Dangerous Creatures(10)

“You are not heartless.” Lena was matter-of-fact. They could replay this conversation all Ridley wanted, but she was never going to change her position on this particular matter.

“How do you know?” Ridley sounded as miserable as she felt.

“I just know.” Lena kissed her cousin’s cheek. “Trust me.”

Truthfully, Ridley didn’t trust anybody. But if she had, her cousin would’ve been first on her list.

They sat like that, arm in arm in the silence, for a long moment.

“Promise,” Ridley whispered. She hated herself for saying the word—for cracking like that, the moment she did it—like always.

“Promise,” Lena whispered back, reaching in the pocket of her sweatshirt and pulling out a bright green lollipop.

“Green?”

“Change is good. Live a little.”

Ridley took the lollipop, waving it in her cousin’s face. “You rebel.” She stood up, awkwardly stretching her long, bare legs. “So, yeah. I gotta jet.” It was as close as Rid could come to saying good-bye to her only real friend.

“I know,” Lena said. She knew everything. What Rid was saying—and what she couldn’t. She held out a set of car keys. “I just Cast a Manifesto. It’s on the corner.”

Ridley shook her head. “You’re good.”

“I know,” shrugged Lena, her eyes twinkling.

“Say good-bye to Ethan for me. And you behave, Cuz.” Ridley smiled, in spite of everything.

“I always do. I’m the good one, remember?”

Ridley never forgot.





CHAPTER 5


Sweet Child o’ Mine


A shower and a change of clothes fixed everything.

Well, a shower, a vintage pink silk kimono, a shot of hot chocolate, a final layer of Chanel Rouge Allure Incandescente—in other words, Siren Red—lipstick, and Rid’s favorite Hervé Léger bandage dress.

Siren battle clothes.

Time to do your thing, Rid thought.

As soon as the red MINI Cooper made it down the hill and across Route 9 into town, Ridley was in better spirits. The moment she saw Link, she could tell he was halfway out of his mind. For all the usual reasons, she guessed. Not to mention the Pepto-Bismol–pink housecoat that one of those reasons happened to be wearing this morning.

“Wesley Lincoln! You won’t be needin’ that garbage at Georgia College a the Redeemer.” Mrs. Lincoln stood in the driveway, trying to tear the Star Wars poster out of Link’s hand. “In fact, at Georgia Redeemer you won’t be needin’ any a that mess from your room.”

Link yanked harder on the poster, frustrated. The Beater was mostly packed, but he was supposed to have been on the road an hour ago. Ridley knew better than anyone that standing in the driveway arguing over his action figures one by one with his mother was Link’s idea of Hell. “Aww, come on, Mom. That’s my stuff. And I gotta get outta here. You want to make me late for all that good college orientin’?”

Mrs. Lincoln responded by yanking the poster up and out of Link’s reach until it tore.

“Ma!”

Ridley chose that moment for her entrance. “Mrs. Lincoln. How lovely you look! I mean, the way your housecoat matches your curlers.” Try as she might, Ridley could never manage not to irritate Link’s mom. It was pretty much her specialty. That, and getting Mrs. Lincoln to turn a particular shade of red previously reserved only for old beets and sunburned pigs.

Link looked so relieved to see her that Rid thought he was going to break down and kiss her right then and there.

But then she looked at his mother and thought again.

Mrs. Lincoln seethed. “Is that sass? Do you think I want advice on how to cover my own God-given body from a shameless half-dressed harlot like you?”

Rid momentarily considered her thigh-high boots and her halter dress—more than a few bandages shy of a true bandage dress—and waggled one long red nail. “Now, now. No harlot shaming. Haven’t you heard? There’s a Democrat in the White House, ma’am.”

Mrs. Lincoln gasped.

Ridley smiled. Her mood was improving. It felt good to mix it up with the Mortals. Flex the old chainsaw mouth.

Being good Ridley was so dull that sometimes she was tempted to make new friends just so she could lose them later.

“Lay off, Rid.” Link turned to his mom, taking the poster out of her hand. “Rid’s here to say good-bye. You might cut her some slack, seein’ as she’s not comin’ to Georgia Redeemer with me. Especially seein’ as you wrote all those letters to the Board to make sure.”

Mrs. Lincoln forced a smile onto her face. “No, she certainly is not. She would burst into flames if she set one foot on a good Christian campus, and don’t you forget it.”

“Jesus loves everyone, Mom.”

Mrs. Lincoln scowled at Ridley. “That right there is the one child Jesus forgot.”

Link tried to keep a straight face. Nothing made his mom madder than a smile or a sass during a beatdown. “I don’t know about that. They gotta call it Redeemer for a reason.”

“I promise you, she’s not it. Do not so much as dial her number.” Mrs. Lincoln was almost turning purple.

“That’s not really your business,” Link said sulkily.