Embittered Ruby (25 page)

Had she expected it to be like jail? Metal gates shutting the girls into eight-by-eight cells? Not exactly, but…Well, maybe that is what she expected subconsciously. This was at least better than the prison she’d imagined.

Carmen let her gaze travel the expansive foyer. Candles flickering in sconces shone an eerie glow onto the buttery walls. The wooden staircase spiraled up to the unknown. Several entryways led from the foyer.

“Where are the bedrooms? Or is it one big dorm like in
Little Orphan Annie
?” Carmen searched her surroundings.

Ben laughed. “In no way is it like
Annie
, unless you like to make up song and dance numbers.”

Uh. No.

“It’s four to a room. We’ll go up there and get you settled a little later. Let’s finish the tour of the downstairs and then have a little chat in my office before the rest of the house gets home.”

Leila pranced along at Ben’s feet. Lapping up every word he said on the tour. At least with her around, Carmen could hang back and not be expected to respond to every single thing he said. It gave her a chance to check things out.

Ben took a few long strides toward the arched opening nearest the front door. “Come right through here. This is my favorite room in the house.” He stood back to let them pass.

“Those windows are amazing.” Leila turned in a full circle, her mouth open wide with awe. She reached a hand to touch the one closest to her. A stained-glass depiction of the resurrection of Christ.

Eww. Gross. If Leila chewed her fingernails any shorter, she’d hit the bone. That aside, she was right. The windows lining the room really were a work of art. “They’re pretty cool.” Neat how they did the nativity scene with baby Jesus in gold so it looked like he glowed.

“This room is my favorite because I feel like I’m surrounded with history—with
the
story.” Ben’s eyes grew misty. “These windows tell the story of God’s love and passionate pursuit of His beloved throughout all of time.”

“I can see what you mean.” Leila let her fingers trail over the yellow glass where the sunlight radiated on the tomb where Jesus had lain.

Carmen surveyed the space. “What’s this room for?” A stage? Clusters of pillows on the floor, but no real furniture of any kind? Weird.

“This is the prayer room. We meet in here every single morning for quiet time with God. Some people spend the time alone. Others like to pray in groups.”

Prayer time, she’d expected. But…“The stage?”

“Oh, we don’t use that anymore. There was a time when we had our own church services here, but now we drive down the mountain to attend a local congregation.”

Carmen nodded. What had she gotten herself into? She’d be expected to go to church every week…hopefully only once. She’d probably have to pray. Not out loud. No way would she pray out loud. And they’d make her study her Bible. At least she had her personalized one from Mom.

“Moving on.” Ben strode from the room then turned left down a hallway lined with doors. He touched the first one on his right. “This is the women’s restroom.”

Leila pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside. “Smells good. Like powder.” She smiled.

“Alicia, my wife, likes to keep things feminine around here.” He poked his head in and smiled. “She says if I had my way there’d be plaid wallpaper with deer antlers and a bear-skin rug in every room. She’s probably right.”

Good thing Alicia decorated.

Ben stopped in front of a swinging door with a window. “We’re about to enter the kitchen. Marilyn is getting things ready for dinner, so we won’t bother her too long.” He held the door back and let the girls pass him.

“Hey, Marilyn. What’s for dinner?”

With the ground beef up to Marilyn’s elbows and the piles of potatoes beside her jiggly belly, Carmen took a guess. “Mmm. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.”

“That’s right.” Marilyn grinned, her cheeks pink. “You going to introduce us, Ben?” She rolled her eyes at the girls like a coconspirator.

Could it be? A normal person? Had she found an ally among the staff? Carmen smiled back.

“Marilyn, these two young ladies are Leila and Carmen. They’re moving in today.”

Carmen wished he’d stop saying that. “Well, I’m staying here for a while. I wouldn’t exactly say moving in.” A temporary arrangement.

