Stop peeking, Domino! Wilson pulls an iron curtain closed, and the image fades away.
Madam Karina smooths her green silk robe and touches a hand to her hair. “If you succeed in becoming Point Girl this coming week, and your friend helps, you may both be promoted to Daisies. Now return to your room. Lola will be up shortly.”
She turns away from me, and I can’t help wondering if she’s hiding her own face as well. If that hug didn’t mean as much to her as it did to me.
“Oh, and Domino,” she says without turning around, “I’m glad you’ve decided that this is your forever home. I don’t think I would have liked it otherwise.” Now she does face me. “You do want to make me happy, don’t you?”
I nod.
She smiles with her whole body. “That’s a good girl.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Peppermint
Over the next week, Poppet and I are like bandits. We pick out the guest no one else wants, and show them a good time. Such a good time that other guests wander over. We even pick up a repeat in the form of a blond-haired, blue-eyed, dimple-donning widower.
He says his name is Jack.
Today is Sunday, and Poppet and I stand in front of the placement board. She clutches my hand in hers, and I let her do it even though it makes me itch. It all comes down to today’s ranking. There have been nights we’ve faltered, and nights we swept the room. But we need high placements today to be the top girls overall this week.
The board flashes twice.
And the names scroll across the display.
1. Poppet
2. Domino
3. Mercy
Mercy calls us filthy names, and I give her credit for originality. But beyond that, I don’t care. Because we did it. Somehow, Poppet and I have secured a place on the second floor. Madam Karina strides into the room and calls us over, pink envelopes in one hand, three violets in the other.
I take my envelope and flower, and Madam Karina beams. She leans down. “Meet me upstairs in an hour.”
I’m all but shaking with excitement, but I glance at Poppet as if asking a question. Madam Karina rolls her eyes but doesn’t lose her smile. She nods.
Yes, you can bring her.
I swallow a squeal even though I’m not the squealing type, and race toward the basement. As of today, I have forty-two dollars and sixty-six cents to my name. And I earned it. I’ve never had a job before, and I’m surprised by how satisfying it is. Poppet races after me, and suddenly I can’t help myself. I burst out laughing and Poppet does too and we run down the stairs. The Daisies and Tulips are nowhere in sight, which slays my enthusiasm, because all I want to do right now is stare at each Daisy in turn and decide which girls might be nice.
“What are you two giggling about?” Angie asks as she unpacks a box of toothbrushes.
“We’re going to be Daisies.” Poppet shimmies. “And it’s all because of Domino. She’s so smart.”
“Uh, it was you who placed first today.” I walk toward the open cage and reach for a box. “Here, I can help.”
Angie snatches it away and glances over my shoulder. “Back up. Don’t be so goddamn overeager.”
I bite my tongue, hurt by her words. “Sorry.”
“Don’t you remember what happened last time?” Angie mutters.
“Stop it, Angie,” Cain says. The lack of hostility in his voice reminds me the woman is harmless, and to match her blow for blow.
I fold my arms over my chest. “How’s that POS tractor of yours? Still an embarrassment to the auto community?”
Angie bolts upright. “How dare you talk about Black Betty that way.”
Poppet laughs. “I didn’t know your tractor had a name.”
“Nor should you,” Angie clips. “Now both of you go away so I can work.”
I look at Cain, and he shifts his weight. “You really going to be a Daisy?”
“Yeah,” I respond. “Madam Karina offered us a challenge, and we met it.”
“She’s so nice,” Poppet says. “Madam Karina pretty much saved me, and now this.”
Angie’s face darkens, and a deep line forms between her brows. When I notice how quiet she’s being, I lower my voice so that no one upstairs can hear. “What is it?”
Her head whips around. “If there was anything to say I’d say it. Now didn’t I tell you to get out of here? I’ve got five minutes before those girls start screaming for their Sunday haul.”
