Peering into the cup, she let out a grunt. Bad omens, everywhere.
A pistol meant danger. A cat for deceit. An hourglass as a warning to be cautious.
A dancer leaping through the air. A sword. Both signs of disappointment.
And not far from the rim, a ball with a flaming tail arched across the side of the cup. A comet. A sudden event that would bring change, soon. And considering the other warning signs, this change would not be a good one.
What was going on with her granddaughter?
CHAPTER 30
Luna let her arms dangle as she bounced on a cushion and waited for Hazel to return from the kitchen. Bouncy-bounce. Luna was hungry, having slipped through the fence without lunch, but she just couldn’t face more ramen noodles or oatmeal. Not even the peaches and cream kind. She had fled the house hungry for more than food. She needed friendship, and Hazel had been here for her.
“Luna!” Hazel had exclaimed, throwing her arms wide after answering Luna’s knock at the side door. “This is so awesome! How did you know I just got home?”
Luna didn’t answer that she could see Hazel’s house from her upstairs bedroom and from the backyard if she peeked through the fence. Mama said it wasn’t polite to spy on people, but she didn’t understand that Hazel wasn’t any old person. She was a friend. “I missed you,” Luna said.
“Missed you, too. Come in! It’s too rainy to play outside.” Stepping into the warmth of the kitchen, Luna felt a giant smile take over her body as she waved at Hazel’s mother and followed her friend into the family room to help Hazel with her homework. She was breaking lots of rules, coming here, but being with her friend was worth spending time in the attic as punishment. She had waited until Leo and Sienna were in the downstairs bedroom, where they ended up every day after they finished chores. Mama told her to stay away because they were doing adult things in there, but she had always known to keep her distance from Leo and Natalie. They had never liked her, but Mama said it was their problem, not hers.
Usually, if she did her lessons, Leo didn’t want to be bothered with her. He would have her help Sienna with chores around the house such as mopping or vacuuming and then do her lessons, which Rachel or Julia went over with her at night. Today she had been raking the last of the leaves when she heard Hazel’s voice and saw her follow her mother in the side door. She couldn’t resist! Leo would probably never notice she was gone, and if he did maybe he would see that her visits here would be easy for him. If she came over enough and showed Leo that everything was fine and there was no trouble, eventually he would change the rules and allow her to come here. He had to budge someday. She was ten years old and she needed to have friends her age. That was how it was in books and TV shows and movies. Of course, she would rather not get caught at all. She planned to sneak back into the yard in the late afternoon and no one would ever know.
First they did Hazel’s homework together. Writing sentences was Luna’s favorite part. Words always spilled out of her mind, and she could make up sentences faster than Hazel could write them. After that was math, which Hazel could do on her own. Still, Luna stayed at the table and mulled over the problems, making sure she could do them in her head. She imagined being in a classroom where the teacher smiled and told her she was doing a terrific job, just like the stickers from Hazel’s past homework boasted. And all the other kids would like her because she was nice and smart, too. After Leo budged on some of the rules, maybe she could get him to allow school, too. That would be heaven.
Then they styled each other’s hair. Hazel’s thick brown curls tangled easily, but they held the flowered combs in place. Luna made a crown of flowers for her, and Hazel tied Luna’s dark hair into three ponytails with glitter bows. Then they did Olympic tumbling, which made them hungrier, of course. That was when Hazel went to the kitchen to ask her mom for a snack.
“My mom is making us grilled-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup,” Hazel reported before diving into a somersault on the sofa cushions they had lined up on the living room carpet.
“Ask her if she has food allergies!” Hazel’s mom called from the kitchen.
“What?” Hazel yelled back.
“Allergies!”
Luna’s head pivoted from Hazel to the doorway and back as they volleyed the loud conversation in a joyous way that made her want to laugh. She wished the sisters called to one another that way, so full of energy, like popping corn.
“Do you have any allergies?” Hazel asked her.
“I don’t know.”