Marilyn’s eyes sparkled. “I get it, honey. The idea takes some getting used to. But trust me. When you get a taste of this meatloaf, you’ll change your address right quick.”

Ben held up his cell phone. “I’ll be in the hallway for just a moment. You three can get to know each other for a minute.”

So much for not bothering Marilyn. Carmen took inventory of the industrial kitchen with all the latest appliances. “Do you ever let people cook with you?”

“Let?
Hah. It’s more of a requirement.” Marilyn’s jowls wobbled when she laughed. “The girls all take turns.”

“I love to cook. Since I was little I always wanted to be a chef.” Carmen let her gaze travel to the floor.

“And now?” Marilyn stared so intently, Carmen felt compelled to raise her eyes.

Carmen shrugged. “Now? Oh, who knows? I’m just hoping to make it through this program. Then I guess I’ll think about what I want to be when I grow up.”

Marilyn nodded and shifted her gaze to Leila. “How about you? What are your plans?”

Lelia shrugged. “I’d like to be an adoption lawyer or an international adoption liaison.”

Where had that come from? The chubby girl with braces must be smart. And why adoption? Usually people with sordid pasts wanted to be social workers or psychologists. The adoption angle must play into Leila’s history somehow.

When she got her hands on a notebook, she needed to fill Nellie in. Page one: Ben Bradley. Page two: Leila…? “Hey, what’s your last name anyway?”

Leila blinked. “Wong.” She turned her back to them and seemed to take in the rest of the room.

Wong?
Carmen mouthed to Marilyn.

Marilyn shrugged.

Carmen nodded. There was a story there.

T
his was a joke, right? Carmen stared at the list of Diamond Estates rules and regulations. It went on for pages and pages.

“I know it must seem like a lot. In fact, we’ve recently revised this list, and the line items more than tripled when we did the revisions. We found that by keeping things simple as we had in the past left too much room for confusion—too many things left open to interpretation.” Ben rocked back in his swivel chair and clasped his hands behind his head. “This way we all know what to expect from each other.”

Carmen flipped through the booklet. Rule twenty-two said there could be no communication or exchange of personal information with non-DE people off campus. Number twenty-three focused on makeup. Twenty-four was skirt length. “Can I speak frankly?”

“Sure. We encourage openness here, Carmen. As long as you’re respectful.”

Carmen’s head shook side to side like a bobblehead with Parkinson’s. Not that her protest would do a bit of good. “Respectfully, I think this is a crock.”

Leila gasped, and her chin about hit the floor.

Ben’s eyebrows rose, but he said nothing as he waited for Carmen to go on.

“I mean, you can force me into the mold of a perfect girl, but that doesn’t make it true. Is it a real change if I’m only acting a certain way because of your rules? Shouldn’t it be because it’s what I want to do?”

“You’ve actually just keyed into an important aspect of the idea of free will—a very basic tenet of the Christian faith. We’ll be covering free will in great detail during the coming weeks, but in essence, what you’re saying is true.”

Right on. He agreed with her. Carmen could get used to that.

“I can’t force you to be a follower of Christ. But I can make you function as someone who won’t be a stumbling block to others and who won’t allow worldly stuff to get in the way of the movement of the Holy Spirit—at least while you’re here.”

What could she say in response? In a weird voodoo sort of way, it made sense. “I just don’t know if I can remember all these rules, let alone follow them.” Carmen turned to Leila and gestured at the packet. “What about you? What do you think about all this?”

Leila shrugged, looked away, and gave a wavering smile. “I’ll do whatever they want me to do. I don’t have any problem following rules.”

Then what
was
her problem? Was she always so totally agreeable? A people pleaser.

Had Leila made eye contact with anyone even once? Maybe with Marilyn. Carmen searched her memory but couldn’t conjure the image.

