I haven’t eaten in two damn days, and as strange as it sounds, the biggest problem in that is I miss bread! Carbs. Okay, anything. I miss food, and at this rate, I don’t know if I will make it to the end of the week when Leslie said she’d be by to get me my last check.
Curling up on the swing on the back porch, I ignore my growling stomach and the light-headed feeling I can’t shake and tell myself not to cry. Crying won’t solve a thing, not now, and I’m afraid that if I start I won’t stop.
Walking out of Franklin’s was not easy, but I immediately turned at the corner and made my way to the newspaper stand where I used what I had left in my purse to get the paper.
I should have saved what I had because a scouring of the job section was a waste of time unless I want to meet a freak named Joshua who wants a live-in maid with some very, very strange duties.
I know this because, despite how odd the ad was, I called for an interview and immediately slammed the phone down. Yikes, the man was a pervert!
Stomach growling, I huff and sit up, blinking to clear my head just as the phone rings. I should probably answer that before the telephone company smells I’m not paying them and turns it off.
“Hello.”
“Teeny?”
“Mrs. Cane? What’s wrong?”
“Teeny, honey, I…have you heard from Ally in the last three days?”
I have not, and the fact that her neighbor is calling me to ask has me going stiff and tense because…
“Where’s Tammy?”
“With me, honey. She’s been with me for three days since Ally dropped her here with me and took off in a rush. I’m starting to worry, and Tammy is usually really easy to care for, but I think she’s sick, honey, and I can’t keep her indefinitely if she keeps running fevers. I, uh, I am so sorry, but I brought her into the hospital because I didn’t have another choice, and then they called Social, and now they’re…you need to get down here.”
“I’m on the way.”
I run for my car, hoping there’s enough gas in the thing to get me there without breaking down and cry my relief when the things starts up with a chugging splutter.
“Just get me there.”
I keep praying all the way there, the drive seeming interminable before I pull into the parking lot with a shudder from the thing before it dies completely.
In the middle of the lot. Oh God.
I don’t have time to push it to the side, and honestly, I think I’d pass out if I tried, so I leave it where it is and run, almost killing myself when the automatic door doesn’t open fast enough.
The hospital emergency room is packed, so it takes me a while to get to the desk where a very unhappy bubble-gum-popping lady shows me down the corridor and into a room where a social worker is standing beside a screaming Tammy and a crying Mrs. Cane.
“Teeny! Oh thank God. Oh thank God. See? She’s the aunt, and she’ll take Tam with her. You can’t put her in the system. Teeny’s a good aunt. She’ll look after Tammy.”
The woman looks me over, and I wish like heck I’d dressed in something other than my old shorts and a shirt that hangs over one shoulder and does not look at all like I am a capable grown-up who can care for a sick, screaming two-year-old.
“Miss Hughs?”
I stick my hand out belatedly and take her hand, praying that I can hold it all together for as long as this takes to get Tammy so I can get out of here.
It’s uppermost in my mind that I shouldn’t do this. I have no money, no food in the cupboards. My house is like a sauna right now and no fit place to raise a little girl. And I am not even thinking about the fact that Tam is obviously sick and screaming at the top of her lungs.
“I’m Teeny. Teeny Hughs, and yes, Tammy is my niece. Uh, what’s happening?”
“My name is Mrs. Halston, and I was called in by the hospital administrator when Tammy came in again with the same ear infection. She’s undernourished, her hair is filthy and crawling with lice, and she’s wearing unwashed clothes.”
Oh my God!
“I…but I…I gave Ally money to get Tammy to a doctor and buy her medicine. I…I didn’t know she was still sick. Oh my God.”
I have to sit down because my knees are buckling and the light-headed feeling from lack of food is trying to take over. I’m so shocked and just…scared as I go over to Tammy, rolling the chair to get to her bed, and scoop her little body up into mine, cradling her with crooning please for her to hush.
