“She’s a tough cookie, but this week has been rough on her.”
“Has he been around? Do you know the full story?”
Trent shook his head. “No. He hasn’t been around. And no, I don’t know the full story, but over the years, Cujo and I have pieced bits of it together. When we found her, she was in withdrawal. I hate to admit it, but I even looked her up on the internet. I wasn’t quite as trusting of women back then,” he said with an embarrassed smile.
“What did you find?” He hated himself for asking. “Never mind. I need Pixie to want to tell me.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Dred reclined in his chair. He was back with the question he’d been pondering all night, but now, he had a plan formulating. He could only pray it was going to work.
Chapter Fourteen
One question haunts and hurts . . . too much, too much to mention.
Maybe it was her frame of mind, but Pixie could have sworn Elphaba was talking to her this morning. She grabbed her steaming mug of coffee off the counter and wandered out onto the balcony. It was warm, and the cloudless sky and brilliant sunshine promised a perfect day. Summer was finally in Miami, even if it was technically still spring. Leaning up against the balcony, she closed her eyes and breathed in the salty air. Never in all the hours she’d spent in her mom’s trailer had she imagined she’d live somewhere so luxurious. There would come a day when she’d have to leave this building—after all, she didn’t have a granny with a couple of Jackson Pollocks to spare—but she’d treasure every moment she could.
“Hey, Pixie,” Lia said, joining her. “It’s going to be a beautiful day.”
Pixie lifted her face to the sun, and let it wash over her. “Mmm-hmm.”
They stood in a peaceful silence, until Lia sighed, and Pixie opened one eye in her direction. “Mornings like this, I wish I had someone special to eat breakfast with out here . . . oh wait, that’s pretty insensitive—”
Pixie chuckled. For the first time in days, she could feel bubbles of laughter work their way out, and before she knew it, Lia was laughing with her. She threw her arm around her best friend. “Thank you, Lia.” She gasped between bursts. “I needed that.”
“Glad I could be of service. I gotta go, I’ll see you later. Don’t forget, we have Cujo’s big surprise tonight.”
“How could I forget?” Drea’s surprise for Cujo was to let him tattoo her.
She’d gone to Trent with the idea of booking an appointment under another name, to ask him what he thought. Everyone knew Drea had been pretty anti-ink. But the death of her mom had brought about a huge change in Drea, and now she wanted her boyfriend to tattoo a rose in memorial of Rosa on her shoulder. Cujo was going to freak out in a seriously crazy way when he found out.
“I’ll see you later,” Lia said.
Pixie watched Lia leave and then wandered back into the condo. She set about making breakfast until the phone she’d set on the counter vibrated.
The sight of his name on the screen made her stomach cartwheel. Dred wanted a video call. Pixie wiped her hands on the sides of her jeans and pressed accept, expecting to find Dred, not an adorable little baby snoozing in a little recliner. And expecting to hear Dred, but instead, she could swear . . . yep . . . I’ve heard it said, that people come into our lives for a reason . . . That was most definitely “For Good” from Wicked.
A hand snuck into the shot to hold a card in front of Petal. On it was black messy handwriting.
MY DAD IS STUPID . . .
The card was removed, and another was placed in front of Petal.
SOMETIMES HE ACTS BEFORE THINKING . . .
The process repeated itself, as Petal dozed on.
SOMETIMES HE RUNS INSTEAD OF STAYING . . .
SOMETIMES HE’S SCARED AND DOESN’T KNOW WHY . . .
SOMETIMES HE WISHES HE’D FIND . . .
SOMEONE WHO WOULD LOVE HIM LIKE I DO . . .
I POOP A LOT TO SHOW HIM JUST HOW MUCH! !
Tears started to burn her eyes, but Pixie wiped them away quickly, scared of missing a message. Petal hadn’t moved, clearly still fast asleep in her little pink onesie that said Rock Royalty on the front.
HE’S SORRY HE DIDN’T STAY AND LISTEN . . .
HE’S SORRY HE LEFT YOU ALONE . . .
HE WANTS TO LISTEN TO YOU . . .
BUT HE CAN’T COME TO YOU . . .
BECAUSE OF ME . . .
I DON’T HAVE A PASSPORT . . .
The card held what looked like twenty attempts to take a passport photograph. Pixie laughed through her tears.
SO PLEASE COME SEE US . . .
TOMORROW. . . .
The card was removed but not replaced, just as Elphaba sang about asking for forgiveness for the things she’d done.
“Hey, Snowflake,” Dred said roughly as he the camera panned to his face. “Have you met my daughter, Petal?” He coughed to clear his throat.