Most Precious Blood (2 page)

Val noticed Kit beginning to write. She was always the first and the best. Val envied her friend her intelligence almost as much as she envied her her courage. She envied Michelle her family, and Jennifer Riccio her endless stream of boyfriends from their brother school, Sacred Heart. She envied everybody who wasn't in Sister Gina Marie's English class just then.

All that envy wasn't getting the quiz done though, so Val bent over, looked at the play, and began to write. She didn't find much to say about the feud, but she quoted Shakespeare liberally and hoped for the best, much the same way, she suspected, everyone else in class was doing.

Sister Gina Marie told them to hand in their papers moments before the final bell rang. Val sighed with relief at the signaling of the end of the school day. It had been a killer, one she was glad had finally ended. Now a quick trip to her locker to get her jacket, and then Bruno would drive her home. Her father was still gone, not expected back before Tuesday, maybe even Wednesday, but she didn't care. Maybe she'd call up Kit once they were safely home, and invite her over. Or maybe Kit could convince her father to take them both out for supper. They ate out a lot whenever Kit's mother was away. And Kit's father, being Val's father's lawyer, would know that Val was alone for the night. Val knew this rehab trip must have been an emergency, Kit hadn't mentioned it at all the previous week, but that didn't mean Val wouldn't be welcome for dinner. She wouldn't ask while they were in school, since that would just get Michelle started all over again, but afterwards she would call. She was sure they'd be willing to let her come over, maybe even spend the night. Val realized then how little she wanted to be alone in her house. Not really alone, since Bruno and his wife, Connie, would be there. Val was never left alone, not even to go to and from school. But she'd feel alone anyway, with her father gone. No matter what shape the Farrells were in, it would be better than being alone.

“I hope you're satisfied,” Michelle said as Val made her way to her locker. “That pop quiz was all your fault.”

“I know,” Val said. “I was the one who got on Sister Gina Marie's nerves by badmouthing Kit.”

“Kit gets away with murder,” Michelle said. “She probably aced that quiz. And I'll flunk it, and so will half the other girls. And I was only mad at Kit because of you, so it is all your fault.”

“Will you stop it already,” Val said. “I've apologized twenty times for skipping dinner. It's not the end of the world, you know.”

“My parents had a huge fight because of it,” Michelle said. “Mama wouldn't stop crying and Dad belted her one.”

“I'm sorry,” Val said, feeling even more uncomfortable. “I really am.” She looked down at her shoes and saw she was still wearing her running shoes. She must have forgotten to take them off in the locker room. She was relieved none of the nuns had seen, since sneakers weren't allowed in the classrooms.

“You could come for supper tonight,” Michelle said. “Mama would be so glad if you did. She told me to ask you.”

Val pictured the evening: screaming kids, Terry with a black eye or a cut lip. That was one of the things her father held against Bob, that he smacked his wife around. A real man never hit a woman, not according to Val's father. He had other ways of gaining her respect.

“I can't,” Val said. “I promised Daddy I'd stay in this evening.”

“This is all your father's doing,” Michelle said. “Has he told you not to have anything to do with me? Is that it?”

“Of course not,” Val said.

“You're lying,” Michelle said. “Daddy said last night that Rick wouldn't let you come. He said Rick must have forbidden you to have anything to do with us because he knows he did a wrong thing not letting Daddy into that apartment complex he's building in Teaneck. Daddy says whenever Rick cuts him out of a deal like that he always acts like we're not really family, like family doesn't really count.”

“Dad didn't even mention it to me,” Val said. “The only reason I didn't go to dinner with your family was because I didn't want to. That's all. It wasn't because of Dad or Kit or anybody except me. I didn't want your mother crying on me, and your father giving me dirty looks. I'm sorry. I should have gone, but I didn't. All right?”

“I knew that was it,” Michelle said. “I knew you were just being stupid and selfish and spoiled. You didn't want, so you didn't bother. You've never thought about another human being in your life, Val Castaladi. It's always just me, me, me.”

