Daisy Lane (32 page)

“But you just did,” Grace said.

“Mind your manners,” Ms. Pike said. “I can make life very hard for you if I want to.”

Grace felt the rage build in her chest and didn’t know if she could hold it back. She tried to think what it was Jessica had told her to do. Deep breaths? Something about imagining she was in her happy place? She couldn’t think straight. She hated this woman.

“My grandfather died,” Grace said. “Even though he didn’t like me he was all I had in the world. My mother killed herself because she was crazy. My grandmother died of breast cancer and my aunt died of a drug overdose. I’ve got a father who doesn’t care if I’m alive or dead so I’m living in a foster home right now while people I don’t like are trying to steal my grandfather’s money. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, and it’s horrible. Horrible! Do you understand that?”

“There’s no need to raise your voice in here, Grace,” Ms. Pike said. “This is a safe zone where we can share feelings and work out problems. I hear you, and I can tell you’re hurting. It’s my job to help you but I can’t do that if all you do is yell and don’t listen.”

Grace took a deep breath and willed herself to speak calmly and slowly.

“I yelled at Mrs. Lawson because she was throwing away books from the library, because that’s censorship, which is wrong. I yelled at Jumbo because he was bullying a boy who is much smaller than him. And I yelled at Charlotte because she used to be my best friend, but then she dumped me and Tommy because we aren’t rich and popular.”

“Are you sexually active with this Tommy?”

“No!” Grace said. “This is not about sex!”

“You’re going to have to calm down, Grace. I’m warning you for the last time.”

“I’m sorry,” Grace said. “I just can’t anymore. I just can’t.”

“What I hear you saying, Grace, is that you’re frustrated because you can’t control people, and that this is causing you anxiety.”

Grace couldn’t think of any response to this statement except to scream, which she certainly felt like doing, but knew it wouldn’t help.

“I’m supposed to make you take the depression test,” Ms. Pike said. “I ask you some questions and if you score in the depression range we can get you some medication. Honestly, though, I think this is just a case of negative thinking bringing negative attention. What you need to do is try on a positive attitude for a change. I think you’ll find that the more positive you are the more people will respond positively to you. If you go around thinking bad things will happen, they probably will. If all you think are positive thoughts, then only positive things will happen. Do you understand?”

Grace understood that Ms. Pike was a crackpot, but instead she just nodded.

“Okay,” Ms. Pike said. “If you’ll promise to think more positively in the future I won’t make you take the depression test. Do you promise?”

Grace nodded and stood up. As she opened the door Mrs. Pike said, almost under her breath, “Be glad you aren’t gay. Lord knows you don’t need any more strikes against you.”

Grace clenched her teeth and fists as she left the office, but she did not say another thing.

When Grace got home from school, Kay was waiting on the porch for her, holding an official-looking piece of paper.

“What now?” Grace asked.

“It’s a court order,” Kay said. “You have to go to Trick’s house tomorrow.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Grace said as she dropped her backpack and sank onto the porch steps.

“I’ve got calls in to everyone I know,” Kay said. “Unfortunately, Knox Rodefeffer got Congressman Green’s office involved. I guess the president of the United States would have to be a friend of mine in order for me to win this one.”

“Did you call Sean?”

“I did,” she said. “He’s trying to figure out your next move. It might be legal emancipation but that would take awhile. For now it looks like you’re going to have to do as the court orders.”

“I hate those people,” Grace said. “Why do I have to be related to them?”

“Luck of the draw,” Kay said. “How was school?”

“You don’t want to know,” Grace said.

“You went back too soon,” Kay said. “I wish you could take some more time off.”

“I know Stacey Rodefeffer,” Grace said. “She’s completely messed up. Her parents shouldn’t be allowed to screw up any more kids.”

“Trick is kind of a goofball,” Kay said. “But if I had to pick between him and Knox I’d pick Trick every time. His wife, Sandy, has always seemed like a nice person, although she has a lot to put up with being married to Trick. I know they’ve had trouble with Stacey because of her eating disorder. She almost died last year. Got down to 70 pounds and had to go to a special clinic in Michigan.”

