If You Fall

Twenty Nine

Reed went back in the morning but I stayed to hang out with Bella, now that she was back in the land of the living. Also to strip the rest of the dye from my hair, which was fairly easy and safe to do with the kind of dye I used.

As I combed out my now blond hair, she made me fill her in on every single detail and finally sat back, satisfied. "Jesus, Heidi. You couldn't make this shit up." She had her ever-present bottle of vodka but she was just maintenance drinking. "That is some convoluted shit."

"Uh, try living it." I was painting while I talked because it had been too long since I'd had a chance. It was four in the afternoon. I was going over soon.

"How are you gonna handle it with other kids, if you couldn't even stay and talk to that one boy?"

Leave it to her to cut to the center of the issue. "I don't know." I felt defeated by the question, because I was wondering the same thing.

"Well, you'll just have to learn what to do," she said with a shrug. "It's not like they're going to throw a bunch of kids at you and be like 'good luck!'"

"We need, like, a grown up."

She laughed and lit a cigarette. "You guys are the grown ups, dude. You're killing me."

"Laugh it up, Chuckles; you're one too, and you have to help just as much as I do with all this." I stuck my tongue out at her which only made her laugh harder. I'd sent a cleaning service to her apartment yesterday, the poor fuckers, and given notice to her manager.

"We should not be role models for anyone," she said adamantly, but we both knew we had the most important quality for a foster family; we wouldn't hurt the kids. "Well, I'll get ready."

I was taken aback. "You will?"

"Might as well." She took her concealer out of her purse and began applying it.

I didn't dare say anything for fear of her changing her mind, just put my brushes in to soak and went to get dressed myself.

I had to park my car at the edge of the front yard, as several items of furniture were in various stages of being painted all over the rest of it. "Show me yours," she said, and followed me to the side of the big house.

As we neared I could hear Reed's voice, though not his words yet. A few steps further along, he must have changed position in the cottage because his voice became clearer. "You know why I don't like him, and I do not see why we have to talk about this. There's nothing left to discuss."

Ari answered him, and I stopped and put my arm out so Bella would do the same. "It's not his fault, what happened to Mikey and Siobhan, Intou." She pronounced the name Shivvon but I knew it for the Irish name it was. Her voice was gentle, but unrelenting.

"Conneries," said my non-swearing sweetheart, which meant bullshit.

She replied in French and he did the same. Bella whispered translations in my ear. "She said 'there was nothing he could do'. He said 'we only have his word for it.'"

More French, and I rolled my eyes. Did they speak French to each other all the time? How romantic. Give me a break. 

"She said 'his word is gold, he's one of us.' He said 'he is not one of us. He's not invested in the same way.'"

"That's not fair," Arianna said loudly, in English, and her voice was wounded. "What, just because he wasn't abused, he's not one of us? That's fucked." She said something in French, and her tone wasn't polite.