Val stood still. She knew her best chance was letting Michelle get all of it out of her system. Most of the other girls had left already, but she could see Kit lingering by her locker. Kit had always protected her. Val couldn't see asking her to stop just then.

“You're spoiled and you're selfish,” Michelle said. “I remember even when you were little, you always had your own way. Mama says when you were a baby, if you even just whimpered, your mother would pick you up and give you anything you wanted. She said she always knew you would turn out bad, the way you were spoiled and your heredity and all. And she was right. You're going to end up in big trouble one of these days, and that precious father of yours won't even bother to bail you out. That's when you'll see blood counts for something.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Val asked. She knew if she pushed harder, horrible things would be said that could never be taken back. But she was tired and angry, and it had been a long lousy day, with Michelle carping at her since before the first bell, and she wanted it finished already. “Are you accusing my father of something? If you are, just say it.”

“So you can leap to his defense, the way you always do?” Michelle asked. “I don't see why you bother. It isn't like he really is your father.”

Val slapped her. It was an instinctive reaction, and she knew then just how Bob must feel, and she knew she would never forget that feeling and always hate herself for it.

Michelle stood absolutely still, then rubbed her cheek with her hand. “It's true,” she said. “And it's about time you knew it. He isn't your father. Everybody in the family knows. I'll bet even Kit knows. Probably half the girls in school know too.”

“Stop it, Michelle!” Kit said. She hadn't moved any closer to the girls, and Val took that to be an ominous sign. Why wasn't Kit by her side, protecting her with more than distant words? What was Michelle saying, and how could it possibly be true?

“Everybody knows except you,” Michelle said. “It isn't like something like that can be kept secret. If you weren't so dumb and so spoiled, you would have realized it long ago. You're not really family. You don't really count.”

“You're a liar,” Val said, praying that that was true. Holy Jesus, make her a liar. She couldn't even look down any more, she was so afraid the ground beneath her was cracking.

“Don't say any more,” Kit said. Had she edged any nearer? Val couldn't be sure. “Michelle, stop, before you regret it.”

“Of course you would know,” Michelle said. “Your father must have done all the legal work. Assuming Rick bothered making it legal. If jail wasn't involved, he probably didn't care.”

They were on safer ground now. “Dad's never been in jail,” Val said. “Your father's been, but not Daddy.”

“Daddy,” Michelle mocked her. “You can't call him that. Not when he isn't even a relative of yours. Unless of course you are. Maybe you're his bastard, and he just brought you home for your poor mother to raise as her own. Maybe all those times she picked you up and cuddled you, she was hoping you would die. Maybe it was hating you that killed her.”

Val leaned against the wall of lockers. Michelle was speaking loudly enough that she had gotten the attention of everybody still in that wing of the school. Sister Gina Marie stuck her head out of her classroom. “Stop this at once, Michelle,” she said. “Or you'll be in big trouble.”

“I won't,” Michelle said. “Val's sixteen. She's old enough to know.”

“Know what?” Val cried.

“You really are stupid,” Michelle said. “You're adopted, you bitch. You're no more a Castaladi than Kit is.”

Chapter 2

The combination lock cut into the small of Val's back. She thought, I'll be paralyzed. The rest of the world seemed to be already. Michelle, Kit, even Sister Gina Marie, were all standing absolutely still, frozen at the moment of truth and betrayal.

Val sensed she was the only one who could force them out of their poses. “Liar!” she cried. The word worked. Michelle gasped, then ran down the hallway. They could hear the click of her heels against the floor and the stairs, could hear her open the door, could imagine hearing her running off the school property, to her home, to her bedroom, to her own private corner of space. And once there was no more Michelle, Kit and Sister Gina Marie came alive. They rushed over to Val, who wasn't sure whether the wall was holding her up, or she holding it, but feared the consequences of moving away from it as much as she'd ever feared anything, even her mother's death. Sister Gina Marie looked as though she wanted to do something, to reach out to Val, but then she pulled back. Kit didn't hesitate. She grabbed Val's arm and pulled her toward the center of the hall.