As if on cue, footsteps hit the stairs. Poppet and I watch as the girls line up and trade their hard-earned coins for suede clutches and wide-tooth combs and fashion magazines. I watch the Daisies but they buzz too quickly, and before I know it, they’re racing back upstairs with their prizes.
I trail after them, wide-eyed, as they chatter all the way to the second story and out of sight. Excitement blooms in my belly once again.
“This what you want?” Angie asks, startling me. I spin around and take in her soft curls, her dimpled chin, and her small hands that have held more cigarettes than either of us could count. “You want to stay in this house?”
Defiance rolls through me like lava pressed against the mouth of a volcano. “What if I do?”
Angie smiles a sad smile. “Everyone here has such blistering youth.” Even though she’s speaking plainly, it’s as if she’s asking me to read between her words. When I don’t say anything, she pushes through the screen door and out into the summer heat.
I’m not sure what provokes me to follow her outside. I should be collecting Poppet and heading upstairs. I have a daisy to collect, after all. But I follow her all the same. Standing on the porch, I call out her name.
She turns around.
“You think Cain is nice, right?”
She takes two steps toward me, looks over my shoulder at the house and then back at me. “Yeah, course he is. Why you asking such a stupid question?”
My eyes flick toward the sky, afraid to appear too eager, like she said. “Why does he stay here when the girls are mean to him? Aren’t there better jobs in Pox?”
Angie doesn’t say anything. She just stands there, breathing hard like she’s rooted on a land mine, afraid uttering one word will blow us all to kingdom come. Somehow, this is worse than any response.
“Is it because of the money? Does he need it for something?”
Her hands curl into fists. “If you think that woman is paying him a nickel for his time, you’re dead wrong. Now stop asking me things. Ask him yourself if you’re so interested.”
Angie turns to leave, but then spins back around. She paces toward me and digs her hand in her pocket, pulls out a peppermint. She holds it out and looks away like she couldn’t care less if I take it.
But I do…take it.
And when Cain appears through the open door a second later, she shoves another one into my palm.
“For the boy,” she says.
Then she’s gone, walking toward Black Betty like there’s a fire blazing at her back. There are two Dobermans I’ve never seen before bouncing around the tractor. She brushes them aside, and they bark wildly as she starts the tractor’s engine.
“Don’t give my dogs the peppermints,” she yells over the rumble. “It’ll make Kali sick. Damn dog has a sensitive stomach.”
I’m not sure why I’d ever give a dog a peppermint, so I stuff them obediently into my pocket and watch as she chugs down the road, dogs chasing behind, her head bobbing in the distance.
I like her, Wilson says cautiously.
Yeah, I think. I do, too.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A Nod
It’s still early morning when Poppet and I gather our things and head toward the staircase. My blood runs hot when I realize I’ll never get back the money I came here with from whoever stole it. Madam Karina said once you move to a new floor, you can’t return to the old one. Of course, I don’t want to come back here. Especially after the Carnations find out Madam Karina made special allowances for Poppet and me to advance
. If the harassment was bad before, I can’t imagine what it would be like now.
I start to put on my blue wig, but Poppet tells me I shouldn’t. “You’ve turned over a new leaf,” she says. “Embrace it.” I agree, but I won’t throw them away no matter how much she presses. I’m an addict where my armor is concerned. I may be in recovery, but I still need it there.
In case.
So I carry my wigs, jewelry, linens, and Dizzy’s shirt in my arms, and together we climb the stairs. We can’t help giggling, anticipating this new chapter. I’ve never seen the Daisies in their natural habitat. Will things run differently there? Will the girls be welcoming?
We reach the second floor and glance around. To our left are two large rooms. One is open and spacious with couches, a radio, and…a television! Two Daisies are sitting cross-legged in front of it, faces leaned forward, cheeks glowing orange and green and blue from the screen. The other room’s door is half open, so I can’t see much of what’s inside. I make out black paint on the walls, but the rest is hidden.