She does, snuggling into my neck and shuddering out a stuttered breath of relief.
“Owie, Teeny. Ear owie.”
“I know, sweet baby. I know, but Aunt Teeny will make it all better, okay? You just have a hushabye, and when you wake up, I’ll give you some medicine to take away all the owie. Shhh, close your eyes, baby girl.”
“Mama go ‘way.”
“I know, honey, but Aunt Teeny is right here, ‘kay? I am right here.”
It takes about five minutes of cooing and rocking before I feel Tammy’s little body slump, and then I’m swallowing when I turn back to Mrs. Halston, my heart in my throat.
“I…I can take her—”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Miss Hughs. Tammy is very sick, and I have to file a report about her lack of care and the disappearance of her mother. Mrs. Cane has been gracious enough to speak honestly with myself and the nursing staff, and it seems that this is not the first time that Tammy has been abandoned for days without care but for this old woman.”
“But I’m here, and I can take care of her. If I had known, if I had even suspected Ally was doing this, I would have taken Tammy already. I can look after her! I’ll take her home with me, and I swear I won’t ever neglect her. I love her.”
Her eyes soften at my words, and I even get a shoulder squeeze before she sighs and looks down at her paperwork.
“As of this morning, Tammy is in the care of the state. I’m sorry, but it is my duty to make an honest report.”
“I understand. But—”
“We do not overlook relatives when a situation like this arises, but before I can hand Tammy over to you and hopefully convince you to start adoption proceedings, I would have to ensure that she would be going into a safe and loving environment. Could speed things up on that front, pull a few strings with some colleagues of mine and the judge if you do this, maybe get someone over to your place in two days, but, Teeny, you will have to comply with everything. Every single check,” she says softly, eyeing my beat-up sneakers and giving me a look when my stomach lets off an insistent growl.
Oh God! How am I ever gonna make this happen, I think, trying to keep myself together when it all hits me. My house. God, they wouldn’t make it on a walk-through for ten minutes before the heat hit them. I have no job, and I can just surmise I’d have to prove employment too. And money! I have no money and a sour carton of milk in the fridge I was eyeing just this morning when hunger gripped me so hard I almost fainted.
I have to do this though, find a way…
“I’ll make sure you give me a gold star, Mrs. Halston. Just please help us.”
“Okay, Teeny. Tammy will remain here in the hospital for a few days at least while they give her antibiotics and some fluids. What I want you to do is go home and use this list to do a check. Make sure your home is child-friendly and safe. Clean out your fridge and restock it, because I know, if yours looks anything like mine, something is growing in the back,” she chuckles, making me smile.
Sickly. Nothing is growing in my fridge but desperation and the fumes from spoilt milk.
“I, yeah. I can do that,” I say, taking the paper she hands me with trembling hands while Mrs. Cane pats my shoulder reassuringly.
“Mrs. Cane gave me your home number, so I will call you to let you know what’s happening.”
She says some more stuff that I hardly hear and then leaves, taking Mrs. Crane with her because the poor dear has already suffered one bus ride in this heat today and she’d keel over if she did i
t again.
I spend time with Tammy, stroking her soft ringlets and trying not to cry when it hits me that I am so screwed!
What the hell am I thinking? I have nothing, less than nothing if you consider the electric bill that’s coming due, and I will be responsible for a little girl who needs food and love and…food.
The nursing staff kick me out around six after assuring me that Tammy will sleep through the night because the medications she’s on acts as a sedative and pain reliever, and I practically crawl into the parking lot, not at all surprised that my car is nowhere in sight.
Just great.
Chapter Six
Lynx
My house is dark when I finally pull into the driveway at just past eight the next evening, my body giving off a groan when I turn off the truck and open the door, the humid blanket of air falling on me like a ton of bricks.
Christ, it’s hot right now, and to make matters worse, I haven’t eaten all day because I drove a hundred miles to collect wood that would have only made it to the site in three days otherwise.
