“Sometime later, can I call you ‘Mom’?” Leia asked me out of the blue.
“Honey, you can call me whatever you want.”
“I want to call you Mom so that everyone will quit calling that woman my mother.”
“It’s just what she’s called because she’s the one that gave birth to you, baby,” I said as I stopped and turned to look at Leia. “It’s just a title, like sir or ma’am. If it makes you feel better, we can just start calling her by name.”
“Voldemort.” Lexi said as she came to stand beside Leia. “She’s your Voldemort.”
Leia laughed at Lexi and I was glad to see her mood lighten.
“She who shall not be named,” I told them. “We’ll just talk about her in Harry Potter references from now on.”
“So, she’s from Slytherin,” Lexi decided. “I think I’m a Hufflepuff.”
“I’m definitely Ravenclaw,” Leia declared. “I think our parents are both Gryffindor.”
I held the door open for the girls and waited on them to go through as I listened to them talk about their friends and what ‘house’ they would be in if they were characters in the series. I glanced up and saw that Kari, Carlie, and Lisa were all here and they had a rack of dresses waiting for me.
“Did you get my message?” Kari asked, sounding worried. “I am so sorry, Sierra, but I needed that apartment for the new girl; she’s in a really bad way. I knew you’d be moving out, I just had to hurry you along.”
“You packed up all my shit and knowing you, it’s all wrapped and folded perfectly,” I laughed. “I don’t have to pack anything at all now and you think I’d be upset about that? I don't think so.”
“I’m so glad you understand,” Kari told me with relief. “I just didn’t want to have to send her away. She’ll be here tomorrow evening, so I’ll get your furniture and dishes out tonight and then we’ll bring them all out to your new house next week.”
“Leave the dishes and the furniture,” I told her. “I got all of it second hand and I don’t have any sentimental attachment to any of it. Let her start with it or add it to your stash of stuff you keep for those who don’t have anything.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive,” I smiled and hugged my friend. “Rowdy’s house is full and I’ll find things I love to add to it over time. I don't need any of that furniture, even Lexi’s stuff can stay. As a matter of fact, we’re meeting Rowdy at the furniture store when we leave here so we can get new stuff for both girls rooms and a new mattress for us.”
“Thank you, Sierra,” Kari told me. “That’s very generous of you. Are you ready to see your dresses?”
“I am,” I admitted. “I’m excited. It’s finally getting real, you know?”
“Rowdy is a good man and you know I don’t say that lightly coming from the situations we do. He’s one of the good ones.”
Carlie, Sarah, and Lisa walked up, all three of them with champagne glasses in their hands.
“Did you know that they give you complimentary champagne while you shop for a wedding dress?” Carlie asked Kari and I. When Kari nodded, Carlie continued, “Why is this the first time we’ve heard about this?”
“We eloped, you igmo,” Lisa giggled.
“Igmo?” Sarah raised a brow. “Is that a word?”
“I wanted to say dumbass, but Brighten is picking up everything we say. If I quit cussing, I can blame every swear word she says on either Zeke or Kale, so I’m inventing new ones.”
“That sounds like an ingenious plan,” Carlie looked like she was considering it. “I’m going to have to work on that.”
“I’m secretly the genius of our bunch, but you’d have realized that sooner or later,” Lisa assured me. “Now, on to dresses!”
“Apparently, Champagne Lisa pops up quicker than Wine Lisa does. I’ll have to remember that, too,” Carlie laughed and then followed her friend over to one of the couches that was placed strategically around the showroom near the dressing area.
“You haven’t been around them much, have you?” Sarah asked me.
“This is the second time, but they’re part of Rowdy’s club so we’ll be seeing much more of each other now.”
“Lisa is one of us,” Sarah nodded toward Kari and me. “She’s normally very soft spoken and meek. She’s been so much better since she met Zeke, but even still, you give her a drink or two and ‘Wine Lisa’ makes an appearance. She lets out her inner smart ass and says what she’s really thinking. It’s fucking awesome.”
I had known Sarah since the first day that Lexi and I arrived at the apartments and she had become one of my closest friends. In that time, I’d never seen her without flawless makeup and a beautiful wig. Sometimes the hair she wore was a classic style, occasionally it was a daring cut, but most of her wigs were brightly colored. Today her hair was black with purple on the ends and she had bangs that fell into her perfectly lined eyes and caught on her dramatic fake lashes.
Kari was an understated beauty who wore little makeup, usually just some mascara and lip gloss. Her shiny brown hair was thick and beautiful and when she was in public or a crowd of people she didn’t know well, her hair fell over one side of her face to hide the scar that went from the hairline beside her eye and followed her cheekbone almost all the way to her mouth.
I knew that the two women had a history of violence or abuse in their past, but had never heard their stories. One of the things that I liked most about the apartments that Kari ran as a shelter for abused women and families was that they required you to talk to a therapist and even encouraged you to talk to the other residents. But Kari and Sarah didn’t pry into what had happened to you before. They