On our right is a hallway that must lead to the bedrooms. We’re about to walk down it when Mr. Hodge yells for us to wait. He marches up the stairs, wheezing and turning red around the collar. When he makes it to the top, he grabs his belt buckle and lifts his khaki pants to hoist them over his belly, but they only slide back down.
The man smiles. There’s a piece of spinach from breakfast wedged between his upper teeth. “I’ll show you ladies to your room. You’re Daisies now, and that means you get more of my attention.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hodge.” Poppet grins up at him. I try, and fail, to do the same.
As he walks us down the hall, I peek inside some of the bedrooms. They aren’t much bigger than the ones downstairs, which is to say they’re closet-sized. I bet when Madam Karina inherited the house, she put in extra walls to create these miniature rooms.
Our room has two twin beds with six inches between them, and one dresser I could touch if I pointed my toes while dreaming. A lamp stands on the dresser—a pitiful shade of green—and the hardwood floor is stained in one corner.
“Go on in, girls.” Mr. Hodge is talking to both of us, but I don’t miss the way his hand pats Poppet’s bottom. She freezes, and when his fingers linger, I slap his hand away without thinking. Mr. Hodge’s face turns the color of an eggplant, and he flares his nostrils.
“Better watch your temper, girl,” he snaps.
“Better watch your hands,” I reply. Then, to ensure he understands never to touch her again, I add, “I know Madam Karina would appreciate it if you did.”
He gives me a sinister smile. The spinach is gone from his teeth. Must have swallowed it. “Sure hope you girls don’t prove Madam Karina wrong. I’d hate for you to go the way of Ellie.”
The Neck storms down the hallway. The second he’s out of sight, I swing around. “Who’s he talking about?”
Poppet’s back is to me. She shrugs as she makes her bed, using the sheets we brought from downstairs. Though there’s a pink dust ruffle on each bed that’s entirely out of place, the mattresses are bare.
“You don’t know a girl named Ellie?”
“No, should I?”
I glance down at the bundle in my arms. “Is it the girl I replaced?”
“Could be. I’m not sure,” she says. But that’s not what it seems like. It seems like Poppet knows exactly who she is.
I drop my stuff on the bed and sit. Gripping the edge of the mattress, I try a different approach. “Did you know Cain works here for free?”
Poppet meets my gaze. “I did know that.”
I laugh, because this place is getting to be too much with its secrets. “So, there’s a girl named Ellie who no one will talk about. And a boy named Cain who’s probably working here against his will.”
“That’s not true.”
“Which part?”
“Cain stays because he has nowhere else to go.”
“That’s bull,” I respond. “Everyone has somewhere else to go.”
Poppet fluffs her pillow. “Well, I’ve heard he doesn’t.”
“And you don’t know why?”
Poppet smiles like a thought just occurred to her. “Do you think we’ll get our Daisy Tuesday morning if we earn a coin tomorrow night?” She touches her blouse. “I feel naked without my Carnation.”
“Poppet…”
She throws her hands up. “I don’t know why he works here, Dom. Not really. And you shouldn’t talk about Ellie. She left the home and it made Madam Karina angry. Angrier than I’ve ever seen her. Mr. Hodge said we aren’t to talk about her or we’ll get kicked out. But it’s only so that the madam doesn’t get upset. I’ve told you as much.”
“You haven’t told it to me like that. And what’s the big deal if she left? Surely girls leave all the time.”
Poppet doesn’t have time to answer, because a girl strides into view. “Oh, you two are the newbies, yeah? We’re watching TV in the lounge. Want to come hang out?”
My entire body is drawn to this girl with sloping cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes and kind words. Her smile could be seen from Saturn, and she oozes confidence. No, sorry, wrong word. Maybe coolness?
Better.
“We can come with you?” I ask.
Poppet strides past me. “You heard the woman. Let’s go watch TV.”
As we walk toward the lounge, we learn the girl’s name—Ruby. She wears a red scarf, though it has to be a hundred degrees outside. I wonder if that’s her thing. Matching her clothing to her name. She has blond eyebrows though her hair is black, and pulls a lip gloss out of her pocket as we walk. She never applies it, just uses it to gesture as she speaks.
