On the Loose (27 page)

“Katie will sleep in her bed. I will sleep in mine. And you will sleep in your parents.”

Amy stomps her booted foot. Dried mud sprinkles on the wood floor. “I don’t want to! You take their bed.”

“Nope.” Maxine pops her gum. “Now get ready for bed, Amy. You look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”

“Like you care.”

“That didn’t work when you were thirteen, and it sure doesn’t fly now.”

Amy grabs some clothes from her suitcase. “I’m outta here.”

“Where are you going?” Maxine throws up an arm and halts her granddaughter.

“Back off!” Amy yells. “I’m sick of the questions! I’m sick of being told what to do. Nothing ever changes!”

“Are those your mother’s keys?” Maxine asks.

“My rental’s out of gas.”

Maxine holds out her hand. “Hand them over now.”

“No!” Amy shoves past her grandmother and bolts out the bedroom door, slamming it shut.

Maxine and I run after her. I hurdle the stairs, but by the time I race onto the porch, Amy is backing the car out. I sprint down the driveway, but it’s no use.

Maxine calls from the front steps. “Come back, Katie. You can’t catch her.”

“What do we do?” I yell.

She holds up her cell phone. “We call the police.”

Small lights on either side of the drive illuminate my steps. “And what do we tell them?”

“That Amy’s driving under the influence.” Maxine holds the door open. “See, Katie, you keep sneaking out to those parties, and
that’s
what happens to you. First it’s cigarettes. Then it’s alcohol. Then it’s drugs. And then you’re just another Amy. Cracked out, washed up, and skinnier than a starved supermodel.”

“Yes, Maxine.”

“Excuse me, Sweet Pea?”

“Yes, Maxine, the most beautiful woman I know.”

We each take an end on the living room couch, and I turn on a Hallmark movie. While Maxine places a call to the In Between police department.

“This is Maxine Simmons. I want to report a major disturbance.” She sighs into the receiver. “Her name is Amy Scott.”

W
hen I roll
over and look at the clock Saturday morning it says eleven. I think I can count this day a success already.

The next thing I notice is Maxine standing in front of the mirror, a pink hat on top of her head, with salmon colored feathers sticking out in every direction.

She catches me looking at her. “Well, hello, sleeping beauty. You like?”

“It looks like the butt-end of a flamingo.” I rub my eyes and throw my feet over the side of the bed.

“Well, then you don’t have to wear it. You can wear another one.”

“Why would I wear a stupid hat?”

Maxine moves away from the mirror and stands over me. “Because you will be attending my ladies tea this afternoon.”

A bubble of laughter escapes. “What? I don’t
even
think so.”

Maxine glares. “James and Millie are home. Downstairs, in fact. Would you like to explain to them why you were at Trevor Jackson’s house or should I?”

“There better be cookies at this tea party.” I jerk my arms into my robe and cinch it tight. “How long has Millie been home?”

Maxine smiles. “A couple of hours.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because I would’ve missed this.” She holds up her cell phone. On the screen in brilliant color is a picture of my face. Mouth wide open. Troll-like hair.

Maxine’s cackle follows me all the way downstairs.

“Good morning, Katie.” James intercepts me on the bottom step and pulls me into a fierce hug. “We missed you, kid.”

“Right back atcha.” I step away. “Where’s Millie?”

“She’s in the living room.”

I find Millie curled up on the couch in some new lime-green pajamas with Rocky keeping a close watch.

“Hi, sweetie!” My foster mom’s pale face brightens. “Come sit next to me for a while. I’ve missed you.”

I cuddle in beside Mille, who rests her arm across my legs. I lean into her shoulder, careful not to put too much weight on her.

“I’m glad you’re back,” I whisper. “Things aren’t the same without you.”
I’m
not the same without you. “Did Maxine tell you about Amy leaving last night?”

“Yes, she did. She also told me Amy led you to believe we didn’t want you in the house while she was here.”

My eyes drop to the floor.

“Katie, that is not true. You belong here, with us. I would never kick you out of your own bed.”

“That’s right.” James sits on a leather ottoman. “Surely you know if I kicked anyone out of her bed it would be Maxine.”

“But why wouldn’t I believe her?” I look at both foster parents. “A lot of stuff has happened lately that has made it clear I’m not really a part of this family.”

Millie’s hand flies to her chest. “Well, of course you are!”

“How can you think that?” James asks.

“You left me in the dark about the cancer. You didn’t want me at the hospital during the surgery. And Friday I wasn’t allowed to come see you at all. Like the only person you wanted to see was Amy.” Did that sound as pitiful as I think it did?

James scoots in closer. “Katie . . .” He removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose. “You’ve been through a lot. Even before you came to live with us. Our goal has always been to provide the best possible home for you.”

“By making me feel like an outsider?”

“No,” James continues. “By protecting you from any further hurt.”

“We just wanted to do everything to keep you happy. Nothing we did was with the intention of leaving you out. I didn’t want my cancer to stop you from having a fun weekend.”

Oh, I wish it had.

My foster dad pats my knee. “We can see we made a few giant mistakes. We seem to be doing a lot of that lately.” He looks at his wife, who wears a matching expression of worry.

“If I could bear hug you right now, I would. We don’t want you to ever doubt your place in this family.” Millie stretches a smile across her face. “We love you, Katie.”

James nods. “We certainly do.”

My heart swells, but my brain freezes. I know I should say something here, but I can’t. Words pound in my head trying to break free, but I can’t seem to grab hold of any of them.

“How precious.”

The spell of the moment breaks as Amy appears in the room.

James stands to his feet. “Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick about you.”

“Where are my car keys?” Millie holds out her hand.

“Your car is fine. That
is
what you’ve been so worried about, right?” The keys jangle as Amy tosses them to her dad. “Maybe I should’ve given them to Katie. My new replacement.”