Hazel’s mother, Nicole, appeared in the archway. “Are you allergic to wheat or gluten? Dairy? Lactose intolerant?” she asked.
Luna wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know. But I’m not picky.”
“Do you eat bread? And milk?”
“Yup.”
“Okay then!” Hazel called to her mother in the kitchen, and then it was Luna’s turn to do a shoulder roll.
“I wish I had a trampoline,” Hazel said. “Then we could do flips.”
“I can’t do a flip.”
“You could on a trampoline. It’s easy, because you can bounce really high. If I get a trampoline for Christmas, I’ll show you how to do flips. Maybe our moms will let us have a sleepover after Christmas.”
Christmas and a trampoline and grilled-cheese sandwiches with her friend . . . so many good things!
While they ate, Hazel’s mom sat at the table with them, tugging on the wispy brown curls that sprang over her ears as she flipped through a magazine.
“Mom? Can Luna have a sleepover sometime?”
“As long as it’s okay with her parents.”
“Awesome!” Luna said, repeating her friend’s word.
“As long as you get permission.” Nicole looked up from her magazine. “I’m looking forward to meeting your parents.”
“My mother will give permission,” Luna said. “She knows that Hazel is my best friend.”
“We love you, too, Luna. You’re a delightful guest. But in the future I’d really like to get your parents’ permission for you to come over. I know Hazel’s dad tried to talk to your father last time you were here, but he scooted you off so quickly, Jeff didn’t have the chance.”
“Leo’s not my father. My father was a wonderful man, but he died.”
“Oh. Sorry about that. Is Leo your stepfather?”
Luna didn’t know what that meant, but she wasn’t going to lie to Hazel’s mom, who had been really nice to her. “Leo doesn’t want me to come over here, but my mom doesn’t mind. She understands that it’s important to have a friend. She has a friend, too.”
“So maybe I could talk with your mom. What’s her name?”
“Glory. She’s at work now.”
“I’ll just give her a call. What’s her cell number?”
Luna shook her head. She couldn’t give away the number of Mama’s secret cell phone. “None of the sisters have cell phones. But don’t worry. Mama won’t be mad that I’m here.” It was sort of true. Mama would only be mad if Luna got caught.
“But I do need to talk with her. Would you tell her that, please? I’ll give you our number and you can ask her to call. We would love to meet her sometime, but at least have her call.”
“I’ll tell her,” Luna said, dipping a buttery sandwich crust into her tomato soup, the way Hazel did.
After they finished eating, Hazel turned on the television and Luna looked through her bookshelf while some Nickelodeon kids played a trick on the school bullies. Luna found a book about orphaned kids that looked spooky and exciting. “You need to start at the beginning of the series,” Hazel said, telling her she should borrow the book.
Would she be allowed to have the orphan book in the house? Leo was strict about books. Reading was a good thing, but he needed to approve of everything the sisters read. For now, Luna stretched out on the carpet by the fire and started reading the book by the warmth of the fireplace. From time to time she looked up at the television and laughed along with Hazel.<
br />
The abrupt knock startled them both.
“I’m looking for Luna,” came Leo’s voice from the kitchen. Too close. In the past, he had rung the doorbell and waited in the driveway, pacing like a cat preparing to lunge.
“Hide me,” Luna whispered.
But Hazel shook her head with a sad frown. “I can’t,” she whispered. “We’ll get in trouble.”
“Hazel?” Nicole’s voice sounded tense. “It’s time for Luna to go.”
Was Hazel’s mother face-to-face with Leo? Maybe they would talk, the way grown-ups did on television. Sometimes Leo liked to talk and win people over. He liked to be right. Sometimes Natalie called him King Leo, the Lion, and sometimes the sisters curtsied like he was a king. It always seemed like a little joke, except that Leo really liked it.
Luna pushed up from the floor, tucked the book under her shirt, and tucked her T-shirt into her jeans. “So Leo doesn’t see,” she whispered. Hazel knew that he had weird rules.
