Bang (Black Lotus #1)(13)

“Great. We normally always eat at the kitchen table, but I’ll bring it up to you if you’d like.”

“Okay,” I say as I start unzipping my bags.

“Elizabeth,” she calls from the hall, right outside the bedroom, “I hope you’ll like it here. Carl, my husband, worked hard painting this room for you. He’s out running a couple errands, but should be home shortly.”

When I don’t respond, she excuses herself and heads downstairs, leaving me alone to unpack. Next to the bed is a small window that looks out over the front of the house. All the houses are the same aside from the various colors of paint. Everything looks decayed here.

I take my time putting my clothes away and eventually eat the peanut butter sandwich that Bobbi brought me. She told me to call her that rather than Mrs. Garrison.

Aside from a small dresser, desk, and bulletin board, the room is pretty bare. When I walk into the bathroom, the sink counter is already occupied with the other kid’s stuff. I wonder if he’s like me, how old he is, and if he’s nice. I feel like I need a friend more than ever right now. I’m so far from home and so alone.

A loud rumbling from outside calls my attention, and I walk over to look out the window. An old, grey, beat-up pickup truck pulls into the driveway. I watch as an older, fat guy gets out of the driver’s seat and starts walking towards the house. Then the boy gets out, but I can’t see what he looks like under his baseball cap.

I stay in my room and listen as they walk in, talk to each other, and then I hear the creaking of the stairs. Bobbi is the first one I see, followed by her husband.

“Elizabeth, how’s the unpacking going?” she asks.

“Good,” I say as I look at the man. He’s got a big belly, stains on his shirt, and long, messy hair.

“That’s good. This is Carl, my husband,” she introduces.

“Elizabeth, is it?” he asks.

Nod.

“You settling in all right?”

Nod.

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

Feeling like I need to say something, I mumble, “I’m just tired.”

“Well, I’ll leave you be then,” he says. “Glad to have you here.”

Bobbi smiles as Carl walks out and after she asks me how I’m doing and if I need anything, I lie and assure her that I’m fine. She closes the door behind her and as soon as she does, I see the light from the other bedroom flick on through the bathroom. I watch, and when I see the boy with the baseball cap, he turns to look at me.

“Hi,” he says as he stands on his end of the bathroom.

“Hi.”

Taking off his cap, he tosses it on his bed and runs his hand through his sweaty, dark brown, nearly black hair. He then walks through the bathroom and into my room, looking around.

“This color is sickening,” he says, giving me my first real smile in a long time.

“I lied,” I tell him. “I told her I like purple, but I don’t.”

“You been in the system long?”

“Three years.”

“Nine for me. I just got here a couple weeks ago.”

“Are they nice?” I ask.

He takes a seat on the bed next to me, and he smells like cigarette smoke and soap. “Bobbi hasn’t been here much. She just got back in town from some crafting show she did.”

“Crafting show?”

“Yeah, she makes wooden duck figurines and crap to sell at fairs, flea markets, and shit, so she’s gone a lot. Carl works at the auto mechanic shop down the road.” He pauses and then adds, “He drinks a lot.”

I don’t say anything, and we sit in silence for a moment before he asks, “How old are you?”

“Eight. You?”

“Eleven. Almost twelve. Name?”

“Elizabeth.”

“You scared, Elizabeth?”

Looking over at him, I pull my knees to my chest, wrap my arms around them, and nod, whispering, “Yeah.”

“It’ll be okay. Promise.”

I watch as a hint of a smile crosses his face and something about it tells me that I can believe him.

“I’m Pike, by the way.”





“WHERE THE FUCK have you been, Elizabeth?”

“I’m sorry,” I say as Pike loosens his hold on me. “I haven’t been able to get away, but I’m here now.”

Pike takes a step back, raking one hand through his thick, choppy, dark hair and releases a rough breath through his nose.

“Pike, come on. Don’t make me regret coming here. I only have tonight before Bennett comes back home.”

“I’m just sick of living in this shithole while you’re living your precious life in that f*ckin’ penthouse. It’s been over three years?” he bites and then falls back onto the couch.

Looking down at him, I try to soothe his irritation, “I know. I’m sorry, but you knew it would be like this. You knew this wouldn’t work if we moved fast.”

“Are you even working at it at all, Elizabeth? Because from where I’m standing, it seems you’ve gotten quite comfortable in your new life.”

“Don’t be a dick, Pike,” I say, raising my voice at him. “You know me better than that. You know I hate that * with everything I am.”