2

Saturday afternoon, Brandy Philip ran up the front walk and leapt onto the porch, looking at her watch in midair: 5:59. As much as she wanted to stand outside and enjoy the chill of a Tennessee February while she recovered from her homeward sprint, she only had one minute to spare.

She pulled open the storm door and shoved her way inside, shedding her sweatshirt as she made for the kitchen. “Grandma, I’m home.” She sniffed the air, searching for a hint of what might be for dinner—hoping it wasn’t spinach or black-eyed peas, but something more along the line of creamed corn or chicken and dumplings. She sniffed again and walked into the kitchen to find . . . nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

No Grandma. No food on the stove or counter, and no smell that either had ever been there. Nothing but the always lingering hint of Grandma’s Jergen’s lotion.

“You’re late.” Her voice came from the living room, the same room Brandy had just walked through. She turned back.

“Am not. It’s just now six o’clock.”

“I asked you to be home by five thirty tonight.” It was a statement. Nothing more, nothing less. At least Grandma wasn’t a lecturer, which made her infinitely better than most grown-ups.

“Five thirty, really? When did you say that?”

“Last night. I told you we were going to our neighbor’s house for dinner, my friend who lives just a couple of streets over.”

“Oh, right.” Brandy waved her hand dismissively. “Have a good time. I’ll just fix some mac and cheese right here and call it good. I’m going to the movie with some friends later.”

“Nope. You’re coming.” The determination in Grandma’s voice was unusual enough that Brandy paused to consider. No reason to turn this into a showdown. Just a little bit of reasoning and they would all go their merry ways.

“Why? I’m sure the two of you will have more fun without me around, and I’m plenty able to fend for myself.”

“No, you need to come with me. My friend’s granddaughter lives with her, too. You two can get to know each other. It’s time you found a nicer group of friends.”

“My friends are fine.”

“We are going. Now.”

What was with this newfound bossiness? Brandy hesitated. Would it be best to dig in and fight hard, hoping to avoid a similar situation in the future, or just give in this once and hope it was a one-time thing? Fact remained, she was hungry. And there was no way this dinner could last more than an hour or two at most. Still plenty of time to meet up with her crew later. Might as well give Grandma the satisfaction of believing she’d won this round.

“Okay, let’s get this over with.”

Sabrina watched until her grandmother disappeared from the dining room back into the kitchen, then continued to listen until she was more than certain she could move without being seen. As soon as the coast was truly clear, she reached into her pocket for the two white pills that waited there. She popped them into her mouth, swallowed them dry, then returned to setting the table. She took care to line up the silverware just perfectly. Tonight meant a lot to Nana.

“I don’t know, do you think maybe we should use the fancier plates?” Just that fast, Nana reappeared in the dining room.

Hopefully Nana hadn’t seen the Tylenol, because it would definitely tip her off that Sabrina wasn’t feeling well. “No, I think these are beautiful. It’s just a casual dinner. No reason to be too formal about this, right?” The old lace tablecloth had been around for far longer than Sabrina, she was sure of that. Yet, just like everything in Nana’s house, it felt warm, cozy, and familiar.

“Hmm. I suppose you’re right. Don’t want to come across as pretentious.” She walked closer to the table and looked around. “Yes, these will do just fine.” She still didn’t look quite convinced.

“Mrs. Jenkins is such a nice lady. I look forward to meeting her granddaughter.”

“From what I gather from Maudie, she hasn’t fallen into the best crowd at school. I’m sure hoping the two of you get along, that maybe she can look to you as something of a role model.”

“I’ll do my best.” Sabrina saluted.

“I know you will, darling.” Nana gave a nod of satisfaction, moved as if to turn, but then stopped and jerked back around. “You okay? You look a little pale.”

Sabrina had lived there long enough to know what was going to happen next. Nana would put her hand on Sabrina’s forehead, make a clucking sound, then go in search of the thermometer. Sabrina was pretty certain the results would show a low-grade fever, which would ruin their plans for the evening. As appealing as it sounded to go to bed, she knew her grandmother was looking forward to this event, so she took evasive action and made for the front of the house. “I’m fine. Just a little tired. You know how I get when I’m working on a school project.”

“You don’t get enough rest, that’s for sure and for certain. You need to take better care of yourself. When you came to live here I promised your mother I’d see that you got healthy meals and enough rest.”

“Oh, Nana, grown-ups worry too much. I get as much rest as any other college student.”

“Yes, but you’re not any other—”

Dingdong.

“I’ll get it.” Sabrina hurried toward the door, thankful for the interruption from the rest of the all-too-familiar lecture. She turned the knob and pulled the door, her words already forming. “Good evening, Mrs. Jenkins. How are you?”

