Page 68 of The Complete Truth Duet
Thomas beat her on the regular, forced himself on her when she tried to tell him no, and verbally abused her to the point that it may as well have been physical. She asked her father for help, but Manuel needed to keep Thomas under his thumb in order to stay out of jail.
They were an unstoppable team. Manuel the crime lord with his hands dipped in both prostitution and drugs and Thomas the crooked and narcissistic district attorney who thought he was above the law.
But in the miracle of all miracles, Cat got out. And, now, she was living paycheck to paycheck cleaning houses. To hear her tell it, she’d never been happier. She always sounded lonely to me though.
“How much is it?” I asked.
“No. I’m not worried about the power. We’ll make do. However, Isabel is still sick. I can’t get her better. Doc said it was tonsillitis last time, and the antibiotics seemed to clear it up, but it’s back. She’s freaking miserable and running a fever. Which, when it’s a fourteen-year-old, means she’s making me miserable too. I need to get her back to the doctor.”
“Damn, that sucks for both of you. How much is it?”
She sighed. “Well, a doctor’s visit for the uninsured goes for the low, low price of about two hundred bucks a pop these days, but I still have sixty from the last time you gave me money. You shouldn’t be giving me extra, though it’s come in handy recently.”
I smiled. “Just not handy enough.”
“Exactly.”
I stood up and walked to the front door. Putting my eye to the peephole, I peered out, finding no sign of Penn heading back this way. “All right. Let’s break this down. Power bill?”
“Eighty-seven dollars.”
“And the doctor is two hundred. How much were her antibiotics last time?”
“Thirty-eight and some change.”
I squinted one eye, mentally rounded up, and then carried the one. “Okay, so three twenty-six.”
“Minus the sixty,” she corrected.
“No. Not minus anything. You need some padding. These constant trips to drop off are dangerous for both of us. I’m gonna bring you two grand. Tonight. Pay all your bills and then pay ahead a month. Give yourself some wiggle room until you can find a new job.”
“All that doesn’t cost two grand, Cora,” she replied, but I heard a cry of relief muffled by her hand.
“Well, you didn’t let me finish. Then, with whatever’s left, I want you to find a bakery, buy a dozen chocolate cupcakes, and binge all weekend pretending I’m there with you.”
This time, she didn’t even try to hide her sob. “I can’t take that much from you. That’s your ticket out.”
“You’re my ticket out. We’re in this together, remember? Besides. I’ll get it back. I haven’t submitted the bills to your brothers this month yet. I’ll figure a way to work that money back in.”
Her voice cleared, fear overtaking the emotion. “Cora, don’t. That’s a lot of money to explain away.”
I made my way down the hall to my bedroom, locked the door, and slid the chair in front of it, holding the phone between my shoulder and my cheek. “Don’t worry about me. I got five off them last month. And, this month, I’ve got Penn’s receipts from the hardware store. Couple of extra zeros here and there and we’re in business.”
I snagged a dirty T-shirt from my hamper and climbed onto the chair. After using my thumbnail to pry off the wood trim at the top of the door, I wrapped the shirt around my hand and removed the pink insulation, revealing clear plastic bags stuffed with more insulation. I grabbed one, dropped it to the floor, then shifted the rest around until they once again looked like a solid wall of fluffy fiberglass.
“Cora, please. You have to be more careful. Especially now that you’re sleeping with the maintenance guy.”
I curled my lip and replaced the trim. “Why does everyone think we’re sleeping together?” I climbed down, grabbed the bottle of Wite-Out I’d long since replaced with touch-up paint, climbed back up, and set about sealing the joints until it looked perfect again. I’d hit it with some dryer lint once it dried a bit. It had taken me a while to perfect the art of making things faux dirty. But, in that building, nothing drew attention like cleanliness.
“Uhh…because that’s what adults do when they’re dating someone. Wait—are you not sleeping with him?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Technically, yes. He actually just bought me a new bed. But if you mean sex, then no.”
She was silent for a second. “I thought you said he was hot?”
“He is! He’s all the things. He bought me cupcakes, and pulled up my carpet and put wood floors down, and lied to the girls tonight, telling them how much I talked about them when I didn’t.”
