SEVENTY-FIVE
Briar Ridge Mobile Homes
Kat woke to the sound of loud music blaring from the living room. She winced as she padded into the kitchen for cereal before getting dressed for school. Her daddy was lying on the couch snoring like a lion. She didn’t understand why he turned the music up when he passed out or how her mama could possibly sleep with him. Then again, maybe she’d thrown him out of the bedroom and that’s how he wound up on the sofa.
She rolled her shoulders to alleviate the kinks in her neck. Last night she’d stayed up too late reading her mama’s journal. The games she and Hetty played in the graveyard were creepy, and Mama had hinted that they’d seen things they didn’t want to talk about. That naughty things happened there.
So far she hadn’t found the specifics but she was determined to keep digging.
Kat poured herself some cereal and milk, carried it back to her room then ate it while she gathered her homework for school. She worked hard to turn her assignments in on time and kept up her grades. The last thing she wanted was to be an uneducated pregnant teen like her mama had been, one whowound up in a dumpy trailer, shopped at thrift stores and fed her kids day-old food from the sale aisle at the grocery.
She intended to get out of this town, make something of herself and never come back.
Once she had her backpack ready, she took a quick shower and dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt then grabbed her backpack and headed to the living room.
Her mama had just crawled out from bed, her tangled brown hair ratty, her eyes tired as she blindly made coffee.
“You need breakfast?” Mama asked.
“Already had it.” Kat rinsed her dish and put it in the drain. “Gotta go.” She and Carrie Ann were meeting before homeroom to discuss her mama’s journal.
A rumbling, then grunting sounded from the couch, and her father threw off the blanket he’d burrowed underneath, swung his stubby legs over the edge and stood, wobbling. He rubbed his eyes, then looked over at her with a frown.
“What the hell?” he growled.
“Just making coffee,” Mama said. “I’ll pour you a cup.”
Kat rolled her eyes. Another thing she didn’t intend to do, wait on a man hand and foot.
He scratched his belly, which was disgusting since his T-shirt rode up, revealing his hairy gut. Kat shuddered at the sight and started walking toward the back door, avoiding looking at him.
“Wait a minute, Kat. Where are you going?”
Kat froze, biting her tongue and striving for patience. She so did not want to get into a verbal battle with her father this morning. “School,” she said then took another step toward the door.
“Not today,” he growled.
She whirled around. “Yes, I am, Daddy. I have an Algebra test.”
“No,” he said. “You heard about that other girl being killed. You need to stay home today where you’re safe.”
“But, Daddy?—”
“Joe, really,” her mother said on a winded sigh. “She’s just going to school.”
“I’m her father and I’m just trying to protect my daughter.” He turned on her mama. “Don’t you care if she’s safe? You want her to end up in that godforsaken graveyard like those other girls?”
“Of course not,” Mama cried.
Kat gritted her teeth.Just a couple more years and you’ll be out of here.
“Daddy, I’ll go straight to school, I promise,” she said, vowing to look for a summer job so she could save for college. She refused to miss a day of school or ruin her grade point average because he was being paranoid. “And I’ll come right home afterward.” Although she wanted to hang out with Carrie Ann.
She didn’t wait for his response. She rushed out the door, forgetting her sack lunch and coat and promising herself she’d tough it out until she could leave this hellhole.
SEVENTY-SIX
Athens