“I don’t want to go,” Grace said. “Why can’t I just give them the money to leave me alone?”

“I don’t think that’s an option,” Kay said.

“I really have to go?”

“I’m so sorry, sweet pea,” Kay said, and put her arm around Grace. “Just remember we are not giving up. We just have to rally our troops and plan our next attack. The best thing you can do is cooperate with the legal process and keep your nose clean.”

Grace didn’t tell Kay that she got in trouble again at school that day. She wasn’t sure she could keep her nose clean. It was getting harder and harder.

“I just want to stay here with you,” Grace said, and began to cry.

“I know, honey,” Kay said. “And I promise you I will do everything in my power to make that happen.”

Stacey’s mother, Sandy, opened the door, and displayed a big smile that didn’t match the resentment in her eyes.

“Welcome to our home,” she said, and although her words were almost gleefully cheerful, Grace didn’t miss the quick, up-and-down appraisal and fleeting look of disapproval that followed.

Sandy was dressed just like her daughter in a pink velour track suit, and her streaked hair was wound up in a messy knot on the top of her head. Her skin was deeply tanned and lined, and heavy makeup caked in the creases. She wore a tangle of gold chains around her neck, heavy gold rings on every finger and the piercings up the side of her ear were filled with gold stars. Her manicure was French, the long nails squared off at the ends like little bulb trowels.

Sandy instantly replaced her disgusted micro-expression with a deliberate beaming of good will which felt to Grace like a command: “See how nice I’m being!”

“I hope you’ll be happy here,” she said. “I’m so looking forward to getting to know you better.”

Grace stepped into the large, warm foyer of the mammoth home and was assaulted by the glare of crystal chandelier light bouncing off gleaming stone, marble, and polished wood. As Sandy led the way down the hall, Grace counted two more chandeliers, all dripping crystals. The kitchen, full of vast expanses of stainless steel and marble, was lit by three additional chandeliers.

“I’ll show you to your room later,” Sandy said. “First we have a surprise for you.”

Sandy paused, then pointed to a doorway and said, “The girls are down there.”

After walking down a couple of narrow flights of dimly lit stairs, Grace came to a long hallway with many doors shut along its paneled length. The end of the corridor opened up into a room as big as one of her grandfather’s greenhouses, and featured a ping pong table, a pool table, a poker table, a vast flat screen TV with deep, plush movie theater style seating, and another large wood, marble, and stainless steel kitchen. A bank of sliding glass doors faced the backyard, where a long pool sparkled in the spotlights hidden in the landscaping.

Aleesha was helping herself to several slices of pizza from one of the four boxes on the counter.

“Hey,” she called out when she saw Grace. “I hope you’re hungry.”

Grace’s heart sped up as it always did when there was an opportunity to acquire food, and she had to suppress her immediate thought, which was how best to separate Aleesha from the food’s proximity so she could discreetly steal some of it to hide in her backpack for later.

Instead, she calmly picked up a paper plate, and as if this was something that occurred every day, she looked through each box to see what kinds of pizza were available. She did ultimately pick the pizza topped with the most vegetables before choosing a soda that purported to contain real fruit juice and cane sugar as opposed to artificial flavorings, coloring and high fructose corn syrup. Grace was surprised to see so much beer and wine in the refrigerator. She guessed Stacey’s parents were not worried Stacey would be tempted to drink because there were so many calories in alcohol.

She joined Aleesha in front of the huge television, where she was cycling through channels looking for something to watch. She finally settled on a show about several young Caucasian people dressed up in very little clothing, preparing to go out to a night club. Their skin was so tan it was orange. The females’ globular breasts and the males’ exaggerated muscles looked like they had been polished with walnut oil. After watching for a few minutes, Grace discovered the theme of the show seemed to be a constant repetition of catty remarks and reaction shots among the females intermingled with fighting and boasting among the males. She wondered what anthropological observations Elvis would make.

“Where’s Stacey?” Grace asked.

“She’s still getting ready,” Aleesha said. “She can’t decide what to wear.”

“Is she going somewhere?” Grace asked.

