by Lynn, JB
“Chaos and destruction are inevitable.”
I was starting to think the lizard was right.
* * *
After Katie and Dominic had tired each other out with their game, I said goodbye to the little boy, nodded tersely at the bodyguard, and buckled Katie into her car seat.
“Where are we going now?” Katie asked tiredly.
“I’m not quite sure yet, sweetie,” I confessed.
I spent a long moment watching her in the rearview mirror, soaking in her innocence as she stared out the window.
“I love you, baby girl,” I choked out.
Her eyes twinkled. “That’s because I’m your favorite niece,” she teased.
It had been a long-running joke when I thought she had been my only niece, before I’d met Darlene’s girls, but it was still something she liked to remind me of.
Nodding, I started the car and slowly drove in the direction of Darlene’s home. “Call Aunt Susan,” I ordered the phone.
“Margaret,” Susan answered, her voice clipped and cold.
“I don’t know what to do,” I told her. “I’m supposed to be bringing Katie back to Darlene right now, but…”
I heard Susan suck in a breath and realized she was just as conflicted as I was. “Perhaps there are legal means,” she said. “I’ve put a call into a family lawyer.”
“Thank you,” I said, wondering why the lizard, with all of his suggestions, hadn’t come up with that one.
“In the meantime,” Susan advised, “I think we should try to keep things as stable as possible for Katie.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” I murmured quietly, catching my sleeping niece’s reflection in the mirror.
“It’ll work out, Margaret,” Susan promised me.
I really hoped she was right, but I wasn’t feeling terribly hopeful.
Darlene’s house was oddly quiet and empty. There were no cars in the driveway, no sound coming from the house. I got out of the car slowly and surveyed the land, trying to figure out what was going on.
“They’re gone,” Mike cawed. The crow landed on the roof of my car so that he was eye level with me.
“Gone?”
“Moving van came, couple of guys filled it, Darlene and the hubs packed up their girls and they left.”
I glanced at Katie, who was still asleep in the back seat of my car. “They left? They didn’t say goodbye to anyone?”
“That’s what it looked like to me. There’s an envelope taped to the front door,” he said.
“Keep an eye on her?” I requested.
“Always,” he promised.
I left Katie sleeping in the car and hurried up the sidewalk toward Darlene’s house. The bird was right, there was an envelope taped to the door knocker. It had my name on it.
I snatched it off with trembling hands. It took me a few seconds to wrestle the envelope open and I was blinking back tears by the time I pulled the sheet of paper from it. It was one page, handwritten.
“Maggie, Teresa didn’t know everything. I think maybe she was wrong about Katie. You love her. Zeke and Aunt Susan seem to think you’re the one who’s best suited to care for her. I have my own family and problems to take care of, so I’m leaving her to be yours. Her stuff is in a bag in the backyard. Darlene.”
The lizard scrambled up onto my shoulder and asked, “What does it say?”
“She surrendered,” I said disbelievingly. “She gave up her claim on Katie.”
“Say hallelujah,” God cheered.
“She didn’t even say good-bye.” I blinked away tears. I knew I should be feeling relieved, but I was also hurt and sad. “What’s Katie going to think?”
“She’s a resilient kid,” God assured me.
I frowned. Even resilient kids could feel abandoned. “The least she could have done is explained their leaving wasn’t her fault.”
“Not everyone has as big a heart as you do,” God murmured.
Confirming that Mike was still keeping watch over Katie, I slowly walked to the backyard, folding the paper and putting it into the pocket of my jeans. An oversized garbage bag, tied shut, a tag labeled “Katie” dangling from it, was on the back stairs.
Picking it up, I staggered a little under the weight as I made my way back to the car.
“Katie’s back!” The lizard let out a little cheer.
“And I’m back to where I was,” I said.
For once, that felt okay.
23
I drove back toward Herschel’s compound, Katie in the back seat, knowing that my life had once again pivoted in a way I hadn’t anticipated. Once again, I was responsible for the well-being of a small child. Considering I wasn’t sure I was capable of taking care of myself most days, the weight of the responsibility weighed heavily on me.
Still, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. I had what I wanted. Katie was coming back to the fold.
I knew everyone would be thrilled, that it wouldn’t be a problem for the family, but I was sad that Darlene had left.
When I thought she’d been dead, I mourned her. When she’d returned to our lives, I celebrated, but I’d never really connected with her. Now that she was gone again, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever have the chance.
I squeezed the steering wheel and said, “Poor Marlene.”
God, who was perched on the dashboard, replied, “She’ll survive.”
“There’s a difference between surviving and thriving,” I said. “I’m worried about what this will do to her.”
“She has Doc,” the lizard reminded me.
I nodded, but I wasn’t sure that her stripper/paramedic boyfriend would be enough. I didn’t want Marlene to fall back into her self-destructive habits because of her twin’s decisions.
“We’ll have to keep a close eye on her,” I said.
“How very responsible of you,” God said.
“Shut up.”