The drive was good, and I finally hit on something that could help this feeling I’ve been lugging around. I think I should totally get a dog and—
I hear the banging all the way from where I am sitting, and that says a lot because my house and Teeny’s are not exactly on top of each other. I should just leave her alone. I know this, but the bang, bang, bang keeps going, getting louder, and I definitely can’t ignore it when I hear screaming, peppered with some very unladylike cursing.
Okay, and I’m nosey! I admit that.
Closing the truck, I jog closer to Teeny’s and smirk when I hop up on her porch and peek into the open door, almost laughing when I see her wilting beside an air-conditioner that looks about a million years old.
“You stupid bastard! Just work already. Work, goddamn you.”
I want to laugh but stop when she lets off a whimper and her shoulders start shaking.
“I fucking hate you! I hate you.”
The sobbing starts up again, right after she punches the unit she’s yelling at, and I feel so freaking helpless I briefly consider walking away.
“Teeny? Are you okay?”
She whips around just as I open the screen door, and the look in her brown eyes has me stilling. I have never seen that much emotion from one glance, and it’s shocking to me.
Hurt. Anger. Fear. Sadness. Fury.
“Lynx?”
“Teeny, what’s up, sweetheart?” I ask again, crouching down to take the hand she’s cradling to her chest.
We both wince when I see her reddened knuckles, and it’s with a lot of care and trepidation that I poke and prod at them, ignoring her sniffles.
“It isn’t broken, but it will hurt for a bit. Why are you punching the air-co—okay, I get why now,” I wheeze when the heat hits me.
The place feels like a sauna, literally and with no exaggerations. It really does feel like we’re roasting in an oven, and all the windows are open from what I can see.
“They won’t let her stay in this. Oh God! What am I gonna do? I have the list and…and there’s so much stuff on there I just don’t even know where to start, and then even if I get the house squared away, they’re gonna check the kitchen and…and then they won’t let me take her and she’ll be put in a home, and…” she trails off, her words lost when she puts her face in her hands and sobs brokenly.
I have zero experience with comforting distraught women and even less with understanding their gibberish, so I’m stiff when I take her little body into my arms and pull her into a hug, shuddering when her body heat hits mine.
Christ, this place is not livable. It’s clean and the living room is nice, but that’s all it has going for it.
“Come on.”
She doesn’t struggle when I pull her up and shuffle us both to the back porch, and just sits sniffling when I lower her to the swing. I need something cold stat.
Going inside again, I head for the fridge, blinking my shock when all I find in there is a carton of…milk? That’s it. The sight has my eyes narrowing, and I throw open a cupboard before I can tell myself that it’s rude to rifle through people’s homes.
There is nothing there. Every one of them is empty. Even the pantry, which I was hoping would be better, is bare save for a cobweb in the far corner.
Teeny’s kitchen is barren of all food, and I suddenly get a twist in my gut when I think about what she’s going through.
“Teeny?”
She doesn’t respond when I walk out to the porch again, and I get a little freaked out when I poke her and all that comes out is a snuffle. She’s asleep.
Thinking fast, I grab her up and walk quickly, not listening to the voice in my head that tells me not to get involved. The woman is too light. She’s burning up from the heat of her house, and I just—
She wakes with a groan when I step us both down into the pool, the water sliding over us like a cool caress that has even me moaning.
“Wha…?”
“Don’t struggle. You passed out. Just let the water cool you a little,” I say softly, floating her with my arms so she’s lying spread out in the water, her long light-brown hair drifting in tangled ribbons around us both.
It takes a few minutes, but she finally sighs and pushes up, standing to her feet with a moan.
“I think I should live in this pool,” she laughs nervously, pushing to the step and getting out with a grimace when she notices her sneakers are still on.
“You ruined my sneakers.”
My glance and quirked brow at said sneakers gets a smile, and I come out beside her when she suddenly looks back at her place and tears form in her eyes.
