come with him. He’d wanted my mom to move back home. She said he had wanted her to give me up for adoption so she could get her life back together. She said no and left. I don’t know that much about it. Only the little she told me.” I was struggling again.

  Tony took my hand. “Remember that breathing thing? It’s really important and your lungs get mad at you if you don’t do it.”

  David looked concerned. “Erin, are we stressing you? If we are, don’t be afraid to say so.”

  I took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m okay. I don’t understand what’s going on. I’ve never had this problem before.”

  David took my other hand. “Considering everything that’s happened, the traumatic shock…”

  Tony scowled. “Added to the fact you didn’t let her eat lunch.”

  “Huh?”

  “Half of your problem, Nick, is that you don’t pay attention. Erin doesn’t eat and talk at the same time. I noticed that from the first day I sat down with her. If you’re talking to her, she puts her food away until you’re done.”

  David looked at me. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry. You should have said something.”

  “I’m not sure I could have eaten much anyway.” I squeezed Tony’s hand. “I was worried when you didn’t show up.”

  Tony got an odd look. He glanced back at the captain. “Did anything come in on him?”

  The captain sighed. “Fighting is points against him with his parole officer.”

  “How nice.” He turned back to me. “That’s the second time you saved me from getting clobbered by that idiot.”

  The captain’s forehead wrinkled. “How is it, Miss Dawson, that you come to be such a good fighter?”

  “I think I can answer that.” Max walked in. I was relieved. He looked at me. “Are you up to this party?”

  “Tony is being my watchdog.” I remembered what Tony had said. “How is Philip?”

  “He’s doing better. I haven’t said anything to him yet about you being here. He’s in no condition to be moving around yet but if he knew about this, that wouldn’t matter.”

  The captain and David both looked confused. Tony filled them in with a few extra comments from me and Max. Captain Pierson shook his head. “I’ll see if I can find out who’s handling that investigation.”

  The doctor came in. He was carrying a tray. “Could you pull that rolling table out of the corner, please? Are you feeling up to something solid, Erin?”

  “I think so.” Tony pulled the table over and the doctor put a tray on it. “You’re going to spend the night with us tonight. I’m moving you upstairs to a room. Your numbers are still too low.”

  David got out of the doctor’s way. He glanced at Tony. “We should get out of here and let Erin get some rest. We have to be back at Hamilton tomorrow.”

  Tony frowned. “What am I going to tell people?”

  The captain didn’t look happy. “Social services has the case file. I’m not sure which social worker is going to be handling her case. I doubt she’ll be going to school tomorrow.”

  Tony’s face wrinkled. “Erin, what do you want me to say?”

  I thought about it. The truth seemed too bizarre. “Just tell them I found out something was wrong with my mom and she died. That’s pretty much the truth. I don’t think anyone else needs the details.”

  “Okay.” He pulled something out of an inner pocket of his jacket. “This is my card. It has my cell phone number on it. I check my messages at least once an hour. If something comes up before the end of school tomorrow, give me a call.” He squeezed my hand. “We’ll manage somehow.”

  David was chewing on his bottom lip. “Erin, what book were the chemical equations in?”

  I had to think about it for a moment. “I think it was Analysis of Psychiatric Treatments. It should be on the shelf above his desk.”

  The captain shook his head. “We need more than a book to prove that the teacher is actually making the drugs. There is still the issue of how the students are getting them.”

  David headed for the door. “Hey, at least we know where to start looking now.” He winked at me and left. The captain followed him out.

  Tony waited until they were out of sight. He tapped the tray of food. “Don’t forget, this has a dinner date with your tummy.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I’ll miss you tomorrow.” His whisper made me shiver. He jogged to catch up with the others.

  Max sat in the chair and pointed at the tray. “I’ll wait. You eat.”

  I managed to get some of it down. A couple of nurses came in after I’d given up. They moved me up to a room on the fourth floor. Max followed the procession. Once I was installed and a set of vitals taken, the nurses left us alone.

  Max perched on the side of my bed. “I was surprised when Tony told me he was an undercover officer.”

  “At least everything makes sense now. Tony and David, anyway. I just can’t imagine why a chemistry teacher would want to make drugs.”

  “Money is a powerful master. It makes people do strange things. Drugs are a commodity. Some of them are so valuable that people take incredible risks to make and sell them.”