“Sit down,” she said. “Put your head between your knees. I think you're going to faint.”

Val did as Kit told her. Kit had a bossy streak. It was something Val had put up with all the many years of their friendship. At some point, Val would have to complain to Kit about it. But at that moment, it felt better to do as Kit told her, to have the blood rush back into her head, to feel less woozy, more in control.

“Can you believe her?” she asked. “Saying things like that?”

Neither Kit nor Sister Gina Marie answered. Val didn't know what to make of their silence.

She tried standing up, and found with a little effort she could force her legs into place. Standing up was good. She could look straight at Kit and Sister Gina Marie. “I've seen her angry before,” she said. “Michelle has a terrible temper. She gets it from her father.” She remembered hitting Michelle and felt weak again. Her father had never hit her mother, never hit her. Her mother, even when she was strong and healthy, had never hit her. Yet she'd seen them both angry, had provoked their anger on more than one occasion. They must be saints, she thought, to keep from hitting.

“She was lying,” Val said. “I didn't know Michelle lied, but she was real angry, and I guess that's why. I hope she doesn't keep lying. I'd hate it if she kept lying like that, lying about me. She can lie about herself for all I care, lie about anything she wants to, except me. Me and my family, that is. She should never lie about family. How could she say something like that? She has to know it isn't true. Her father and my father are cousins. Her name isn't Castaladi like mine, but she's one anyway. I can't remember a time when I didn't know Michelle. She gets mad all the time, and she's a very jealous person, but she's never lied before. Why do you think she's lying now?”

“I think we should get the school nurse,” Sister Gina Marie said, but she didn't move.

“I don't need a nurse,” Val said, and then realized she was going to have to prove it. “I'm fine.”

“Bruno must be outside,” Kit said. “Bruno is the Castaladi chauffeur. He takes Val to and from school. He can drive Val straight home.”

“No,” Val said. “I don't want to go home.” She surprised herself with the words, and with how deeply she meant them.

“All right,” Kit said. “You'll come home with me.”

Val nodded. She bent down, gathered her books and her jacket, which seemed to have fallen onto the floor, and straightened herself out. It wasn't hard to put on her jacket, to stuff her book bag with books. It wasn't even hard to look straight at Sister Gina Marie. “I'm fine, really,” she said. “Michelle and I will work it out. Don't report her or anything, all right.”

“I'm not worried about Michelle,” Sister Gina Marie replied sharply. “I'm worried about you.”

“I'll take care of her,” Kit said. “It'll be all right.” She smiled at Sister Gina Marie, then taking Val by the hand, led her down the corridor. Val could sense Sister Gina Marie looking at them, but it didn't matter. The important thing was to get out of there, and not to go home.

“I'll tell Bruno he's taking us to my house,” Kit said, once they were outside. Outside felt good. The crisp October air refreshed Val.

“No,” she replied. “Don't bother with Bruno. I want to walk.”

“I'll tell Bruno that then,” Kit said.

“No!” Val said. “Don't tell Bruno anything. I don't owe him any explanations. He isn't my jailor. If I want to walk home with my friend, then I'm just going to walk home with my friend. Everybody else does it, just walks home, no chauffeur to drive what, half a mile, maybe less. Let's just walk.”

“Stand here,” Kit said. “Don't move.” She used her best no-nonsense tone, and Val obeyed her. She watched as Kit deliberately disregarded her wishes and walked to the car, stuck her head in, and told Bruno what Val's plans were. Val couldn't understand why people treated her that way. Didn't her wishes count for anything?

“I told you not to do that,” she said to Kit as the girls began their walk off the school grounds.

“I heard you,” Kit said. “But you were wrong. Bruno had been waiting there for ten minutes already. He was worried. If you'd just walked off without saying anything to him, he would have followed us to my house to make sure you were okay. I told him you stayed late because you had to talk to one of your teachers, and that you were coming to my house to have supper with my father and me. Now he won't worry, and he won't call your father. I did the right thing.”