I place one foot on the floor, ready to make my exit and leave them alone to fight.

“Stay, Katie,” James says. “This is a family discussion. Besides, you need to stick around for Amy’s apology.”

Amy laughs. “Apologize? For what? Your little brat here kicked me out of my own room last night. And Grandma just let her.”

“That’s her bed. Her room. You should thank her for sharing it with you the past two nights,” Millie says.

“You know, since you told her we didn’t want her around.” James crosses his arms.

Amy opens her mouth, but her mother holds up a hand and stops her.

“We purchased a plane ticket for you back to Miami. Your plane leaves at three o’clock. Your bags are packed and in the rental car. Your father put gas in it for you this morning.”

Amy’s red eyes tear up as she stares at her mom. “So you’re kicking me out?”

James runs a hand over his clean-shaven face. “There’s a list in your suitcase. Pastors I know in Florida. A list of treatment centers.”

“For what?”

“You need help, Amy.”

“I’m not on drugs anymore.”

I bite my lip.
And I’m on the cover of Vogue
.

Amy makes a strangled sound, puts her hands over eyes and sobs. “I’ve never been good enough for you! Admit it.”

“That’s not true.” Millie’s voice catches.

“All my life I’ve tried to please you. It was never enough. My grades weren’t high enough, my clothes weren’t right, I didn’t love church enough. Why can’t you just love me for me?”

“How can you say that?” James thunders. “You can’t possibly believe that. We’ve given you everything. Love, home, our support. But we will always want more for you. We will never stop believing you could do more with your life. That you can build a good life.”

“A life that looks like yours? Fits your idea for me?”

“We want you to be healthy and safe. And a functioning member of society. Is that really too much to hope for our child?”

“So kicking me out is how you’re gonna help me?”

Is now a good time to offer a certain neon velvet print as a parting gift?

“We’ve played this game for years.” Millie says.

Her husband nods. “We’re done. Every time we bail you out, we’re just making it easier for you to live like you do. Easier for you to sink further into your addiction. We realized this weekend it has to stop. It’s time we let you fall on your face.”

“Thanks,” Amy sneers. “Thanks a lot.”

“We love you,” Millie whispers. “And you will always have a place in this family and in this home. When you get clean.”

“When you’re ready to try, all you have to do is call. Call us. Call any of those numbers I’ve given you.”

Millie sniffs and rubs a hand over her running nose. “We’re here for you when you’re ready. And we’re praying for you. We know God can heal this situation.”

“God? I don’t care about God. He’s been shoved down my throat all my life!” Amy holds her arms out. “Where is God in all of this? Where is he when I can’t go a day without something to get me through? Where is he when I can’t get a job?”

Amy continues to rant, and I feel some of my animosity toward her deflating. This girl is just sad.

“Where is your God when I get kicked out of one more apartment?”

“I’ll go with you to the airport this afternoon,” James says. “If you leave us a number, I’ll call you with your mom’s test results.”

“Don’t bother. I’m done with this.” Amy storms out of the living room. The three of us follow her. She stops at the front door. “I’m your daughter,” she says through her tears. “Your daughter.”

The door slams.

Nobody moves.

Amy’s car starts up and roars out of the drive.

“Who’s ready for a tea party?” Maxine glides down the stairs. A feather boa drapes her neck and floats behind her.

No one answers.

“What?” She pops a pink bubble. “Did I miss something?”

“I talked to
Nash today.” Frances kicks off her shoes and lounges on Maxine’s bed.

“You called him?”

“Yes. My cover story was that I needed to talk to him about our project.”

“Frances, I’m shocked.” I grin. “And totally proud. How did it go?”

“Terrible. First of all, I got nervous. And I just started spewing out whatever was in my head. And when I’m nervous, I usually try to think of random facts and trivia . . . So that’s what came out.”

“I’m sure he didn’t notice. It was a good reminder for him how smart you are.”

“Yes, because who wouldn’t want to date a girl who calls you and says, ‘A cow squirts about 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.’ Or ‘Seven hundred million people have blood sucking hookworms and don’t even know it.’”

Maybe that’s Maxine’s problem.

“And that’s not even the worst of it. Do you want to know the worst part?”

“I would love to.” I smile, content for now things are somewhat back to normal. Millie and James are home. Maxine is in the den watching her DVR’d soaps. Amy’s gone, and Frances is . . . well, Frances.

“He said . . .” She looks to the ceiling, like she’s about to call on God for help. “He said he couldn’t talk to me, that he had band practice.”

“So?”

“So? So! The band was practicing because they have a new member. A girl. It’s Jessi White. She’s in my Pre-AP English class. She’s tall, skinny, dark hair, perfect skin.”

“So she’s basically your twin?”

“Are you kidding? She’s like viper hot. The girl dresses like a biker chick. Wears these grungy, nasty old t-shirts.” Frances shakes her head. “She’s so cool.”

I sigh. Frances’s life would be so much easier if she’d choose someone else to like. One of her math club nerds, for instance. “So this girl’s in his band. That doesn’t mean they’re making out in between sessions.”

“Don’t you get it?
I
could’ve been in his band. I could’ve been their ultra-cool band chick.”

I laugh so hard I snort. “Frances, come on. You play the flute.”

“Are you saying I can’t totally rock out?”

“Yes.”

Maxine explodes into the room. “Good news, ladies!”

I watch the dog tromp in behind her. “The circus is leaving town, and they want you to go with them?”

“Very funny. I am here to inform you the tea party will begin in forty-five minutes. Everything is set. The silver is polished. The china is waiting. The tea is brewing. And James and Millie have taken a long Saturday drive.” Maxine squints at Frances. “What’s wrong with you? Did you make an A-minus at school last week?”