“An accident?” Anna said, alarm coming into her voice. Her purse dropped to the floor. “What happened?” She went to her daughter’s side. “Honey? What’s wrong?”
“I cut my finger real bad,” Kendra said. “Marc took me to the hospital.”
“The
“It was a pretty bad cut,” he said. “Long and deep cut. I knew right away it needed stitches, so I took her to the ER.”
“The ER?” she said, her voice becoming high and squeaky. “You couldn’t have taken her to a walk-in clinic?”
“Oh, well… it didn’t occur to me to take her to a walk-in clinic. The doctor stitched her finger up and gave us a prescription for codeine, because he said the finger was going to hurt really bad once the shot he gave her wore off.”
Anna knelt down beside the couch and took Kendra’s hand between both of hers. “How’d you cut your finger, honey?”
“I was tryin’ to make tuna fish salad like you do, and I was cutting up celery. I don’t know how I did it. One minute, everything was fine, and the next, I was bleedin’ all over the place.”
She looked over her shoulder at Reznick. “You paid for all this?”
“Yeah. I’ve got the receipts.” He reached into his right pocket and took out two slips of paper. He walked over to Anna and handed them to her. “One for the hospital, one for the pills.”
She unfolded the receipts and looked at the totals. “Oh, God,” she whispered. “Over five hundred dollars.” She closed her eyes as she took a deep, steadying breath. She didn’t want Kendra to see her get upset, but inside, she was. How could she pay for it?
Anna slowly got to her feet and turned to Reznick. “Thank you for taking care of her,” she said. “And for cleaning up in here. I can’t tell you, I really appreciate it.”
“Hey, it was no problem at all,” he said. “I’m just glad I was around when she needed me. Well, if you don’t need me for anything else, I think I’ll be going.”
“Thanks again,” Anna said. She went to her purse and took out her checkbook, then put the purse on the kitchen table. She wrote the check and tore it from the book, then handed it to Reznick. “Do me a favor and don’t cash this for a couple days, okay? I’ve gotta figure out some way to cover it.”
“Sure,” he said. “No problem.”
Reznick went to the couch and looked down at Kendra, smiled. “You take care of yourself, okay?” he said.
She smiled back at him, her eyes half-closed. “Thanks, Marc.”
After he was gone, Anna looked at the receipts again. Five hundred and eighty-four dollars and eighty-eight cents with the hospital and pharmacy bills combined. She had no idea how she was going to cover the check she’d written for Reznick.
She looked at Kendra, who was snoring gently on the couch, with Dexter curled up and asleep on her stomach. Anna went to the kitchen table and sat down, put her face in her hands, and exhaled heavily into her palms.
She lifted her head when she remembered the business card the man had given her at the club night before last. He’d said he would pay her to pose for pictures for his website. She wondered how
Anna reached over and pulled her purse toward her and began to prod her hand around in it. She was pretty sure she’d put the card in her purse. She could not find it, so she overturned the purse and dumped its contents on the table. She sorted through all the stuff until she found the small white card.
Burning Lizard Amusements. She looked over at Kendra to make sure she was still asleep. She took the phone from its base and punched in the number that was on the card. It purred a few times, then a man said, “Burning Lizard.”
“Hello,” she said. “Uh, I’m not sure if you’re the man who gave me your business card, but – “
”Who’s this?” he said.
“I’m Kitten. The dancer from the Mt. Shasta Gentleman’s Club. You gave me your business card the night before last, and you – “
”Oh, yes, I remember you well, Kitten. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I was wondering if the invitation was still open. To pose for pictures, I mean.”
“For you? You
“Could we do it soon? I mean, like
“I don’t see why not.”
“Where are you? I’ll come over.”
“Do you know where the Riverside Mobile Home Park is?”
Anna frowned and paused a moment. “Are you joking?”
“Why would I joke? Do you know where it is?”
“I
“
“I’ll be there in awhile.” She hung up.
Anna stood and went to her bedroom, where she changed into a yellow T-shirt and a pair of green shorts. She put flip-flops on her feet, checked on Kendra again – she was sound asleep on the couch – then left the trailer. She walked down to unit five and knocked on the door.
Regent smiled as he let her in the trailer. She was just as gorgeous as he remembered. He guessed she was in her early thirties – since she lived in the trailer park, he could use her on TrailerParkGirls.com.
“What a coincidence, huh?” he said, still smiling. “We both live in the same trailer park.”
“Yes. It’s a coincidence, all right. So, tell me about what you want.”
He outlined the pay scale to her, told her everything.
When he was done, she thought about it awhile, chewed on a thumbnail, frowned. Then she said, “I’ll do the whole thing for twelve hundred dollars, but it has to be done right now, and only for cash.”
“No problem there. I’ll have to call a buddy of mine over to help me – “
”Oh, no. I’ll only do it with you. You bring somebody else in, and I’m outta here.”
He stopped and thought about that. He could do it himself, but he preferred to have an extra hand. Oh, well. He’d do it her way.
“All right,” he said with a nod. “Well, then. Let’s get started.”
Kendra awoke when she heard the door open. Her eyes felt sticky and puffy, and she still had that giddy feeling, but it was diminished, and mixed with a heavy grogginess. Her finger throbbed, but it was a faraway kind of feeling, distant. She turned to see Mommy coming into the trailer. She watched Mommy pull the screen door closed, then walk slowly to the kitchen table. She sat down and reached into a pocket, pulled something out, and put it on the table. Then she leaned her elbows on the tabletop and put her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs.
Dexter was still curled up on Kendra’s stomach, and she gently picked him up as she sat up and swung her legs off the couch. She put him down on the floor and carefully stood. She felt a little light-headed, but she managed to keep her balance. She walked carefully over to Mommy. A stack of cash lay on the table before her. Kendra put her hand on Mommy’s back.
Mommy jerked with surprise and gasped as she turned her head and looked up at Kendra. Her eyes were puffy and wet.
“What’s the matter, Mommy?” Kendra said.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Mommy turned toward her and wrapped her arms around Kendra’s waist. “It’s nothing. I just felt like having a good cry, that’s all.” She pulled back and looked up at Kendra. “How’s your finger?”
“It hurts a little, but not bad. The pills helped a lot.”
