I wave my head. “I’m close to finishing school. Our senior year starts in a few days. All I have to do is make it to the end of the school year and find some university that will accept me, far away from here. I can put up with one more year of this shit.” I spoke confidently about my plan but aren’t sure if I’m trying to reassure Candice or myself. I look at Candice and smile. “I don’t suppose I’ll see you on the first day of school?”
Candice waves her head and smiles. “Yeah, nope.” She smiles again. “It may sound bad saying this but, I have a good feeling.”
“About what?”
“We are both going to get out of this city. We are both going to get what we want. I guess we just have different ways of getting there.”
I manage to produce a thin smile. “Candice, I just hope your way of doing things ends sooner rather than later. I can’t imagine how many creep old balls have been around you.”
She laughs again. “You get used to it, strangely.” She turns to face me and grabs my hands. “And stop calling me Candice!”
I wave my head. “I’m not calling you by some made up hooker name.”
“That’s something coming from you Noelle!”
“Noelle is a ridiculous name! I shortened it to save everyone from saying it out loud.”
Candice laughs and starts singing the Christmas song ‘Noelle’, and I strike her in the shoulder.
Candice rubs her shoulder, feigning pain. “What happened to stick and stones, Noelle?”
I roll my eyes. “Fuck off Candice!” Candice stops all movements and stares at me coldly. “Okay, sorry. Fuck off Autumn Darling. Is that better?”
She grins. “Much.”
Chapter 2
I sneak into my home and don’t wake up any of the doped-up houseguests while doing so. I sigh a breath of relief when I notice the home is basically empty. I walk past one of father’s workstations. A tube of some type of chemical is shattered across the desk. A canister that reads ‘highly combustible’ is on a shelf over an unlit candle. Someone might think my dad is a careless scientist instead of a cook for a meth lab.
I unlock my bedroom door and throw my backpack on my bed. I lock the door immediately and place the wooden chair under the doorknob and the floor. I lay on my bed and take out a book I borrowed from the library. I smell a faint smell of body odor on my sheets and wonder if someone has been in my room while I was gone. I start reading, and immediately feel immersed in the story. It’s a romance novel about a handsome prince who sets out on an adventure to save his betrothed, who was kidnapped by an evil lord.
The fast jerking of my bedroom doorknob breaks my fantasy.
“What have I told you about locking this door Noelle!” I don’t have to open the door to know that my dad is pissed off about something. It didn’t take much to get him riled up these days. He didn’t have a great disposition before getting hooked on drugs, but his addiction doesn’t help. The idea of not getting high on your own supply wasn’t a business motto.
I quickly open the door and apologize. “Hey dad.”
He looks at me coldly “Where did you go?”
“I was out with Candice.”
His face sours. “The whore? I told you to stop hanging out with that bitch.” As if my dad is one to judge other’s characters. “I told you I needed your help today.”
“Sorry,” I plead with him. “I must have forgot.”
“You are pretty fucking forgetful these days. You even forget whose house this is. You live here, you’re expected to help out.” I nod my head, knowing it would be stupid to say or do anything else.
James Richardson walks up beside my father and smiles at me. His crooked teeth seem to be facing multiple different directions. “You’re too easy on her Ron. Girl deserves a spanking for being a little shit.”
A waft of body odor attacks my nostrils. It was the same odor on my sheets. I try not to cringe when he looks at me. I think about telling my dad about him trying to get friendly with me in the middle of the night, but my father laughs at his joke.
Dad hands me a heavy brown bag. “Take that to Mike Townley. You know where he lives, right? You’ve delivered there before.”
I sigh. “Dad, I can’t keep doing this. I’m eighteen now. It’s different.”
Dad laughs. “Don’t look in the bag baby doll. You’re just giving them some leftovers. You know Mike has four kids. Every bit helps.”
Something tells me what’s in the brown bag isn’t wrapped sandwiches for Mike’s four little brats, nor is it very edible.
“Can’t mom do this one?” I ask.
Dad looks at me coldly again. “Your mom is sick today. I can’t do it, you know that. Look, you do this, and I’ll give you some money and you can go out tonight. We’re having a party tonight anyways. You can even go out with your slutty friend too.”
James smiles. “Or you both can come to the party.”
My dad looks at him with a dark face. “What I fucking tell you, Rich? She’s eighteen.”
He smiles again. “Exactly.”
My dad looks back at me, fishes out a roll of bills from his pocket and hands it to me. “Just leave, Noelle. Sleep out tonight at a friend’s house or something.”
“Sure,” I say coldly.
My dad places his hand at the bottom of my chin, squeezing gently. “Deliver the package first.”
∞∞∞
I walk down the street without a care. I know that whether I open the bag and peek inside or not, doesn’t matter if I get caught delivering my