“No,” he said. “I meant it seriously. You’ve grown a lot to be considering how this is going to impact her.”
“Nothing ever happens in a vacuum,” I said. “Repercussions are everywhere.”
When I returned to the compound, Aunt Leslie and Aunt Loretta were in front of the main house. I drove all the way up to them, a finger to my lips, indicating that they should be quiet.
They peered inside the car and smiled when they saw Katie.
“You’ve brought our girl to us,” Loretta tittered, her fake eyelashes quivering with delight.
“She’s here for good,” I told them.
I got out of the car and carefully unbuckled Katie. Her eyes opened, she smiled when she saw me, and then she went right back to sleep when I lifted her out of the restraint.
“What do you mean she’s here for good?” Leslie asked as they followed me into the main house.
“Darlene’s gone,” I told them.
“That must be why Marlene has been crying all day,” Leslie remarked.
“But that’s not your biggest problem, Maggie,” Loretta said.
I carefully placed Katie on the living room couch, watching as she instinctively curled up against the cushion. My heart swelled with love for the little girl.
“What’s my biggest problem?” I asked grudgingly.
“Archie wants to see you,” Loretta confided.
I looked around. “He’s here?”
Leslie chuckled. “Like your poppa is gonna make an appearance with the popo here.”
I looked at her sideways. “Poppa? Popo?”
“I was trying for alliteration,” Leslie said. “I’m thinking of taking a poetry class.”
“He’s not here,” Loretta explained. “It probably isn’t the best idea for him to show up, considering that Griswald should probably arrest him on sight.”
“Then how do you know he wants to see me?” I asked, confused by my aunts’ conversation.
“Because he called,” Loretta said. “He called the house phone.”
“I didn’t even know tha
t there was a house phone,” I admitted.
“Nobody did, until it started to ring.” Leslie laughed.
“Anyway,” Loretta explained. “I answered, and it was Archie. He said he wants to see you at the storage place.” She peered at me closely. “You’re not going to let him get you into trouble, are you, Maggie?”
I shook my head. “Of course not.”
“She’s already in trouble,” God mumbled from his hiding spot in my bra.
“Did you tell Aunt Susan,” I asked worriedly. All I needed was for her to tell her husband, Griswald, and to have them combing every storage locker in the town.
“Of course not,” Loretta said. “A conversation between a parent and child trumps the law.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Can you keep an eye on Katie while I’m gone?”
“Of course,” my aunts said in unison.
It was good to see them presenting a united front instead of trying to destroy each other constantly.
Piss sidled into the room, catching the end of the conversation.
“You should take us,” she purred.
I glanced over at her. “I’m going to take the dog,” I told my aunts.
“Smart,” Leslie said. “Protection.”
I nodded, not sure how much protection DeeDee would offer, but knowing that having her with me would make me feel better.
“Be careful, Maggie,” Loretta urged as I left the room.
“Always,” I said.
“Liar,” God muttered from his hiding spot.
I gathered DeeDee, Benny, and Piss, and made my way back out to my car. Once we were there, I filled in the animals about Katie’s return.
“That is the best thing I have heard in ages,” Piss purred happily.
“Fantastic!” DeeDee barked.
“Oh, look at the dumb, drooling dodo,” God said from his spot on the dashboard. “She’s using three syllable words now. And by the way, that is alliteration. Thank you very much.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up,” Benny ordered the lizard from his hiding space in the cup holder.
As I drove toward the address that Ian had told me my father’s storage unit was at, I felt lighter than I had in a long time. Everything seemed like it was better. My family was coming back together. The animals were calmer, and I had a plan. I would find the skull and give it to Delveccio and get that off my plate. And then I would figure out a way to get Boy’s mother out of prison and get Ms. Whitehat off my back.
I had great plans. You know what happens to those.
24
I used my GPS to locate the storage unit that Ian had said he found the skull in. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t in the best area of town. Nothing involving my father ever is.
Still, I was a woman on a mission. I was going to make things right. I was going to set things straight. I was going to take control, be the best parent that Katie had ever had, and keep everyone happy.
“Great neighborhood,” Piss meowed as we emerged from the car. The place was bathed in shadows because most of the streetlights had been smashed.
“We won’t be here too long,” I told her. “Either he’s here or he’s not.”
I glanced down at my phone to look up the number of the storage unit and began walking. DeeDee trotted beside me, Piss a couple of yards ahead, leading the way. God rode on my shoulder, and Benny was cupped in my palm.
“What are you going to tell him about why you’re looking for the skull?” the lizard asked.
I didn’t get a chance to answer him because a voice boomed, “Maggie May.”
I turned and found my father half-obscured in the shadows, watching me. For a long time, he’d looked like Santa Claus, with his long white flowing beard and potbelly. But then he’d shaved off the beard—he still had the belly. Now, it looked like he was trying to regrow the beard, and scruffy white tuffs of hair stuck out from his face at wild angles.
“As I live and breathe,” he said with a big smile.
I cocked my head to the side, wondering why he was acting like it was a big surprise he was seeing me. “Hi, Dad.”