Ruby introduces us to the other five Daisies, and as they greet us warmly, and the ice around my heart begins to melt, Lola walks by. She’s on her way to the third floor to see Madam Karina, but she cranes her neck to peer inside.
Our eyes connect, and she pauses, one hand on the banister, right foot already on the next step. The back of my neck tingles, and I raise an uncertain hand in a wave. She doesn’t wave back, but she does nod almost unperceivably. Not in a way that she’s saying hello. And not even in a way that I’ve done something right, and she’s acknowledging the action. But more like I’ve followed her plan nicely.
She turns away and glides out of view.
After she’s gone, the Daisies pull Poppet and me down to sit with them. They drill us for information on what’s going on with the Carnations. They offer us salty buttered popcorn, and Ruby asks if I’ll draw something while the others watch. It’s one of the best afternoons I’ve had in a long time, filled with gossip and requests for Cain to bring up frozen grapes and sweet tea. And Cain does bring that tray, quickly, with a quiet smile I return.
We Daisies watch a movie about three teen witches that’s supposed to be scary, but makes the girls laugh. I laugh a little, too. When no one is looking. When no one can guess how elated I am to be here among girls who don’t call me names.
Soon, I forget all about the look Lola gave me as she passed by.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Come With Me
I touch a finger to the white silk daisy pinned on my shirt. Poppet and I earned them after working two nights on the second floor and collecting our first bronze coin.
My time as a Daisy moves quickly. It’s very different than the Carnation floor, and it’s fun—but something very wrong is happening here.
Ruby, the Point Girl of the Daisies, pops her head in Poppet’s and my room. Her smile illuminates the space as she says, “Ready in five, okay, girls? Don’t forget to turn off the light when you leave. No reason to waste energy, yeah?”
Poppet doesn’t even try to return Ruby’s enthusiasm. She just slips into a floor-length dress to cover the mysterious cut marks that have appeared on her legs. As for me, I pull on a long-sleeved gown, one of Poppet’s, of course. I have new cuts steadily blooming across my forearms, and I have no idea where they came from. T
he only connection I make is that we each wake up with a new one every morning.
Two nights ago, we slept in shifts to catch Mercy or Raquel sneaking upstairs to continue their torment. But Poppet fell asleep, and so we woke with a fourth cut. They are shallow and not terribly painful. But that’s not the point. The point is the Carnations are sending us a message. They’re angry that we left them behind, and they won’t let us go that easily.
Last night, I tried a new tactic. I encouraged Poppet to sleep, and then jammed the door with a chair from the family room. When I woke up, a thin, swollen line marked the fifth night.
I vowed to Poppet that I’d talk to Madam Karina tomorrow morning. I have to. But tonight, we have to continue with our plan. Though I sometimes daydream about becoming Top Girl and taking over this house, I know I’m kidding myself. I’m not a business owner. I don’t know the first thing about managing money or advertising or whatever else it takes to be successful.
All I know is that I need four strong walls that are mine. For an entire year, I’ve been on my own. Dizzy entertained me for a while, but in the end, Dizzy was a one-man show, and I guess I don’t fault him for that. Then there was Madam Karina’s Home for Burgeoning Entertainers, a house of hope and horrors. It’s a means to an end, and I know what I want.
I want my own house.
And I want Poppet to come with me.
Poppet is rushing to the bathroom for a last minute makeup check when I stop her. “Hey, I want to ask you something.”
Her eyebrows rise.
“You know how I said I wanted to get my own place one day? Well, I’m really going to do it. I’m going to keep moving up in the house until I have enough money. I’ll even become a Violet if that’s what it takes.”
“What’s your question?” Poppet’s voice is unnaturally soft.
“I want you to come with me. When I get enough money and I leave, I want you to come too.”
Violet Grenade Page 13