  I had always avoided that crowd so I didn’t know much about it. Drug use went against Fusan’s
primary rule – do no harm to yourself. I had never even been tempted. “I just don’t understand why people take drugs like that. It’s one thing if you’re sick and you need them to get better.”

  Max looked down. “People take recreational drugs for a lot of different reasons. None of them are truly justified. Some do it to fit in with their crowd. Others do it to escape from reality. Some believe that the drugs help reduce stress.”

  His tone puzzled me. “Max?”

  He didn’t look at me. “I used to be stupid. My older brother gave me some and I thought the feeling was a good thing. It helped me unwind at the end of the day. But I discovered much later the damage I had done to myself. Drugs damage the body.” He was quiet for a moment. “I learned the lesson in time. My brother didn’t.” His breath was ragged.

  I touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”

  Max patted my hand. “It is past. There’s nothing I can do about it other than learn from my brother’s loss.”

  There was a knock on the door and a man entered. Max and I both looked at him. He was middle aged and dressed in a suit. He carried a briefcase. He had some papers in his hand. “Erin Dawson?”

  “Yes?”

  He looked at Max. “You’ll have to excuse us. Miss Dawson and I have some legal business to attend to.”

  I tightened my grip on Max’s arm. “I’d rather he stayed.”

  The man put on glasses. When he looked at me through them his eyes looked the wrong size on his face. “Miss Dawson. You are a legal minor. These papers are legal documents. There are privacy issues.”

  Max patted my hand and glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late anyway. Susan is probably wondering where I am.” He pulled out a card from his wallet. “This has all of my numbers on it. Use the mobile number. I’ll keep my cell with me.” He pulled away, nodded to the man, and left the room.

  I felt lost. I looked over at the man. “Who are you?”

  “I am Kenneth Hart, Attorney at Law. I need you to sign these papers, please.” He handed them to me along with a pen. I began reading the papers, trying to decode the real meaning hidden by all the legal jargon. “Miss Dawson, it’s late. If you could just sign the papers?”

  “No.” The guy was making me nervous. “I don’t sign things without reading them first.” He sighed heavily but I ignored him. This seemed overly wordy and I was trying to figure out what it was actually for. A name jumped out at me. Johnathan Harmond. The breath caught in my throat. He was trying to get me to acknowledge his claim of guardianship. “I’m not signing these.” I pushed them back.

  He frowned. “Miss Dawson…”

  “I want nothing to do with my grandfather. My mother is dead because of him.”

  His face drew tight. “Claire Harmond was not your mother. Your parents are Rachel and Thomas Gordon. Claire stole you from a hospital after her child was delivered stillborn.”

  I stared at him. “I have proof that she’s my mother. Where’s your proof that she’s not?”

  I saw the twitch in his cheek. “You may have some forged documents but…”

  I pressed the call button. The nurse came to the door. I pointed at the man. “This guy is harassing me. Could you please have someone show him the door?” He tried to argue. I put up my hand. “I’m assuming you have a card. I’ll give it to my lawyer.”

  His eyes went wide. I only hoped that David’s sister was willing to actually be my lawyer. He dug into his briefcase and pulled one out. An officer had appeared at the door. The man picked up the papers, shoved them into his briefcase, and reluctantly followed the officer out.

  The nurse came in. “Are you okay?”

  The question seemed ridiculous under the circumstances. I had just lost my mom, I had no clue what was going to happen to me without her, and now the man responsible for her death was trying to take custody of me on false pretenses. I looked at the nurse. “I don’t know.”

  She checked my IV tubing. “Do you want something else to eat? The doctor put a note on your file to offer food frequently.”

  “Do you have any hot tea?”

  She smiled. “I think I can come up with some. I don’t get that request from too many kids your age. They usually want soda.” She left the room.

  I closed my eyes and listened to different sounds, monitors beeping, a quiet drone of distant voices, some of them from televisions, and the soft footsteps of people in the hall. The nurse brought the tea. I drank it and finally managed to fall asleep.

  I woke every time the nurses came in to check on me. I finally gave up as the morning shift came on. A nurse came in, noticed I was awake, and introduced herself as Margaret. She brought me a tray of food – oatmeal and fresh fruit. I ate it. The doctor was happy to see that and my numbers were back to where they should be.