He opened his arms wide. “Come give your father a hug.”
I hesitated. Physical signs of affection were not something that were common between me and him. But then I remembered that he had dragged my unconscious self out of a burning building, and decided to indulge him. I stepped into his embrace and felt his arms come around me. At the same time, I felt God skitter down my spine, and I realized that he must have perched himself on the waistband of my jeans to save himself from being crushed.
“How are you?” Dad asked, pulling back a little but not letting go.
“Getting better,” I said. It was the truth now that I had custody of Katie again.
He nodded. “And how are you settling in at Herschel’s?”
“Well, except for some battle to the death over a fruit basket sent by you, I’m fine. Everybody’s fine.”
“The girls fought over that?” he asked.
“Not your girls,” I said. “But I’m pretty sure that Aunt Leslie impaled Aunt Loretta with a fruit skewer.”
I didn’t tell him that I, too, had used one of the fruit skewers as a weapon, when fighting for a life on top of the hospital.
“And not to mention a couple of ex-cons came looking for something.” I stepped out of his embrace and gave him a hard look, letting him know this wasn’t just a pleasant family reunion. He owed me some answers.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, hanging his head.
“Whose skull is it?” I asked.
He jerked his head up, surprised by the question.
“And why do so many people want it?” I asked.
He frowned. “Multiple people want it?”
I decided it wouldn’t be wise to tell him about the Delveccios’ interest in it, “You don’t think that the cops aren’t going crazy looking for it, now that the cons were there?”
He nodded. “Come inside.” He led the way to his storage unit, jiggled the handle, and opened the door for me. He turned on a flashlight and shone it around the room, and I realized that he’d been living there. There was a sleeping bag on the floor, a folding chair, and a portable radio.
“At least in prison I had a television,” Dad complained.
“Well, you could just honor your commitments to the U.S. Marshal service, and you’d be back in the lap of luxury.” I refused to feel sorry for him. He’d made the choices that had landed him in this predicament.
He pointed at the chair. “Sit.”
DeeDee, who’d followed us inside, thought that the command was for her and immediately sat.
“Good dog,” I reinforced distractedly. “I’m good standing,” I told my father.
Shrugging, he lumbered over to the chair and slowly lowered himself into it. He looked old and tired. I felt a stab of sympathy for him, but I knew that wouldn’t do me any good. I had to stay on task, to right everything in my world.
“The skull, Dad,” I prodded.
“Have you seen your mother?”
I shook my head; I really didn’t need any guilt about not going to visit my mother in the nut house right now. “No.”
He must have known from my tone that I wasn’t interested in entering into a conversation about the topic.
He shrugged. “And how’s Katie?”
I took a deep breath and blurted out, “Darlene’s left town.”
Dad did not look surprised.
“You knew?” I asked.
“She caught me in the backyard of the B&B, trying to get a peek at Katie,” he confided. “At first, she thought I was some peeping tom. Then she figured out who I was, and she told me I wasn’t welcome there.”
“Don’t take it personally,” I told him. “She seems to have disconnected from everyone. Even Marlene.”
Dad shook his head sadly. “And she took Katie with her?”
“No. I’m taking care of Katie again.”
A slight smile playe
d at his lips. “Well, that’s the first bit of good news I’ve gotten in a long time.”
“And I have to get back to her,” I said impatiently. “So, tell me about the damn skull.”
He played with the wisp of hair growing off his chin. “It’s cursed,” he announced solemnly.
“Cursed?” I asked
He nodded.
“He’s not being terribly helpful,” God said from his position on my waistband. Dad looked around in surprise at the squeaking noise, but I ignored it.
“Whose skull is it?” I asked.
“No idea,” he said.
“Did you kill him?”
Dad leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at me. “Maggie May,” he lectured, “I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a killer.”
I was half tempted to tell him that I am.
“No,” he continued. “I found that as part of a break-in job a long time ago.”
“Why did you keep it?” I asked. I mean, keeping a human skull doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“I kept it,” my father confided, “because of where I stole it from.”
Even before I asked the question, I was pretty sure I knew the answer. “And where was that?”
“The home of Tony and Anthony Delveccio.”
25
I had a nightmare that somebody was bashing my skull in. When I woke up, I realized that was because Piss had pressed herself as hard as possible against the top of my head. I tried to lift my arm to shove her off, but it was pinned to my side by DeeDee, who was lying on my right, so I tried to use my left but found that was also pinned to my side by Matilda.
“You’re not supposed to be in the bed,” I told the pig.
She ignored me and snuffled indignantly.
“Pork chop doesn’t believe in following the rules of the house,” God declared haughtily from his enclosure.
“I have to get up,” I told them all.
“Gotta! Gotta!” DeeDee announced, leaping to her feet and running for the door of my bedroom. I didn’t understand how she could go from one moment being happily slumbering, to desperately needing to relieve herself. All I knew was that it meant I had to go venture forth into the bowels of the house, trying to avoid other human beings.
