Me & My Invisible Guy (15 page)

“It could get infected. And it’s on her palm. If it’s not stitched up right, it’ll scar and she won’t be able to use that hand right.”

Tess turned up her mom’s palm and poured hydrogen peroxide over it.

Mrs. Howard screamed. “Stop it! Stop it! You’re killing me!” She thrashed her arms around.

“Grab her arms. Keep her still,” Tess yelled to me above her mom’s screams.

“I’m
trying
.”

For someone so slight, her mom was super strong. It took everything I had to keep her down, and she still managed to get me in the jaw with her elbow. But the pain in my face was nothing compared to what I felt inside watching Tess.

Then I got an idea. “Liam’s brother. He’s in medical school.”

“He’s still in school?”

“Yeah. But he’d know how to do stitches, wouldn’t he?”

Tess frowned. “Would he come?”

“I don’t know. But it’s worth a shot.”

“No. No. We can’t risk it. He’ll tell. He’ll have to. No. We’ll wrap it up really good and hope for the best.”

“Tess. Be reasonable! We have to…”

“There is no reason to any of this, Mallory. There never was. You can help me, but you can’t judge me.”

“I’m not judging you!”

“Yes, you are. You think I can’t handle this.”

“I know you can handle it. You can handle anything. But you shouldn’t
have
to. Tess, look around. This is not okay.”

Tess grew quiet. Mrs. Howard had become silent, too, except for an occasional soft snore. Tess stepped over her mom and left the room, returning a minute later with a broom and dustpan, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry, Tess.”

I picked up the larger pieces of mirror while Tess swept up the smaller shards.

“You just don’t understand,” Tess said, almost under her breath.

“No, I don’t. But I also know you can’t do this alone.” I paused, weighing my next words carefully, knowing how Tess would react. “What about your dad, Tess?”

“Not an option.” She kept sweeping.

“But if he knew what was happening…”

She looked up, the tears still flowing. “He does know. And he doesn’t care.”

“What?”

“I called him. And I quote, ‘She’s not my problem anymore.’”

“But what about you and Ashley?”

Tess shrugged and looked down at her mom.

Tess’s dad had taken off when Tess was eight—in third grade. I had met him once. Honestly, it was probably why we were as close as sisters. We’d spent that whole year together. Me delighting in a new friend, her simply trying to cope with the pain. Over the years she had talked to him occasionally, and it had always put Tess in a terrible mood for days. Last I had heard he lived in another state with a brand-new family. I was almost as surprised by her calling him as I was to hear that he felt that it wasn’t his concern. Anger curled up inside me like a thick red rope. If he had been in the room, I would have strangled him and felt no remorse.

Together we moved Mrs. Howard into her bedroom to sleep it off. Tess left to go check on Ashley, and I went back to the bathroom to finish cleaning up the glass and the blood. I scrubbed the floor and the sink, and picked out the large pieces of glass that were still stuck to the mirror frame. I caught sight of my broken reflection and stared at it.
What am I supposed to do?

I didn’t know the answer, but I was pretty sure I was in
over my head. It was one of those God-sized problems that Darby had talked about.

I wasn’t much of a pray-er. Wasn’t even totally sure how to do it. But I dropped my head.
Help us. Please.

I turned to see Tess standing in the doorway. “I think you need to call Liam.”

CHAPTER 11

Tess hovered close by, antsy and nervous, giving instructions.

“Tell him he has to come here. And make sure he’s not going to say anything. Tell him that she can’t go to the hospital because she’s deathly afraid to go.”

I glared at Tess. “Will you let me handle this?”

She turned away and dropped onto the couch, putting her hands over her face.

“You still there?” I asked.

“Yeah. But I’m not sure I get it,” Liam said.

“Sorry. I just need to know if you think Brian would come over to Tess’s house and stitch up her mom’s hand.”

“Why doesn’t she just go to the emergency room?”

“If it were that simple I wouldn’t be calling.”

“And you’re not going to give me anything else?”

“Liam, please. It’s important. Her mom is too scared to go, and she needs her hand stitched up.”

“I don’t know if he’ll do it.”

“Convince him. Please?”

“I’ll call you back.”

I ended the call and went to sit next to Tess, but she jumped up as soon as I sat and started cleaning the living room. I joined her, grabbing empty liquor bottles and stacking papers neatly. I pulled open the shades. The sun was starting to set, but it still made a huge improvement to the room.

My phone rang twice; but both times it was Darby, and I just let it go to voice mail. I didn’t want to miss Liam’s call. Tess hurried around cleaning; and when the living room was straight, she started in on the kitchen. She threw a frozen pizza in the oven and tore open a package of cookies, the kind you break apart and bake.

“Cookies?” I asked.

“The smell of fresh-baked cookies gives the illusion of normalcy.” Tess placed the doughy squares on the cookie sheet.

“Is it like this all the time?” I asked.

“Some days are better, some are worse. This Darren thing has definitely made things worse.”

My phone rang. It was Liam.

“He’ll come over, but he’s not happy about it. We’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you, Liam. Thank you so much.”

I closed the phone. “They’re on their way.”

Tess blew out her breath. “I’m going to go check on her. See if I can get her up and out here.”

“Do you want help?”

Tess shook her head and walked down the hallway.

I sat on the couch to wait. Within minutes there was a knock at the door. But instead of Liam and his brother, I found Darby standing there, a grin on her face.