Mrs. Jenkins had the kind of permanent dark circles under her eyes that declared her a woman who had spent years being pushed past her limits. In spite of this, her smile was bright and cheerful. “Just fine, Sabrina. It’s so good to see you again. Your grandmother has kept me updated on your happenings, but I’ll be glad to hear the details straight from you.”

“Bless your heart, I’ll just bet she has. Nana does like to talk about her family.”

“You count that as a blessing is what I’m saying. There’s lots of people who wish they could say the same.” For just a split second the look of weariness encompassed her entire face, all the way to her eyes. She turned to look over her shoulder. “Brandy, hurry on up, now. Sabrina’s standing here waiting to meet ya.”

Sabrina peered into the darkness, searching for the young girl who needed a nice older friend. Maybe she could be a kind of mentor, the same way a couple of college girls had taken her under their wing several years ago. It would be nice to pay it forward.

Mrs. Jenkins shook her head. “We walked over here. You’d think it would be the old lady instead of the teenager that was lagging, wouldn’t you?” She glanced over her shoulder then nodded with satisfaction. “Oh, here she is. Sabrina, I’d like you to meet my granddaughter, Brandy. Brandy, this is Sabrina.” She held out her arm toward the driveway, just as the girl walked into view.

“What’s up?” Brandy nodded her head back slightly.

Sabrina found that she was unable to respond in any way. Absolutely could not speak.

It wasn’t the tiny loop earring that pierced the girl’s nose, or the thick line of dark black eyeliner, or the cold hard eyes that left Sabrina unable to speak. It was her hair. Shoulder length, white in front, black in back. There could be no mistaking who this girl was or where she’d seen her before.

“Oh, please do come in, you two.” Nana picked just the right moment to arrive at the door. Sabrina took a step back so that the two could enter, but she still couldn’t find her voice to speak as Nana ushered them inside. “Now, Brandy, you come right in here and tell us all about yourself. How are things at the high school? You’re a junior, right? Is old Mrs. Monroe still teaching chemistry and physics? How is the basketball team doing this year?”

Sabrina attempted to work through her shock and at least fake some interest in Brandy’s answers. It proved to be harder than she’d imagined. Be a good role model. Set a good example. At the very least, be polite.

In spite of Nana’s insatiable list of questions, Brandy managed to answer most everything with a single syllable, two at most. She made no attempt to be sociable or to even appear that she was remotely interested in having a conversation.

Sabrina’s initial shock at seeing this girl was soon replaced by a deep and growing dislike. Did she have no concept of manners, or common courtesy? And then Nana asked her the question whose answer sealed Sabrina’s dislike into a deep and permanent state. “Do you play any sports at school?”

“No.”

“Oh really? I thought I remembered Maudie telling me that you ran track.”

Brandy shrugged. “Used to. Not now.”

“Oh right, since you just moved here, you probably haven’t gotten the chance to get started in all that. I’ll bet you’ll be involved soon, huh?”

“Nah. Don’t much like it. Coaches are a pain.”

The circles under Mrs. Jenkins’ eyes seemed to darken by the second. She shook her head and stared off in the distance. Nana glanced at her, then back to Sabrina, her eyes wide with panic, and Sabrina swallowed the “somehow I don’t think it’s the coach who’s a pain” retort that’d been on the tip of her tongue.

This Brandy girl might be a spoiled, selfish punk, but Nana was a wonderful lady, and Sabrina would do her best to help. She forced herself to work up a friendliness she most certainly did not feel. “Brandy, have you thought about what you want to do when you graduate high school?”

Brandy looked at her, green eyes cold and hard. “Well, I can tell you what I won’t be doing. I won’t be living at my grandmother’s house while my mother and father are paying my tuition at some lame college. I’ve never been much of one for freeloading, or for freeloaders, as far as that goes. I’ll be doing something interesting, and I’ll be standing on my own two feet.”

“Brandy.” Mrs. Jenkins hissed her granddaughter’s name, but offered no words to follow it up.

Brandy continued to look at Sabrina, a dare in her eyes.

“Brandy,” her grandmother said again, firmer this time.

Brandy shrugged. “Sorry. No offense intended.”

Hate.

The word so seldom entered Sabrina’s mind that the initial thought stunned her. But try as she might, she couldn’t squelch it.

Hate.

When she looked at Brandy it welled up inside her and poured over into places she hadn’t gone in a long time.

I. Hate. Her.

Sabrina saw the absolute mortification in her grandmother’s eyes. The evening that she had planned so meticulously was going down in flames, thanks to this juvenile delinquent who had no idea what she should appreciate. It was up to Sabrina to somehow overcome, to be the bigger person for her grandmother’s sake.

“I’m sure there wasn’t.” Regardless of how she was feeling, regardless of how much she wanted to let that little brat know some things about real life, Sabrina was going to salvage the evening. For Nana’s sake. She dug deep and pulled out what she hoped was a radiant smile. “Nana has made her famous artichoke spinach dip. Who’s game to give it a try?”