“Her cousins Hugh and Lucas are bringing over some guys they go to college with,” Aleesha said. “We’ll probably go out with them somewhere. They’re nice. You’ll like them.”

Grace started planning her exit strategy.

“How soon are they coming?” she asked.

“Any time now,” Aleesha said.

A few minutes later Grace heard a thundering of footsteps on the stairs followed by male voices in the hall. She recognized Hugh and Lucas, of course, who worked at Machalvie Funeral Home. Their mother and Stacey’s mother must be sisters, but she couldn’t see any resemblance. Sandy and Stacey were both blonde, and Peg Machalvie’s hair was as black as a raven’s wing. The boys’ dark hair was stiff with gel, and they were dressed up just like the young men on the TV show Aleesha was watching, with tight V-neck T-shirts straining over their oily orange muscles. The three boys with them were dressed much the same.

“Hey, Leesh,” Hugh said, with a nod in Aleesha’s direction.

“Hey,” Aleesha said, briefly looking away from the hair-pulling fight on her show.

“This is awesome,” one of the boys said. “Have you seen this one? That girl is a mega creeper and The Abdomination is all, like, you’re so done, creeper, you’re toast.”

The boys went to the kitchen and then returned with boxes of pizza and bottles of beer to the area where Grace and Aleesha sat.

“Where’s Stace?” Lucas asked.

“She’ll be down in a minute,” Aleesha said, not taking her eyes off the television screen.

One of the boys made a rude gesture in her direction and the others laughed.

“Hey, Leesha,” one of them said. “How about taking a walk with me? We’ll hunt for snipes.”

“No thanks,” Aleesha said. “Not interested.”

“That’s not what you told me last time,” he said and they all laughed.

Aleesha rolled her eyes and shook her head but didn’t respond.

So far all the boys had pretended Grace was not there, which suited her just fine. She had shrunk as far back into the corner of her seat as she could, and was warily watching.

“Whatta we gonna do tonight?” Hugh asked Lucas. “I ain’t babysittin’ teenagers all evening.”

“I say we go down to Morgantown and visit Duce and Chaz,” Hugh said. “They’ve got a place in South Park.”

“How soon can we leave?”

“Soon as Stacey’s ready,” Lucas said.

“You guys wanna go?” Hugh asked Aleesha.

“Sure, why not?” Aleesha said.

“What about you?” Lucas asked Grace. “Whatsamatter? Cat got your tongue?”

“No,” Grace said. “No thanks.”

“C’mon,” Lucas said. “Don’t be a party pooper. We’ll show you a good time, promise.”

“She doesn’t know what a good time is,” Hugh said. “Mom says she’s been locked up her whole life.”

“Really?” on of the other boys said. “A V-card carrier, then?”

“No doubt,” Hugh said. “No doubt in my mind whatsoever. Look at her.”

“Looks like a lezzy to me,” one said. “You a lezzy, little girl?”

“Collecting V-cards is my specialty,” another said.

“I wouldn’t mind having a go,” the third boy said. “You can hardly find a V-card carrier anywhere these days. Girls are such sluts. Like Leesha.”

“Eff you,” Aleesha said.

The boys all laughed and mocked Aleesha. Grace was glad for the redirection of their focus. She thought she could probably outrun them if they drank enough. She started assessing her exit opportunities and settled on the sliding glass door to the pool area. If she jumped over the back of her seat, she wouldn’t have to pass any of them. She might need to throw something first, to divert their attention. She could feel her adrenalin build as she considered what to throw.

She was saved by Stacey’s entrance. Dolled up and smelling like no flower Grace had ever known, with one flick of her long blonde hair Stacey immediately drew all the attention from Grace and Aleesha. Grace watched with interest as the males vied for her attention.

Stacey’s glance flicked over Grace with a nod of her head.

“‘Sup,” she said.

“We’re going to Morgantown,” Hugh said. “Wanna go?”

“Sure,” Stacey said. “Nothing going on around here.”

Hugh got out his smart phone and started texting.

Aleesha stood up and stretched. One of the boys reached out, grabbed her rear end, and although she swatted his hand away, saying, “You guys, stop it,” she was smiling a lazy smile and looking sideways at him, from under her lashes.