Leila had pretty eyes behind those thick glasses, but she needed to learn how to use them. And, though she was ready with a silvery smile at all times, Leila needed to grow a backbone before she’d have any hope of making it in a place like this. Surely the girls at Diamond Estates would be tough as nails and out for blood. Maybe Carmen could watch out for her like Diego had looked out for Carmen—well, not exactly the same way. But first she had to find out what Leila was in for.

Ben approached a closed door and pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket. “The bedrooms are all at the top of these stairs.”

“It’s locked?” Even though it might be fancier than jail, being locked away in a tower like Rapunzel had much the same feel to it.

“Sure, when no one is home or not supposed to be up there. The lock doesn’t work from the reverse. You can always get out. The fire marshal wouldn’t appreciate it if we trapped you all in your second-floor rooms.” Ben laughed like he was a one-man comedy show. At least Carmen wouldn’t be triggering some latent fear of confined spaces. She’d never been claustrophobic before, but being locked in could definitely have done it.

“What’s the deal with the graffiti?” Lelia ran her hand along the graphic walls of the stairway.

“Oh, isn’t that fun? A few months ago we decided to let the girls choose a section of wall space to decorate however they’d like.”

“You got some girls with some mad art skillz.” Carmen heard the Hackensack in her dialect. She couldn’t help it in the face of the territorial designs. Did Ben understand the paintings for what they were? She stopped in front of an upside-down crown with
Latin Kings
written across it. Beside it was a glowing crown with
King of Kings
scripted across its center. Hmm. Signaling someone’s transformation? “Who painted this one?”

“Oh, that section is Ju-Ju’s. She graduated about a few months ago. You’ll meet her soon—you’ll have to ask her about her design. It’s a beautiful story.”

“I remember her from my church.”

Ju-Ju’s words came flooding back to Carmen. She’d had it rough—to take care of herself all alone she had to be strong. Was she stronger than Carmen?

What would Carmen paint on the wall if she had the opportunity? Right now? A black hole. Hopefully one day soon she’d have a different picture in mind.

“And here we are.” Ben opened a door and gestured for them to enter the bedroom. “This is your room.”

“Both of us?” Carmen took in the two sets of bunk beds. No way. Bunk beds? Not again.

“Yep. I’ve got both of you in here with two girls who have been here awhile. They’ll help you get through the basics and figure things out here at Diamond.”

“Awesome.” Leila looked at Carmen with those hopeful BFF eyes.

Oh boy.

Ben looked around the room. “I see your belongings have already been brought up for you. So unless you have any other questions right now, I’ll leave you to get settled.” He backed out the doorway. “There’s a phone out here on the wall. It calls 911 or rings in the staff quarters. Feel free to call on us if you have any problems or needs. We’ll see you downstairs for dinner at five thirty.”

Ben left, taking
the force
with him. His energy had filled this space, and now it seemed hollow.

Carmen stepped across the room to a closed doorway. “Ah, a bathroom. It’s pretty nice. Double sink. Separate shower. Cool.” Time to unpack. She turned back to the room.

Leila hadn’t moved an inch. “Where do you want to sleep?” She nodded at the unoccupied bunk bed. “Top or bottom?”

If Carmen had been her, she’d have snatched her top choice immediately. “What do you prefer?” Would the top bunk even hold Leila’s weight?

“I don’t care; you pick.”

Carmen would never have chosen the top under different circumstances, but fear of being crushed to death made a person do crazy things. “Okay then. I’m going with the top.”

Lelia nodded like she’d assumed the top would be Carmen’s choice.

Crawling from end to end on her bunk as she tugged the fitted sheet into place, Carmen felt a twinge of nostalgia. She’d had these sheets for years. As she smoothed her favorite blanket out, the sense of longing for home grew heightened in this strange place.

The room was silent except for the zippers of their suitcases and the sliding of drawers.
Say something
. Hardly ever at a loss for words, even though she often chose not to use them, Carmen searched for something to say.

So, what brings you to…
No. That was rude.

Do you miss home?
No. Why rub her nose in it?