  A tired looking older woman came into my room shortly after eight in the morning. “I’m Debra Parker. I’ll be your social worker.” She sat down in the chair next to my bed and opened a file. “Dr. Leski says he’ll release you this morning.” She wasn’t looking at me. Her fingers flipped through the pages in the folder. “Do you have any other living relatives?”

  I figured I might as well get it over with. “Only the one that was responsible for my mother’s death. I don’t exactly want to be with him.”

  She looked up quickly. “Excuse me? Is there an active investigation going on?”

  “I think Captain Pierson was going to try to contact you.”

  She looked down at her files. “I don’t seem to have anything from him.” She pulled out her phone and called someone. She had to leave her number. “Well, the best I can do is place you in foster care until everything gets sorted out. According to the information I’ve got, you attend Hamilton High School. There’s a foster service that sends students there. I’ll see if they have a space for you.” She went back to her phone.

  I laid there staring at the ceiling. The doctor came in and did a final check. He dropped his voice so he didn’t interrupt her. “Everything looks good. Remember to eat regular meals and drink plenty of water. I’ll have the nurse come in and remove the IV. Good luck, Erin.”

  I had been released from my tether of tubing by the time she had finished her call. Margaret came back in. “I’m not sure what to do about clothes for you. Yours were covered in blood and had to be destroyed. Sorry about that.”

  I was sad for the loss of Zu. He’d been with me for quite a while but such was life. “Do you have a free box or lost unclaimed items?”

  “I’ll see what I can find.” She brought the white bag over. “At least your backpack survived.” She went out.

  Ms. Parker looked even more tired. “Well, it’s a bed. I wish I could say there were other options but the waiting list is pretty long. Are you going to get dressed?”

  “My clothes were tossed because of the blood. Margaret is looking to see if they have anything that might fit me. All of my other clothes are at the apartment.”

  She looked at a paper. “It’s on the way. We can stop there and pick them up.”

  Margaret returned with a pair of jeans, a sweat shirt, and some underwear. “This should at least get you home. Take care now.”

  I got dressed in the bathroom. Ms. Parker was on the phone again. She didn’t look happy. I waited until she ended the call. “So the officer on the case is Officer Chuck O’Brian. And we have a problem. Your apartment is a crime scene. Someone broke in and apparently went through everything.”

  I pulled my backpack closer. Could they have been looking for the envelope? “Can’t they give me my clothes?”

  “Not until the case is closed and that could be a while. Our department has a small emergency fund but it’s not much.”

  “I’m used to getting clothes from free boxes. Sometimes missions or churches have those.”

  One of her eyebrows rose slightly. “Okay. I think I know where there is one. We can stop off at a store and at least buy you some clean under garments. I wouldn’t get those from a free box.
” I could hear the disgust in her voice.

  I followed her out of the hospital and to her car. We went to a nearby church where a kind lady let me look through a box of donated clothes. Ms. Parker took me to a store and allowed me to get five pairs of underwear and bras, and some socks. Somehow my shoes had been spared.

  We ended up at a three story brick building that looked older than most of the others in the area. I had seen a few familiar landmarks so I had a pretty good idea of where we were. It was about 6 blocks from the dojo and then a couple more to school.

  She led me inside and an older woman in too tight clothes met us in the front hall. “Katherine, this is the young lady I spoke to you about.”

  The woman’s face puckered. “How long? I’m busting at the seams.”

  Ms. Parker shrugged. “Sounds like it’s going to end up in court.”

  The other woman shook her head. “Never a good thing. You said she was seventeen. When is her release date?”

  Ms. Parker looked at the papers in the folder. “April 29th.”

  The other woman led us through the building toward the back. She opened a door into a room filled with bunk beds. We walked down the row. She pointed to one that was just a mattress. “I’ll have to get sheets from the laundry for you. What’s the name?”

  Ms. Parker handed her some of the papers. “Erin Dawson. She was just released from the hospital. This is the doctor’s recommendations.”

  She glanced at them. “Doctors are just great for things like that. I’ll see what I can do. All the kids are in the meal programs at school. They get whatever the school feeds for breakfast and lunch on school days. We can’t exactly afford special dietary needs here. The state doesn’t give us that kind of budget.” She looked at the pages closer. “She goes to Hamilton High School.”