There was no talk of telling anyone’s parents what their plans were, let alone asking permission. Grace knew she wasn’t going anywhere, she just didn’t know how to make a graceful exit.

“Chaz says come on,” Hugh said, looking up from his phone. “He says if Stacey’s coming he’ll even take a shower.”

“It’ll take a lot more than a shower,” Stacey said, and all the boys laughed like it was the most hilarious thing they had ever heard.

“Go unlock the mudroom door,” Stacey commanded Aleesha, who jumped up and left the room.

“My mom locks the doors upstairs at midnight,” she told Hugh. “And I don’t want her to know I lost my key again.”

When Aleesha came back, they left via the sliding glass doors, all jockeying for position near Stacey, and no one even looked back at Grace. It left her with the funniest feeling, that no one cared enough to even say good-bye to her. All these years she had wished for nothing more than to be invisible, and for once, she was. Not that she cared what those people thought; those big boys were more than a little repellent and scary. She never in a million years would want to go anywhere with them in a car. Why did she mind so much?

She was still wondering that when she heard footsteps on the stairs from the kitchen and men’s voices. Her first instinct was to hide, so she did. The mammoth pool table had the perfect hiding place on a broad shelf underneath. She pulled her legs up and knew without a doubt she was undetectable in the darkness.

“They must’ve just left,” Trick said. “I was just talking to Stacey right before she came down.”

“I guess if I want to see my boys while they’re home from college I’ll have to invite your daughter over for dinner,” Stuart said.

“Good luck getting her to eat anything,” Trick said.

“Well, they’ve left us some pizza,” Stuart said.

“And more importantly, some beer,” Trick said

“We can do this down here. Spread the plans out on the pool table, Trick,” Knox said. “Is there any sausage and onion left?”

Grace watched the shadowy movements of the men’s legs as they gathered around the pool table. She could hear some papers being moved about. She could hear them open beers, move pizza boxes, and in one funny instant, emit a loud long fart.

“The property extends from the north edge of the glassworks property all the way up both sides of the river, for twenty odd miles in this direction. Several parcels on the Rose Hill side are leased to Tug Napier for his sorghum. As you can see,” Trick said, “the majority of the property is across the river to the west. Almost 11,000 acres, none of it leased, zoned, or protected.”

“Plus all the mineral rights,” Stuart said.

“Yes, sirree,” Trick said. “A gold mine.”

“Is it enough land to interest the Marcellus Shale people?” Stuart asked.

“More than enough,” Knox said.

“Would the trust be willing to sell it?” Stuart asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Knox said. “I called Jim Barry; he’s the officer in charge of the trust. He can’t talk to me without her permission. I’ve got a letter of authorization written up; she just has to sign it.”

“Any idea what else is in the trust?”

“Considering it was created almost 75 years ago, I’d wager it’s blue chip stocks and bonds. Jacob Branduff never touched it, so you can imagine the compounding interest.”

“Any way to find out what the child’s worth altogether?” Stuart asked.

Grace realized then that it was she whom they were talking about. She owned land? On both sides of the river?

“All I have is the deed to go by and that’s in the public domain,” Trick said. “I wish the old man would’ve kept a copy of everything in a safety deposit box in Knox’s bank. Then we’d have it.”

“No account there?” Stuart asked.

“No, he dealt in cash only,” Knox said. “I’m sure trust statements came to the post office box but, unfortunately, the postmistress isn’t someone who is conducive to bribing. She’s not one of your conquests, is she?”

“Quiet, Knox,” Trick said. “Sandy has excellent hearing. And no.”

“Any chance there’s old statements stashed at the house somewhere?”

“Chief Gordon changed all the locks, and there’s a steady patrol presence.”

“Then the only way we can get our hands on the next statement is if the girl picks it up at the post office and hands it over.”

“Unless she’s found the statements, she doesn’t have a clue what she has,” Stuart said. “Just offer to take over her business for her, Knox. You’re her uncle, or cousin, or something.”

“Unfortunately, Chief Gordon got Sean Fitzpatrick involved before Mamie told us who she was,” Knox said. “That makes things more difficult.”