Leo stood at the side door, his eyes cold and stern, his arms crossed defensively over a leather jacket. “There’s the little jailbird.”
Hazel’s mom forced a smile as she put her hands on Luna’s shoulders. “Actually, Luna has been a great influence on Hazel. She’s welcome here anytime. I hope it’s okay with her mom.”
“Did she tell you she has a mother?” Leo shook his head.
“Poor kid’s a chronic liar. But I guess violence can twist a person’s sense of reality.”
“I don’t understand.” Nicole squinted at him, confused.
“Luna is an itinerant foster child, a ward of the state. Her mother is dead, and no one is quite sure . . . Well, I like to think it was someone else who used the knife.”
Luna glared up at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Sometimes the mind blacks out traumatic memories.” Leo gave Hazel and her mom a sad look. “Sorry to scare you, but our girl is a killer. I hope you saw her good side. When she flips, it’s a horrible thing.”
“You’re joking, aren’t you?” Nicole frowned at Leo, her eyes skeptical. “It’s a bit over-the-top for kids this age.”
“He’s lying! I would never hurt anyone.”
“Come on, Luna-tic. Let’s go.”
“No!” Hands on her hips, Luna backed away toward the family room. “I’m going to stay. You can’t make me.”
Leo’s eyes grew cold as stones. “You’re just going to make things worse for yourself.”
“No!” She turned and ran back into the family room, hugging the book to her chest as she scanned the room for a place to hide. Remembering a game she had played with Hazel, she ran to a window and stepped behind the long flowered drape. Tears stung her eyes and ran down her cheeks as a sob rattled her. Leo was ruining everything for her. Everything!
She sniffed, wondering if Hazel would still be her friend. A moment later, she heard Hazel’s voice.
“Luna?” The curtain was pulled to the side and Hazel’s sweet face tilted in sympathy. “Are you okay?”
“No.” Her voice quivered. “He’s lying about me. I never hurt anyone.”
“I know.” Hazel stepped forward for a hug. The book was a block between them, but Luna didn’t care as she nuzzled her face against the soft shoulder of Hazel’s fleece.
“Luna?” Hazel’s mother called. “I think you’d better go.”
“But you can come back,” Hazel insisted. “Come back when we have our Christmas tree up. My mom will fix things with your mom.”
Maybe, but maybe not. Not if Hazel’s mom believed the horrible things Leo had said.
“Girls?”
Everyone was waiting for her to go. With an ache in her heart, Luna slipped out of her friend’s embrace and plodded to the door.
CHAPTER 31
The post-holiday cleaning of hotel rooms had seemed never ending, as the smell of cigar smoke and spilled alcohol permeated half of the rooms on Glory’s list, which had been booked for a bachelor party. It was disgusting work, but Glory muddled through in the hope of meeting up with Ruby at the mall today. She understood why they hadn’t been able to meet over the long holiday weekend, but maybe today. There was so much ground she needed to cover with Ruby, but there was never enough time at the mall, especially with the possibility of one of the other sisters seeing them together.
She closed the windows of the last room on her list and gave an extra spray of deodorizer for good measure. It was better, but cigar smoke had a way of hanging on. Her feet were sore and her bad knee ached as she wheeled the vacuum to the door, pausing just inside to check her phone. There was a text, from Ruby, of course: Sorry, but I can’t meet you today. Super busy this week.
Glory let out a sigh of disappointment as she bit her bottom lip. Was Ruby slipping away from her? She couldn’t let that happen. She needed her, desperately. But if she seemed too clingy, she would lose Ruby for good. After taking a deep breath to push aside her worries, she wrote back: No problem. Hope to meet up soon.
She was going to leave it at that, but then she was taking a sculpted washcloth from her cart and she thought Ruby would get a kick out of the little duck-shaped thing. She used to like the ducks in the park, and she’d just told Glory that she had a big collection of rubber ducks. She liked to squeeze them to get rid of stress.
