Shadows 02 Girl in the Shadows (13 page)

"My mother has come home," she signed. My heart sank.
Rhona was right to be confident. I had forgotten how desperately we all need our mothers, no matter how terrible they seem to be to us. It wasn't that difficult to imagine a young
Echo searching the house for her mother after she had left, waiting at the doorway for her to return, looking for her at the sight of any approaching car, waiting for her in the night. Neither I nor her grandmother could ever imagine the dreams she had, the silent prayers of hope she had recited to herself and maybe still did.
And I had no idea what sort of promises Rhona had just made to her. I didn't know what to say. I smiled weakly and she took back the picture and this time, instead of putting it under her clothing in a drawer, she put it on the dresser top in front of and against another picture of herself. She was obviously no longer afraid of her grandmother knowing she had the picture and getting angry about it.
For now. however, she wanted to talk about Tyler again, about the mall and the kids she had seen. Since she now knew I could drive, she wanted to know if I would take her in the car to see Tyler's store. He had promised to do that one day but had not. I didn't have any trouble imagining why. She thought it would be a wonderful surprise if we just walked into the store.
I couldn't say I wouldn't want to do that. but I hesitated to make any promises. Too often in my life promises turned out to be as far away as rainbows, beautiful for a moment and then gone. They might not be forgotten, but they were gone.
"We'll see," I told her. She was still trusting enough to take that as a promise, nevertheless.
I looked up when
I
heard footsteps in the hallway. Both Rhona and Skeeter stopped at Echo's doorway. Skeeter had his hair brushed and tied back in a ponytail and was now cleanly shaven. He was wearing a relatively clean looking dark blue shirt and a pair of slacks that were wrinkled, but were nicer than his jeans, of course. He wore slightly scuffed black shoes and socks and some sort of turquoise wristband.
Rhona had put on one of her old "new" dresses, a light pink one-piece tied at the waist. She had washed off the tattoo on her cheek and had her hair brushed back neatly and pinned, clearly showing a pair of gold teardrop earrings.
I
noticed she was wearing one of the newer pair of flats that matched her dress.
"What are you doing in her room?" Rhona asked in a demanding tone of voice.
"We're practicing communication skills." I said.
"Is that all you're practicing?" Skeeter asked. "What's that mean?"
He laughed. "C'mon, Rhona. We have more important things to do right now,"
Rhona started away and then stopped. "Wait a minute," she told him, and walked into the room right to the dresser. She looked at the picture of herself, picked it up, and smiled at Echo, who was staring up at her like an idolizing rock fan at her favorite performer.
"What's that?" Skeeter asked, coming in. too.
"It's me when I was just eighteen." She showed it to him. "I don't look much different. do I?"
"Not that I can tell,' he said, which was just what she wanted to hear.
She knelt down and looked at Echo. "I'm glad you kept this, sweetheart." she told her, and then she embraced her and kissed her cheek.
Slowly. Echo brought her hand to her cheek as if she wanted to be sure she had really just felt a kiss from her mother. Rhona laughed, put the picture back on the dresser, turned to me with a sly, confident smile on her face, and then walked out of the room with Skeeter.
When I looked back at Echo. I saw she was crying and I knew it was possible to break a child's heart many, many times. She had too much hope to be cynical and distrusting or rather, she had too great a need to believe and be loved.
I talked her into going out for a walk with me and we started down the stairs. I paused when we reached the bottom because I could clearly hear the conversation among Rhona. Skeeter. and Mrs. Westington in the living room. I gestured for us to be silent and we stood there, me listening. Echo appeared to understand I was eavesdropping. She lowered herself slowly to the last step on the stairway and waited patiently.
"We just need this chance. Ma," I heard Rhona say. "The money we need is not a big deal to you, but to us it will mean a whole new start, and that's what you would like for me, isn't it? A new start?"
"If it was a real start that had any chance of making sense. I'd be for it. yes."
"This is a real start. Mrs. Westington," Skeeter said. "I've been working construction on and off for twenty or so years now. I know the business."
"You know it from a laborer's point of view, not an entrepreneur's point of view, and as my husband would say, that's a horse of a different color,"
"He wouldn't say that. Ma." Rhona told her. "He'd be willing to stake us."
"As a home developer? Please, spare me," Mrs Westington said.
