Enchantment (145 page)

Ke
y
s in hand,
Meeka
walked out
the
door
with
Catz
in
tow.

Cha
p
ter
For
t
y
-
T
w
o

Through
the
win
d
shield
of
her
beat
-
up
Ford,
Meeka
stared
at
the
trailer
park.
Nothing changed.
It
just
got
older
and
nastier.
She
could
al
m
ost
s
m
ell
the
stale
stench
of
alcohol
and cigarettes,
hear
the
s
cre
a
m
ing
insults.
Trepidation
filled
her,
but
resting
a
hand
on
her
sto
m
ach,
s
he
straightened.
Her
baby
would
never
kn
o
w
this
place.
It
would
be
her
secret.
The
only
thing
s
he
did
know
to
expect was
that
the
y
’d
be
drunk.

Meeka
turned
the
truck
off,
undid
her
s
eat
belt,
and
turned
to
Catz.
“Catz,
I
need
to
do
this alone.
Y
ou
st
a
y
here.”

Her
heart
ha
m
mered
as
she
pushed
the
gate
open
and
m
ade
her
way
toward
the
porch
door.
U
neasiness
s
wept
over
her,
and
she
wondered
if
s
o
m
ebo
d
y
w
a
s
watching
her.
S
he
tried
to
see around
her
truck
and
into
the
street.
S
he
couldn’t
see
a
n
y
t
h
i
ng,
but
the
feeling
stuck
and
s
he w
a
sn’t
about
to
ignore
it.

It’s
this
place.
I
hate
it
here.

Meeka
proceeded
to
the
door
and
knocked
loud
l
y
. “Hello,”
s
he
y
e
l
l
ed. There
w
a
s
no
answer.

She
p
u
shed
the door
open
and
entered
the
trailer.
The
overp
o
wering
s
m
ell
of
stale
cigarettes
m
ade her
want
to
throw
up
again.
Meeka
s
wallowed hard
and
closed
the
door.
Where
were
th
e
y
?

D
own
the
hall,
Meeka
could
see
the
bedroom
light
shining
out
from
underneath
the
door. She
turned
and
walked
toward
the
roo
m
.

“Hello?
Mo
m
,
are
y
ou in
there
?
”
She
said
loud
l
y
.

The
sound
of
a
drawer
being opened
and
closed
told
her
so
m
ebo
d
y
was
in
there. “Mo
m
,”
she
pushed
the
door
open.

Meeka’s
m
om
s
cre
a
m
ed and
dropped
the
piece
of
clothing
in
her
hand. “Oh,
Christ,
Meeka,
it’s
only
y
o
u
,”
the
wo
m
an
said
weari
l
y
.

“Hi,
M
o
m
.”
Odd…
Her
m
om
didn’t
seem
like
s
he
had
been
drinking.
It
s
urprised
her.
On the
bed
w
a
s
the
old
suitcase,
the
on
l
y
s
uitcase
their
f
a
m
i
l
y
had
ever
owned.
It
w
a
s
pathet
i
cal
l
y d
u
s
t
y
.

“What
are
y
ou
doing
?
”

Her
m
o
m
stopped
what
she
was
doing
and
looked
into
her
daughter’s
e
y
e
s
.
Her
own
filled with
tears.
Her
han
d
s
were
s
haking
al
m
ost uncontrollab
l
y
,
a
side
effect
of
y
e
a
rs
of
drinking. “Meeka,
I
can’t
do
this
an
y
mo
r
e.”
S
he
cried
and
sat
down
on
the
bed.
“Y
o
u
were
right—
w
hat
y
ou
said
on
Saturd
a
y
.
This
is
the
breaking
point
for
m
e.
I
don’t
deserve
to
speak
to
y
ou unless
I’m
sober.”

D
e
spite
the
hard
y
e
ars
of
abuse
and
drinking,
Bella
was
still
a
beautiful
wo
m
an.
Her
e
y
es, h
o
wever,
belied
her
age,
m
aking her
look
far
older
than
s
he
w
a
s.

“I’ve never deserved
y
o
u,
Meeka. You
were alwa
y
s
s
o precious
to
m
e,
but Lord
knows once I
started
drinking…
Well,
y
ou know
how
the
rest
goes.”

“Mo
m
,
where’s
Da
d
?
”

“I
don’t
know.
He
stor
m
ed
out
of
here
in
a
rage,
and
I
plan
to
be
gone
before
he
gets
back.” Bella
sobbed
brokenl
y
.
“
He’ll
kill
m
e if
he
knows
I’m
t
r
y
i
ng to
leave.”

Meeka
had
waited
y
e
a
rs to
hear
those
w
ords.
“Where are
y
ou going
to
go,
Mo
m
?
”

“I
s
poke
to
the
ladies
at
Alcoholics
A
no
n
y
m
o
us,
and
I’m
going
give
it
a
t
r
y
,
Meeka.
Th
e
y have
a
place
for
m
e
st
a
y
. A
place
where
he
…
y
o
ur father
can’t
find
m
e.”