On a whim, Glory found the camera function on her cell phone, which she had used only once to take a photo of Luna, and snapped a picture of the origami duck. It was easy to send to Ruby. Then, inspired, she pulled out the other sculpted washcloths she kept in the cleaning closet—a teddy bear, a rabbit, a penguin, and a mouse. Moving fast, she snapped photos of each of them and sent them to Ruby. What fun! She was beginning to see why people were so attached to their cell phones.
* * *
“Thank you for driving me,” Tamarind said as Ruby steered the VW into an uphill curve. “This saves your dad from having to take loads of time off from work.”
“And it keeps Nani Rima off the road,” Ruby said. “Which helps keep America safe.”
Tamarind chuckled as she rested her head back against the seat. “Don’t let her hear you say that.”
“Of course not! I would never, Mom.”
“Though Nani knows her own weakness. My mom never was a good driver. Her mind strays too easily, I think. Anyway, I’ve made the chemo appointments so that you can drive me after school. Which is such a big help.”
Everyone in the family had played a role in Tamarind’s recovery. Pete had put himself in charge of talking with doctors, researching the disease, the types of therapy, and the drug treatments doctors had prescribed. Rima had been cook and caretaker. Aurora was Tamarind’s cheerleader, her bright star who shone a little each day with funny stories from school and a little snuggling. And then there was Ruby, rising to the role of big sister, driving Tamarind around. Staying on top of her own studies and trying to participate in every conversation about Tamarind’s care. Suddenly Ruby, her rock, seemed like an adult.
The car went over a rise and Tamarind’s right hand reached to steady herself against the door. Her chest, neck, and upper arms were still tender, though the last few days had been better. The arm exercises, which she’d done religiously, had definitely helped keep her from stiffening up, and she’d gotten off the pain medication, which had given her nausea and nightmares. She wasn’t used to giving up the wheel to her daughter, but the doctors did not allow chemo patients to drive themselves home. Besides, she needed Rima at home to tend to Aurora’s snacks, meals, lost items, and daily crises. Rory was not nearly as independent as her older sister.
“Are you scared?” Ruby asked as they waited at a stoplight.
“No,” Tamarind answered, staring out the passenger side window. “Well. To be totally honest, yes. But not as scared as I was, going into surgery. I figure that it’s worth the trade-off; I’m willing to feel like crap for three months if it means kicking the cancer’s ass.”
“Wow, Mom. Cursing now?”
�
��Only when I’m passionate about something. And I am. I’m going to beat this thing.”
“It’s just so soon after the surgery,” Ruby said. “You’d think they’d give you some time to heal.”
Tamarind’s mastectomy had been less than two weeks ago, but she felt ready to go on to the next phase. “They want patients to start chemo within thirty days of surgery. They’ve found that immediate treatment helps keep the cancer from spreading.” Tamarind glanced over at her daughter. “Bet you didn’t know that.”
“I didn’t. I’m learning a lot of things I didn’t know before.”
“As we all are.”
Just last night, Pete had closed the computer after hours of researching types of drugs used in chemotherapy, studying their effectiveness and side effects. He had wanted to be knowledgeable about the procedure Tamarind was about to undertake, but there were too many variables in the types of drugs and course of treatment. “Am I nuts to keep researching this?” Pete had called to her as she applied cream to her face and elbows—a nighttime habit that had become a soothing ritual for her.
“Are you learning anything that might be helpful?” she asked.
“Only that my head is going to explode if I don’t stop.”
Tamarind came over to the bed, sat beside him, and closed the computer. “Then stop, dilnashi. You’ve been my rock, and I love you, but there are some matters we need to trust to the doctors and the experts.”
“Like whether they use a taxane drug or a cyclophosphamide?”
She squinted at him. “I love it when you talk medical to me. And that second drug makes it sound like I’ll be glowing in the dark.”
“With all the chemicals in those drugs, you never know.” He touched her knee and leaned close to kiss her.
“There’s a reason they call it chemo, Pete,” she said before she pressed her lips to his.
The Sisters Page 19