"We've been studying how to do this for some time now. You buy an old property no one really wants, so you get it for a song." Skeeter said. "Sometimes, you can find a foreclosure. too. Then you go in there and you rip it up and rebuild it with the best materials and modern appliances and you can literally double or even triple your investment. You'll end up making money on this deal, not losing it. Mrs. Westington. And at the same time, you'll be helping Rhona get a foundation upon which to build a new life for her and her daughter."
"Her daughter? You leave that girl here for nearly ten years with nary a phone call, a letter, and then you return with this fantasy and expect all that has washed under the bridge to be forgotten?"
"I know I was a bad mother. but--"
"Bad mother? First you have to be any sort of a mother to be good or bad. You abandoned ship, girl, and you never cared to know if the ship sank or not."
"I was too young to have a child," Rhona whined, "I wasn't mature enough or responsible enough, but that's all changed now. Ma."
"The only change I see is you put on some weight."
"I did not! I just compared myself to the picture Echo has of me when I was eighteen and even Skeeter says he can't see any difference."
"What picture?"
"The one she has on her dresser. She hasn't forgotten me. She still loves and needs me."
Mrs. Westington was quiet. Echo's secret was a little betrayal in her eyes. I was sure, but she had to understand and not be upset about it.
"I'll think about it," she relented.
"Thanks. Ma. That's all we hoped you would do."
"I doubt that. If you're going to stay here a while, you check your lies at the door. girl."
"I'm sorry, Ma. I'll behave. I promise. Skeeter and I will start looking for a good potential property right away, won't we. Skeeter,"
"Tomorrow morning, first thing." he said.
"I said I'd think about it. I didn't say I would do it," Mrs. We reminded them.
"Some of the money you have belongs to me anyway. Ma. Daddy wouldn't have just left me out of it all. I'm sure."
"Oh, are you? Well. I have some terrible news for you. Rhona. You never took any interest in this place, in the winery and in our business, but the truth of it was I was the one in charge of all that. Your father was a good talker, loved to be out there in the fields with Trevor, but when it came to finances, he was lazy and indifferent. He even came to me for his daily spending money.
I
was the one who set up the will and the estate with my lawyers and my accountant and he signed everything I told him to sign, so don't think for a moment you can come here threatening me with legal actions of any kind. You'll be sorrily disappointed."
"I'm not threatening you. Ma. I'm grateful for what you just did for us. I mean me, and what happened to me woke me up. That's why I decided it was time for me to take on my responsibilities and why I returned."
"We'll see," Mrs. Westington said.
"I see that there is still some wine being made here."'
"That's not me; it's Trevor's doing and I don't approve of the waste of time. It's a hobby for him, more than anything else." she admitted. "We don't make any real money on it, so don't get your hopes up about it."
"oh, we're not looking to do anything with the winery. I just thought it would be interesting for Skeeter to see. right. Skeeter?"
"Absolutely. I love good wine."
"yes, I imaine you're a real sommelier," Mrs. Westington said.
"What?"
"Never mind. I'm tired and need some rest," Mrs. Westington said. "We took Echo shopping at a mall today to get her some clothes and other things she needed, things children normally have mothers for."
"You've done wonders with her. Ma. Don't think I don't appreciate it."
"I didn't do anything for you."
"She's so big," Rhona continued, ignoring her, "She's becoming beautiful. too. She looks a lot like you did when you were her age."
"You know what I think of false flattery,
"I mean it. Ma. I'll show you some pictures of my mother when she was young and you decide. Skeeter. Are the albums still in Dad's old office?"
"I'm surprised you remember where anything is in this house," Mrs. Westington said, her voice sounding tired. defeated.
"I'm different. Ma. You'll see."
"That's true. I'll see." Mrs. Westington concluded.
I waited just a moment or two too long before I turned to Echo to signal we were leaving. Rhona stepped out and saw me in the hallway. She smiled coldly.
"Spying on us, were you?"
"No. We're on our way out for a walk." I said quickly.
"Sure. you were. I know you. I know your kind, and do you want to know why I know you?" she asked, stepping toward me.I'll tell you why. Because once I was just like you, a parasite. Cmon. Skeeter," she said, turning to him before I could respond or react. "Let's get our other stuff out of the van. We're moving in."
They stepped forward and then she saw Echo at the stairway. "Oh. Echo, sweetie," she cried. "Skeeter, ask her if she wants to help us bring in our things?"
