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No, I can’t do that. I can’t even look out the window!
Shit. He is gonna leave again, and if I’m not better by then, I’m gonna be stuck in here with Q forever.
My thoughts ping-pong back and forth in my mind as my body ping-pongs back and forth across the cracked-tile tuxedo shop floor. I’ve been pacing for what feels like hours. The light in the hall is starting to turn that yellowy-orange color that tells me night is coming. I can’t be in here by myself in the dark. I’ll go crazy … er.
Keeping my same frantic pace, I turn my feet so that they lead me out into the hall instead of back across the room for the fifteen thousandth time.
Maybe I’ll go see if there’s any dinner left in the food court. That’ll make Q happy. She always gets pissed when I don’t eat her precious food.
As I approach the atrium, I hear her booming laughter coming at me from the opposite end of the hallway. Peeking around the fountain, I see Q leaving the food court, cackling and bumping shoulders with a few of the other runaways. I’m not ready to face her again. Not by myself and especially not if she has an audience.
She’s worse when she has an audience.
Instead, I turn and haul ass down the hallway on the right. I don’t care where I’m going as long as I get there before Q spots me.
I notice the shoe store up ahead and remember what Carter said about his family wanting to see me. The sound of Queen Bitch and her army of dreadlocked gutter punks echoes off the atrium walls behind me, so I turn and duck into the second to last place I want to be right now.
“Knock, knock …” I say, faking a smile as I make my way to the center of the shoe store as quickly as possible.
Sophie hops up and runs over to me, pulling me into their makeshift living room by the hand. “Rain! You came! C’mere! C’mere! We got surprises for you!”
Her mother must have braided her hair after the rain shower. It looks perfect and probably took hours. It’s interesting that Mrs. Renshaw chopped all of her own hair off but still takes the time to fix her daughter’s. Sadness tugs my spirits down, but I smile anyway and let the giggly ten-year-old pull me inside.
“Oh, Rainbow!” Mrs. Renshaw gasps, immediately jumping up and launching into a gospel-worthy version of “Happy Birthday.”
Carter and his dad place their playing cards facedown on the bench in between them and join in, albeit with a lot less flare, and Sophie belts out the words louder than anyone.
My cheeks feel prickly and hot as everyone in the room stands and sings to me.
When the song is over, Carter walks over to me with a smug look on his face and his arms behind his back. “Ta-da!” he says, pulling one hand out to present me with a Twinkie, still in the wrapper.
A laugh bursts out of me as I reach for the spongy, golden brick of goodness. “Oh my God, where did you find this?”
“We packed some from home when we left for Tennessee. Damn things last forever.” Pulling his other hand out from behind his back, Carter holds a small pocket flashlight right above the Twinkie and aims it at the ceiling. “Make a wish.” He beams.
So, I do. I close my eyes and picture a beautiful, unreadable face. Eyes as soft and green as mint ice cream with features so hard they could have been chiseled from a glacier. Then, I blow.
I hear a tiny click, followed by cheering, and when I open my eyes, the beam of flashlight is off, as if I’d blown it out.
“Well, aren’t you clever?” I tease, unwrapping the Twinkie as an excuse to look away from Carter’s cocky-ass expression.
“That’s what they call me—Clever Carter.”
“Uh-huh.” I smirk. Taking my first bite, I moan in appreciation as dry cake and creamy frosting fill my mouth. “Oh my God, why is dis so good?” I mumble around the delicious processed treat.
“I have something for you too!” Sophie chirps, bouncing over to me with a piece of cardboard in her hands. Swiping the flashlight from her big brother, Sophie clicks it on and shines it down on the inside of a shoebox lid. Inside, there’s a drawing of a unicorn Pegasus surrounded by big, fluffy clouds and floating flowers.
“Is he shitting out a rainbow?” Carter asks, nudging Sophie with his elbow.
“Uh, no! That’s her tail, stupid! The rainbow is over there!”
“Guys! Stop it!” Mrs. Renshaw snaps.
“I love it.” I smile, taking the shoebox and hugging it to my chest. “Thank you, Sophie.”
Sophie grins and sticks her tongue out at her brother.
“I got you something too, sweetheart.” Mrs. Renshaw takes a softer tone as she reaches into the pocket of her dress. Gesturing for me to hold out my hand, she drops the item into my palm, and Sophie immediately shines the flashlight on it.
