I made a sound of frustration. "Mom? Aren't you listening?"
She looked up. "Of course I’m listening. But youdoknow you'll have to testify."
I felt myself swallow. "What?"
"Just tell the truth. That's all we ask."
For what felt like the millionth time, I told her, "Iamtelling the truth. But you'renotlistening. He didn't sell me anything. He didn'tgiveme anything either. You say you want the truth? Okay, here it is. I didn't even know that he worked there."
Gordon turned and gave my mom a sympathetic look. "Barbie, would you like me to handle this?"
I said a silent prayer.Just say no.
She bit her bottom lip. "Well…"
Gordon reached out and squeezed her hand. "Hey, why don't you check on Becka? I'll talk to Anna, father to daughter. Don't worry. We'll work it out."
What a snake.I had to say it. "You'renotmy dad."
My mom gave a little gasp. "Anna!"
"It's true," I insisted. "He's not."
My own dad had died in a motorcycle crash more than a decade ago. Although I couldn’t recall much, Ididknow that he'd been arealdad, not a slimy substitute.
My mom gave me an exasperated look. "What's gotten into you lately?"
Already, I'd tried to explain, not that it did a lick of good. With new desperation, I tried again. "I’m just saying—"
"Well, don't!" my mom snapped. "We've had more than enough for one day." And with that, she stood and looked to Gordon. "I'm so gladyou'rehandling this." With a warning look in my direction, she added, "Anna doesn't know how lucky she is."
Oh, I knew all right.
And luckywasn'twhat I was feeling.
Whether my mom realized it or not, I'd be a million times better off with no stepdad at all. I didn't care about the money, or the house. And, at the moment, I was having a hard time caring about my mom either.
Seriously, how blind could she be?
If only I had an ally, maybe everything would be different.
But I had nobody, not even Becka, who I'd never involve in a million years. For now, I was just glad that Gordon never looked at my little sister the way he sometimes looked at me.
But I had to face facts. She wouldn’t stay a kid forever. Someday, she'd "blossom" too.
It wasthisrealization that stiffened my resolve. When my mom disappeared into the neighboring room, I glowered at Gordon and said, "So, are you going to tell me?"
He smiled. "Tell you what?"
"What's really going on."
He leaned back on the sofa and looked at me for a long, calculating moment before saying, "Youarefucking him, aren't you?"
Heat flooded my face, but I refused to flinch. "No. I'm not, just like I said."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. It is."
