Mama hauled him out of the playpen like that was all she had to do. I went around stuffing things into a shopping bag: diapers, a bottle, shoes. Real babies are a lot more trouble than plastic babies.
In the barn, the car wouldn’t start, so Mama hiked down the gravel road to the trailers, saying swear words.
“Isn’t Kellen a goddamn mechanic? Can’t he make sure that car will fucking start? Donal, you weigh a ton, kid. What have you been eating?” Old Val talked fast and laughed.
In the yard outside Dee’s trailer, people were loading motorcycles on trailers. I heard Kellen’s voice coming from the garage, but when I stopped to look for him, Mama snapped her fingers in my ear.
“Come on, daydreamer.”
I followed her up the clattery metal steps into the trailer, where the TV was on loud and something smelled sweet and cinnamony. It made my stomach growl.
Ricki and Dee were sitting in the kitchen, eating coffee cake and laughing. Dee talked with her mouth full. Mouth open for two dangerous things. Double bad. She said, “No way in hell.”
“Liam was still laughing about it. He said, ‘I guess Kellen’s a little touchy about his weight,’” Ricki said.
“Kellen wouldn’t say boo to Liam. He’s a big ole cream puff.”
“You didn’t see him beat the crap out of that guy over at the Rusted Bucket. I think he’s scary in his own lumbering retard way.” Ricki always said mean things about Kellen, but she was stupid. You’d have to be stupid to like Liam and not Kellen.
Dee laughed until she saw Mama standing there, glaring.
Hate rippled off Mama and fluttered against my skin. It made my stomach hurt.
“Get up off your asses, you fucking whores. I don’t stand in my own house,” Mama said.
“It’s not your house,” Ricki said.
“The hell it isn’t. Everything that’s his is mine. I’m his wife. If I told him to, he’d kick you to the curb.”
I wasn’t sure Mama had that kind of power over Liam, but Ricki and Dee must have thought so, because they stood up. Mama put Donal on the floor, sat down, and lit one of their cigarettes.
“Where is he?” she said.
“Out in the lab.”
“Go get him.”
When he came to the trailer, Liam’s smile didn’t touch me and only brushed over Donal, before it burned on Mama.
“God, you look fantastic, baby,” he said.
She stood up, all glowy, waiting for him to kiss her. He leaned her against the edge of the table, and his hand found the special place between her legs. There was no rule against him touching Mama there.
Mama giggled. “Are we leaving for Myrtle Beach this morning?”
“You’re coming? What about the kids, Val?”
“They can go to Brenda’s. It looks like you’ve got plenty of people sitting around doing nothing.” Mama looked at Ricki and Dee in the doorway.
“Yeah, yeah. Dee, why don’t you take the Charger, drive them down to her sister’s?” He didn’t even look at her. With Mama there, Dee was invisible like me.
10
DEE
As Dee backed out of the drive, she realized she didn’t know where she was going. She looked in the rearview mirror at Liam’s daughter, who was cute as could be, but creepy. Even if she knew where they were going, she wouldn’t say a word to Dee. She never had.
Leaving the kids in the car, Dee walked back to the house. Liam had Val on his lap, his hand up her short skirt.
“Where am I going?” Dee said.
“To her sister’s in Tulsa.” Liam didn’t even bother to move his hand. He was so gorgeous, all that blond hair, and tan from being out on the bike.
“I know, but what’s the address?”
Her arm around Liam’s neck, Val winked at Dee. “One-Four-Three-Two-Two Fawn Hill Circle. Do you think you can find that?”
They had been friends once, and Dee felt sorry for Val. She was seriously messed up, and whatever was wrong with her, it had created a chance for Dee. If Val were okay, why would Liam waste his time on Dee?
She drove Kellen’s Charger, faster than she should have, and risked getting pulled over. An hour outside the city, the little boy started whining and crying. It made Dee glad she hadn’t done something stupid like get knocked up. Of course, that was how Val got Liam, popping out babies for him. Popping out a son … who wouldn’t stop crying.
“Can’t you make him be quiet?” Dee said.
The crying didn’t seem to bother Wavy, but it rattled Dee’s nerves so much that she got the address turned around in her head. At 13422 Fawn Hill Circle, the man who answered the door looked confused.
“Val asked me to drop the kids off,” Dee said.
“I think you’ve got the wrong address.”
She tried the neighbors and got the same thing. Cruising down the block, Dee felt helpless and panicked. If she didn’t get back by dark, the rest of the guys would have left already and she’d be stuck at the ranch while Liam partied at Myrtle Beach. With Val.