Page 15 of Vandal Unbound

Elsie pouts. “I wanted to see Vandal. He got a boo-boo.” The kid’s eyes tear up as she points to my fingers. Which is wild because she got up close and personal with my whole bashed-in head thing earlier and didn’t bat an eyelid.

“He’ll be fine in the morning,” Daisy says. “You need to go back to bed.”

Elsie scoots closer to me until she’s sandwiched between my knees. “I just wanna hang out with Vandal.” The voice comes out on a whine, and while I don’t know much about kids, I know a tired one when I hear one.

“The blinds are down and the curtains are closed,” Daisy says. “It should be okay if you come out.”

I stand up, but Elsie doesn’t really move out of my way. So I grab her and lift her onto one of my boots. “Hold on tight,” I say, and Daisy rolls her eyes as we move together.

“If she slips off and hits her head…” Daisy warns.

“I’ll get stitches like Vandal,” Elsie says almost gleefully. “We’d be twins.”

“Not sure what I did to deserve such devotion, Els.” But the kid looks up at me with a sleepy smile.

“You want some coffee?” Daisy asks. “I feel like it’s gonna be a long and sleepless night.”

I should go. I know I should. I’ve got no right to hang around here when I stink of booze and have someone else’s blood on my T-shirt. “I’d love some.”

She steps back and lets me carry Elsie back into the living room. I didn’t get a proper look at it earlier. Everything in it is small. A two-seater sofa, a round table with two flimsy plastic chairs. A corner kitchen with barely any counter space. And a stroller with a doll and a teddy bear in it tucked into the corner.

I turn so Elsie can see where I’m looking. “Is that Sir Bearington?”

Elsie nods as she clings to my leg. “It is. And Lilah. She’s new. I got her for my birthday three days ago because I’m five.” She steps off my boot so she can hold out all five fingers on her hand to show me.

“Happy birthday, Elsie,” I say.

Daisy grabs a hoodie that was on a small hook behind the door and tugs it over her head.

Shame, I was enjoying the view. Especially the way those soft shorts hugged her ass cheeks.

“Take a seat,” Daisy says. “I’ll get the pot started while the two of you explain to me why you’re here.”

I look at the furniture that all looks like it came straight out of a doll’s house and opt to sit on the floor with my back to the wall beneath the window. Don’t want to be responsible for breaking any of what they’ve got.

In the quiet, I can hear the slow and steady drip of the faucet, and one of the lights in the kitchen flickers.

“He came ‘cos he’s brave,” Elsie says.

Her defense of me rubs right up against everything else I’ve been feeling lately.

“Not sure that’s quite true,” I admit.

Elsie looks at me like I just told the biggest lie. Eyes wide, mouth open, she shakes her head. “You made them turn off the music. And they would never listen to Momma.”

“Cream?” Daisy asks.

“Please.”

She battles to open the fridge door, since it’s not straight on its hinges, and man, once it’s open, the fridge is depressingly empty. No ketchup on the door. A Tupperware container of some leftovers. But there is some creamer on the top shelf, and she grabs it.

Elsie has grabbed both her doll and teddy and comes to sit right next to me on the floor. “Can I have some coffee?” she asks.

Daisy smiles and shakes her head. “You know the answer to that one. You’re already too awake for one o’clock in the morning.”

Elsie looks up at me. “She never lets me,” she whispers as if I’m her co-conspirator. “It hascaffeine.” She says the word like it’s dirty.

“Your mom ain’t wrong.”