"Maybe. But he's a total psycho."
"Oh, c'mon. He's not that bad. At least not the way you tell it."
"Oh yeah?" I pulled up my shirt sleeve and thrust out my wrist. "Look." The bruises had darkened overnight, making the raw skin that much more ugly. "You believe me now?"
Her gaze narrowed. "That asshole."
"Exactly."
"So," she said, "you think he'd do it again?"
I didn't even have to think about it. "No. Definitely not."
She leaned back in her chair and said, "Hmm…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I said.
She shrugged.
"Look," I told her, "you know how this goes. As soon as some girl thinks, 'Oh, he'd never dothatagain', that's when she's totally screwed."
She raised her eyebrows. "Because?"
"Because they always do."
"Uh-huh," Erika said. "Except you just said he wouldn't."
"Don't listen to me," I said. "I mean, what if I'm one ofthosegirls."
"Whichgirls?"
I launched into a high-pitched imitation. "Sure, Bobby cheated on me like a dozen times with my sister, but I'm telling you, he's a changed man. He told me so and everything."
Erika gave me a look. "Trust me. You aresonot that girl."
"Yeah? How doyouknow?"
"For starters," she said, "you're not exactly the most trusting person in the world."
"I'm not so bad."
"Yes, you are."
"Okay, fine. But maybe there's a good reason for that."
"Maybe," she said. "But here's a question. When you told Lawton you were just the house-sitter, what did he say?"
"Are you kidding?" I said. "I didn't tell him."
She pretended to scratch her chin. "Hmmm…I wonder why that is."
"You know exactly why," I said. "I promised the Parkers. Remember?"
"But you toldme," she said.
"Yeah, but you're different."
"Why?" she asked.