In the early evening Alexa pondered her situation from the safety of her bedroom, with the door locked. The bad men couldn’t possibly find her here, she reasoned. But perhaps they could. She moved to the back of her closet, and nestled among the expensive Silk Stockings clothes. Or here, she thought. She fell briefly asleep in the closet—a first, and hopefully a last; she crumpled one of her dresses. When she woke up she was confused and disoriented and slightly sweaty. She went to Morgan’s room and looked out her window because it faced High Street. There were cars going by, but no black SUVs, and there was nothing unusual in the driveway. Coast: clear.
She ate some carrots and pretzels with hummus—the Griffins’ food options had not improved much over the summer, so she didn’t want to arrive hungry—and was readying herself to leave when her mother and Morgan came in the front door. Clearly Morgan had not showered or bathed since her overnight in Maudslay; she had dirt on her face and she was wearing a bandanna around her head. She looked like a Survivor contestant who had gotten knocked out in an early round. Alexa’s mother was carrying a brown paper Marshalls bag, and Morgan was face-deep into a bag of the sour gummy worms from the checkout line. Morgan must have caught their mother in a weak moment.
“Oh, shoot,” said Rebecca, looking at Alexa’s car keys, her bag. “Are you on your way out somewhere? I was hoping you could stay with Morgan while I go to Brooke’s party. I completely forgot to ask you. I’m not going to stay late. I don’t really feel like doing the whole party thing tonight.” She grimaced.
“I’m babysitting,” said Alexa. “For Katie? So Sherri can go to the party?”
“Sherri’s going to the party?” Rebecca’s face registered surprise.
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“No reason,” said Rebecca, glancing at Morgan. Her face softened and she said, “I’m really glad she’s going. I realized at the last minute that I have nothing to wear. So I ran out quickly.” She waved the bag in front of Alexa. Alexa was dismayed. Her mother was wearing Marshalls couture to Brooke’s party? The only thing worse than a Marshalls trip for a special occasion was a rushed Marshalls trip for a special occasion. Alexa had seen her mother in a hurry at Marshalls before, when the time crunch compromised her better judgment. She wondered if any of her Silk Stockings dresses would fit her mom. Probably not. Her mom had those hips.
“Morgan can come with me,” Alexa said. “I’m sure Sherri won’t mind.” It would mean less for her to do anyway; the girls would entertain each other, and then maybe Cam could come over. She thought again about the black SUV and her heart tripped its way back into her throat again. Stop it, Alexa. Nobody is after you.
Morgan brightened visibly and smiled, revealing a piece of a sour gummy worm plastered to her front tooth. “Yes!” she said. “I am in.”
Her mother peered at Alexa. “Are you okay?”
Internally, Alexa was still jittery, but she didn’t know it showed on the outside. “Sure,” she said. “Yeah. Why?”
“I don’t know. You seem—nervous.”
“I’m not nervous,” said Alexa nervously. She tapped her flip-flop against the floor. “You ready now, Morgs, or did you need to shower or change or anything?”
Morgan shrugged and said, “Meh. What’s one more day?”
“That’s the spirit!” said Rebecca. She kissed Morgan on the crown of her dirty head and patted Alexa on the arm, which was a shame because Alexa could sort of use a hug too. “I’ve got to figure out something with my hair,” Rebecca said.
Alexa couldn’t help but agree.