“Teeny, wha—okay, that is it! Come on,” I growl when her stomach growls loudly, the memory of her bare cupboards stirring up suspicion.
“What! Wylder, just—”
I tow her into the house behind me, noting absently that I forgot to lock the back door again. We’re trailing water through the house, but I don’t hardly notice as I push her into a chair at the oak table and stalk to the fridge to grab the cannoli Mom sent me yesterday.
They heat in a minute, and I see Teeny’s eye flit to them in desperation when I put both plates down and go to grab tea from the fridge. I hate to make her aware of my knowledge, because the woman has pride, but when she doesn’t lift her fork, I lose all patience.
“Eat! Goddammit, you’re hungry, and I can hear your stomach from here. And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me just exactly what is going on with you.”
She starts eating after a beat, her hunger winning over what I guess is pride, and cleans her plate so fast I’m only hallway through mine when she stands and takes it to the sink before coming back over to sit with a wet plop.
I would laugh at the situation. We’re both soaking wet, eating as if it’s not an issue, and I can hear the water in Teeny’s beat-up sneakers with her every shift.
“Why don’t you have any food in your cupboards, Teeny, and don’t even try that shrugging shit with me, because it won’t work. You’re not moving until you talk to me.”
She stops sliding off her chair and looks back at me with a frown before slumping and closing her eyes.
“I loaned money to my sister, Ally.”
Aaah, I know all about this. Nat rages about this Ally character all the time, and I probably know more about her than is decent.
“The gambler?”
Teeny stiffens for a second and opens her eyes, the deep brown pools dragging me in against my will. I should not get involved in this, and dammit, I don’t need something else to worry about right now, but she’s so freaking tiny, and her eyes are bruised and swollen from tears and just…dammit.
“Yeah. That’s the one,” she mutters, grinding her jaw with a pop. “She needed money to take my niece, Tammy, to the doctor and get her medicine. She keeps getting these recurring ear infections, so when she called, I was scared to say no, and then…then she to
ld me she needs to buy some groceries, so I…she didn’t take her to the doctor!” she yells, slamming her hand down on the table.
“Teeny—”
“She just left her. She’s sick, and she needed medical care, and she just left her with old Mrs. Cane and split. You know what I did today after losing my job? I had to drive down to the hospital and meet with a social worker who made it clear that Tammy will go into care unless I can prove to the state that I am a responsible caregiver,” she cries, crumbling against the table again with a sob.
“Teeny—”
“And I can’t! I can’t prove a goddamn thing because I live in a sweat lodge and I have no money because I lost my job because I told my disgusting boss I won’t sleep with him and…and how am I going to get Tammy back if they come to my house and see that it’s a sauna and I have no food and no money and—”
She just stops talking and seems to crumble before my eyes, her tiny shoulders quivering while all I can do is watch and wait for her to calm down.
“You know, I knew she wasn’t going to do anything. Somehow, I just knew, but I never once considered that this has been happening regularly. She’s been leaving Tammy with her neighbor since she was six months old, but I just…I told myself that Tammy is her kid so I can’t do anything, you know?” she asks, looking at me as if begging for understanding.
“Teeny, slow down and tell me exactly what’s going on.”
She slumps, and I see her cheeks turn a mortified shade of red before she takes up her tea and pushes a dripping hank of hair off her cheeks.
“My sister, Ally, has a daughter, Tammy Lee. She’s two years old. They live down in the bad part of the city. You know, where the tracks…anyway, they live there, and Ally waitresses at a stripper joint two blocks down. She has a problem with gambling. A big one. She usually keeps things together with my help, but I loaned her money a few weeks ago to take Tammy to the doctor and buy food, but she just…she didn’t do any of that stuff, and then she called me the other day for money, but I didn’t have any.”
No shit, I think, seeing those cupboards again, my gut clenching at the thought of a hardworking woman like Teeny suffering because she’s a good sister.
WYLDER Page 49
