Chapter 8

• It had been close to a month since Steve left. Lee’s room seemed bigger, with just her things in it. She hated to admit it, but she missed him. She laughed at herself. It was pathetically unbelievable.
• There finally were quiet mornings, the water and electric bills were lower, and all she could think of was his absence. She was sulking, she didn’t mean to but she couldn’t help it.
• It was a beautiful Saturday, the middle of spring, hot, sunny and green. She tried working out the frustration at the boxing ring, when that didn’t help, she tried the shooting range.
• “Imagine those cardboards are Steve. Aim low, you’ll feel much better.” Ann shot three times in the middle of the cardboard man’s legs, and then put two in his head and one in his heart. Maria giggled as she copied Ann’s targets. Lee on the other hand missed all her shots.
• “Come on Lee, you are a better shot than that! You’ve had a gun in your hand every Saturday since we left the orphanage. You couldn’t willingly miss if you had your eyes closed!” Ann was getting frustrated with her; her voice was sharp and scolding.
• Lee changed her magazine and put in a full one. She shot the paper man, hitting all of Ann’s targets without much effort.
• “Good girl!” The sharpness in her voice was gone, but Lee didn’t feel any better.
• Lee had ruined their Saturday morning for all three of them. Her afternoon off and she didn’t want to leave her room, how pathetic!
• Her bedroom door swung open with a thud. Ann and Maria jumped on her bed.
• “We’re tired of your dark cloud. We’ve tried to cheer you up in all the ways possibly known to mankind.” Ann pulled the covers off, forcing her to sit up.
• “The whooping you gave to that poor man in the ring didn’t even cheer you up. You even massacred those paper Steve’s and here you are, sulking.” Maria shifted so she was sitting next to her.
• “Maria, I think you’re confusing me with Ann.”
• “Oh, right. She’s the sadist, you’re the depressed loner, got it.”
• “He was a leech and he had to go!” Ann was shaking Lee, hard.
• “Good riddance!” Maria was backing Ann.
• Lee knew they had her best interests at heart, but the only time they tag teamed was if they had something up their sleeves.
• “Oh, noooo! Whatever it is the answer is no!” Lee was struggling to get out of Ann’s grip.
• “Oh yes!” Ann said shaking her some more.
• “It’s single ladies night!” Maria yelled with glee and excitement, jumping up and down.
• Before she could protest, Ann pulled Lee up from her bed. “We haven’t gone out together since the leech. Come on, sis, let’s paint the town re…purple!”
• She was glad Ann didn’t say it. Lee’s nightmares were not completely gone, but fewer now. The last one was two weeks ago. She went to Dr. Warren the next morning to talk about it, the one thing that kept the two of them attached. He told her the same thing he had been telling her since she was five—
• Your family died in a fire. The reason why you keep seeing your house red is because you’ve displaced your emotions. Everything you see in your nightmares, they are all ways your brain is trying to deal with the tragedy. You were asleep in the car when it happened. You couldn’t have seen anything. We may not have figured out why your mind created these specific images, but what I know for sure is that you are healing. Once you let go of your guilt, and fully accept what happened, you’ll get better.
• The only reason you had the nightmare this time was because your boyfriend left. It’s your fear of loss, nothing else. In the next few days the nightmares will be gone again.
• That explanation had been drummed into her head all her life. Sometimes she recited the words with him.
• “Fine, but I’m driving!”
• “Woohooo! It’s time to paaarrtyyyy!” Ann and Maria danced out of her room.
• “Oh and, Lee…”
• “Yes, Maria?” She walked to the door and looked at them.
• “Happy eighteenth birthday!” Ann and Maria called out in unison, and then they sang as they danced into their own rooms.
• Lee couldn’t believe she’d forgotten her own birthday! She finally turned legal and she had forgotten all about this momentous day. Steve had really ruined everything for her. Tonight she was finally going to forget him.
• April sixteenth was going to be a night to remember!
• ****
• The club was full, stuffy, hot, dark and noisy. There was a dance floor in the middle of the club and it was full, people dancing around like sardines in a tin. The girls took off their coats and headed to the tables. Lee was having second thoughts about this night out, but they were already at the club and she didn’t want to be a party pooper.
• “This is going to be fun!” Ann tried to shout over the music. She held Lee’s hand and she held Maria’s in return as they made their way through the crowd to an empty table.
• “I’ll go get us some drinks!” Lee didn’t want them to notice her indifferent mood. It would down their spirits so she volunteered. It was going to be a long depressing night. She went around the packed dance floor to the bar.
• ****
• Damn! She left before I got here. I hope she is safe. I’ll go hunt for a few hours. They should be back by then…I hope.
• Happy Birthday, baby girl.