"I'm not sure I remember it all that well. Rhona. Let's see," he said, and started to sign. He was able to say, "You want to carry..." He started fumbling for other words, but Echo was smart enough to realize what he meant. She looked at Rhona, who was smiling at her and holding her hand, and she nodded quickly.
"Great," Rhona said, putting her arm around her. "Come with us. You don't want to waste your time on a walk with her."
Rhona looked back at me triumphantly as she took Echo out the door with her, her arm around her shoulders,
"You don't want to mess with her," Skeeter told me as he followed. "She can be a viper."
I watched them leave and then I looked in on Mrs. Westin ton, She was in her soft chair, her head back, her eyes closed. asleep. She looked years older to me. It was all foreboding. frightening. I hurried out the rear door of the house and then around toward the motor home. In more than one way now, it had become my true sanctuary. I knew I'd be comfortable in there beside Destiny.
As soon as I entered. I sat across from the doll and just as Uncle Palaver would do. I started a conversation.
"You can't imagine what a horrid thing has happened. Destiny. Rhona has returned with her socalled boyfriend and she's trying to win Echo away from Mrs. Westington and force Mrs. Westington to give her money, money she'll surely waste. I don't know what I can do about it."
"You can stop whining for one thing." I heard. I looked up. Did I just do that, think it and throw my voice through Destiny? It was more like something Brenda would say. You don't let someone like Rhona push you around, she would surely tell me. She's really a coward at heart. Stand up to her and she'll back away so fast, it will leave a back draft.
"Yes," I told Destiny. "I bet she really is a cowardly person. I'm not sure about Skeeter. He's not much better. but I think he's a sly, conniving sort of person. He's probably egging her on in all this.
I
saw how big his eyes were when he saw the house and the property. I should talk with Trevor," I continued. "He should know what just happened.'
To me it looked like Destiny was smiling. Those soft lips were pulling in a little.
"We'll make them disappear," she said. One way or another."
She didn't really say it, of course. I had thrown my voice through her again, but it was comforting. I must surely be having a feeling close to what Uncle Palaver felt when he carried on his conversations with the doll. For now, the illusion was enough. I didn't feel as alone. Did that make me terrible, weird, strange, or was it just normal for someone as frightened and alone as I was, as Uncle Palaver had been?
I gazed back at the house through the motor home window and saw Trevor Washington's light on in his apartment at the rear. I hadn't thought of him until now. Why was he so eager to get away when Rhonda and Skeeter showed up? I thought about it for a moment and then I rose, looked down at Destiny, who. As
Tyler had said, seemed to follow your every move, and then I left the motor home and walked to Trevor's apartment entrance. I knocked and a moment later, he opened the door. To me he looked more tired and troubled than I had ever seen him.
"I hope you don't mind," I said. "but I wanted to tell you what Rhona said to me and what she's threatening to do."
His eves widened, "What she said to you, huh?"
^"
"
Yes."
"Come on in," he said, stepping back.
All he had was what would be known as a studio apartment, a living room with a pull-out bed and a small kitchen. There was a table barely big enough for two. Had he lived in this little place all these years and not been unhappy?
"It ain't much," he said, seeing how I looked around at everything. "Just a place to rest my tired bones every night." He turned off his small television set. "You want something to drink? I got some soda, some juice. whatever."
"No. I'm fine, thank you."
"Well, take a seat," he said, nodding at the small sofa. He sat in his well-worn big cushion chair.
I saw the picture of a pretty African American woman on the dresser.
"That was your wife?"
"Charlie Mae, yes," he said. "Angels decided she was more than I deserved, She's gone, but I know she's still here," he said. I didn't need an explanation. "So, tell me about Miss Rhona. What poison came off that tongue?"
"She wants me out. She says she's going to take back custody of Echo and she's pretending to be a loving mother now. She and that man Skeeter want Mrs. Westington to give them money to buy old houses for him to fix up and sell."
"Oh, so that's their game. Might as well go over to the toilet, drop it in, and flush." he said.
"I think that's what Mrs, Westington thinks, too. but I'm worried Rhona and Skeeter will use Echo to blackmail her."
"No doubt." he said, nodding. "Rhona knows howto blackmail people real well."
"Oh?"
"She's probably going to tell you one day soon, so I might as well tell you myself," he said. "She wanted money to run off with and of course. Mrs. Westington wouldn't give her a penny,