  I cleared my throat. “I have a job that I go to after school and on weekends. My boss provides meals so you won’t have to worry about that.”

  Both of them turned and looked at me. Ms. Parker looked confused. “You have an income?”

  “I work in exchange for advanced classes because I can’t afford them. Many of the Junior Masters do.”

  Ms. Parker frowned. “Where do you work?”

  “Inyo Dojo. It’s about six blocks from here. I can walk it. It won’t be a problem.”

  Ms. Parker pulled out a pen. “Who’s your boss?” I gave her all the information. “I’ll have to have him fill out some paperwork.”

  The other woman had an odd look on her face. “Why would you bother with a job that doesn’t pay you any money?”

  I had been asked this question before. “In this field, to get a job that pays money you need to have extensive skills and many hours of experience. Most people who become instructors spend a lot of money to obtain that. I don’t have the money so I exchange teaching time with younger or less experienced students for the advanced classes that I need to get my certificate to teach.”

  The woman huffed. “Sounds like an excuse to goof off to me.” She looked at her watch. “It’s only a little after eleven. Why don’t you drop her at school?” She pointed at a box under the bed. “You can put your clothes in there. I’ll have bedding for you tonight.”

  I put the clothes inside and followed Ms. Parker back out to her car. She drove to the school and escorted me into the office.

  Ms. Henning came out as Ms. Parker was trying to explain things to the secretary. She gasped. “Erin! Are you okay?”

  I felt naked. There was no comfortable dragon wrapped around me. It had been a long time since I’d been without one. I almost wanted to go and slip into my leotard. I struggled for something to say. “My mom died.”

  Her hand went to her mouth. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t have anywhere else to be. The lady at the foster home said I had to go to school.”

  “Oh my god. That is so insensitive.”

  Ms. Parker introduced herself and started to explain things. I looked at the clock. It was halfway through lunch. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to get lunch but I promised the doctor I would eat.”

  Ms. Parker sighed heavily. “Yes, of course. Could you please issue Erin a food services card? She’ll be on the full state plan.”

  I was given a card and the secretary wrote me out a hall pass. I went to the cafeteria. I had seen the things that passed for food and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I walked in and glanced at my corner. No one was sitting there. Most of the other kids had already left the lunch room. I went up and got a tray. I managed to find a few things that at least looked edible. I showed the lady my card and went to my seat. I started to eat.

  Arms wrapped around me. “Erin? What happened to you? You’re dragonless! What are you doing here?”

  I leaned into Tony’s chest, more relieved than I’d ever been before. “It’s a long story that we probably shouldn’t be talking about here.”

  He hugged me. “I didn’t really want to leave you last night. I was worried.”

  I looked at my tray. Tony slapped his hand over his mouth but I pulled it away. “I don’t think I can eat anymore of this anyway.” I’d actually eaten most of it.

  Tony looked at his watch. “Did you drink all your milk?” I shook the empty carton. He grinned. “Somewhere out there is a cow thanking you.”

  I looked at my watch. “The bell is going to ring soon. I have to get books from my locker.”

  He stood up. “May I deposit your tray, my lady?”

  I knew he was trying to be funny but I just couldn’t smile. I felt empty. He took my tray and dropped it in the rack as we walked out the door. He put his arm around me and guided me toward my locker. “So, what did you tell everyone?”

  “Just what you said. You ran out because you were told something was wrong with your mom and that she died. It’s all over the school. Kind of creepy how fast gossip flies around this place.”

  I got to my locker. There was something jammed in the door. I pulled it out and found a folded piece of paper. It was a note from Rebecca saying how sorry she was. I folded it back up and shoved it in my pocket. I pulled out the Soc-Ec textbook. “I don’t have my homework done.”

  Tony rubbed my back. “I bet the teacher will forgive you.” I closed my locker and he pulled me toward the classroom.

  Rita dissolved out of the crowd in the hallway and stopped right in front of me. “I heard your mommy died. With a kid like you, she probably killed herself.”

  I heard Tony’s gasp, and other kids around us make negative comments. I felt something inside me coming apart. My face began to burn and my eyes blurred. I struggled to breathe. I turned in Tony’s arms and fell into his chest. My body shook. I realized I was crying.