“I knew you’d be here. I’ve got to talk to you and Tess,” Darby said.

“It’s not a good time.”

Darby’s face grew serious. “What’s wrong? Mallory?”

I tried to swallow my tears. Seeing her standing there just made me want to fall into her arms. I wanted her to
tell me that everything was going to be okay. I brushed at the one tear that escaped. Mom would
kill
me if I got Darby involved in this.

“Nothing. It’s fine. Maybe we can get together tomorrow.”

Darby put one hand on her hip. “Look at me, Mallory. Do I seem unstable or depressed to you?”

“No.”

“Then quit trying to protect me. I want to help.”

“I know you do, but…” I couldn’t tell her that “protecting her” was practically in Mom’s job description for me.

Just behind her I saw Liam’s car pull into the driveway. An older version of Liam climbed out the passenger side. Brian carried a bag and walked toward the porch.

He stopped in front of Darby. He was a head taller than she was, and he was staring at her.

“Don’t I know you?” he asked.

“Church, I think. You go to Riverside Fellowship, right?”

Brian snapped his finger. “That’s it,” he said. “I’m Brian Crawford.” He still hadn’t so much as acknowledged me.

“Darby Dane.” They shook hands, smiling at each other. Liam came over and squeezed my hand.

“So what’s going on here?” Brian asked.

“I have no idea. This is my sister, Mallory.”

Brian looked at me. “I’m not sure this is the wisest thing to do. I’ll take a look but…”

“It’ll probably be a snap for you.” I pulled open the door, and everyone crowded into the small living room. Darby came in, too, even though I gave her a look begging her to go home.

“I’ll go get Tess.” I hurried down the hallway and pushed open the door.

“I can’t get her up.” Tess was distraught. “They can’t come back here.”

I glanced around the room; evidence of her mother’s bender was everywhere.

“You get on one side, and I’ll get on the other.”

We pulled Mrs. Howard upright. She moaned but didn’t say anything. Fortunately, she wasn’t very big, so we were able to get her to her feet and move her toward the doorway. But since the hallway was only big enough for two people, we had to turn sideways and shuffle ourselves down the hall to the living room.

“Whadya think you’re doin’?” her mom slurred.

“You need to see a doctor. Your hand is cut,” Tess said.

“Whaa?” Mrs. Howard looked at her hand and the thick towel knotted around it.

As soon as we came into the living room, Brian and Liam jumped in and took Mrs. Howard from us and walked her to the couch. When they set her down, Mrs. Howard flopped like a rag doll, unable even to lift her head.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Brian Crawford. I’m just going to take a look at your hand.”

Brian was amazing with Mrs. Howard. He spoke in a soft, gentle voice, explaining everything he was doing. Mrs. Howard didn’t argue. She seemed confused about the whole thing. Darby pulled me over into a corner.

“She’s wasted,” Darby said.

I shrugged.

“Mallory. Is she taking care of Tess and her sister?”

“Please stay out of it, Darby. Go home. It’ll be fine.”

Mrs. Howard yelled out from the couch, but Brian calmed
her back down. I went and stood beside Liam. “Your brother is a saint,” I said.

Liam laughed. “Don’t let him hear you say that. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Is this going to cause problems for you?”

Liam shook his head and squeezed my hand. “He doesn’t mind helping at all. I think he’s just worried about getting into trouble.”

“I think it’s best for all of us if we don’t mention this to anyone, anyway.”

Brian finished with her hand, and Mrs. Howard promptly fell back asleep.

Brian stood up and looked at Tess. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Tess nodded and followed him into the kitchen. I walked back over to Darby.

“Why did you come here?” I asked.

Darby knowing about Tess created that much more pressure for me. For both of us.

“The warehouse. We’ve got one. I wanted to tell you and Tess.”

“Look, Darby. You have to forget all this, okay?”

“Mallory.”

“It’s Tess’s choice, and she doesn’t want anyone to say anything. You can understand that, can’t you?” It was a bit of a dig, but I was desperate.

She dropped her chin and nodded.

“C’mon, Liam.” Brian came out of the kitchen and strode out the door, followed by Darby. Liam squeezed my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic smile but hurried out after them. I found Tess sitting at the table, her head buried in her arms.

“Tess?”

She looked up, her eyes red and puffy.

“Is Brian going to…?”

Tess shook her head. “I don’t think so, but he’s upset about it.”

“Yeah, Darby wasn’t happy either.”

“Why did you let her in here?” Tess’s words were sharp.

“I… I didn’t mean to. They all showed up at the same time.”

“That’s just great.” Tess pushed away from the table. She began scrubbing the counters hard and tossing items toward the sink.

“Tess, I’m sorry. Darby came to tell us we have a place for the toy drive.”

Tess’s movements slowed and then she turned and nodded. “Good. Good. Then we can finish the posters, start letting people know….” Tess rambled on about the toy drive, making plans, taking on the role of the confident committee leader.

What else could I do but let her?

CHAPTER 12

I got up extra early on Tuesday so that I could go home and shower before school. Tess was still sleeping, so my only option was walking. I scribbled a note for her to pick me up and set out for home.

I could do the walk in my sleep, which was a good thing since I had tossed and turned most of the night. I kept having dreams about Darren breaking in and killing us all as we slept. I knew it was ridiculous. Darren was in the county jail, but it was still scary. Every little noise made me jump.