A Hand of Spades

Chapter 9. Pearl's Place

"Bliss' sleeping." Pearl sounds irritated. It's fair. We woke her up. She knows me as the troublemaker who put the girl in her care in some level of danger. I try not to wince at the thought that I'm the bad guy in Blister's story.

"I'll try not to wake her." I bristle slightly and push past her.

"Second door on the left." Pearl calls after me with no degree of warmth. "And take your shoes off, this ain't a hostel."

The house is cozy in a country bumpkin kind of way. Every flat surface seems to be covered in a quilt-style pattern or granny squares. In sharp contrast to everything else in the place, there's a an old shotgun propped against the wall at the entrance. I glide upstairs and nudge open the door to Bliss' room. I glance down at the plush carpet. Everything - apart from the shotgun - is soft here. This is a good place.

When my eyes adjust I can see her on the bed, chest rising and falling. She looks so sweet asleep like this. Her hair falling in little stripes across her features. Carefully, I tiptoe towards the bed and sit down. She shoots up, panicked.

"Shit! Sorry kiddo."

"Janey?" She tosses the covers off and flings her arms around me. "Where have you been?"

"With that friend I told you about." I hesitate before returning the embrace with my good arm, weaving my fingers into her tangled hair. "Are you okay?"

She nods, drawing back to try and survey me in the darkness of her room; blinking sleep away. "I'm fine. What time is it?"

"Late. Or early, I guess. Doesn't matter. You're really okay?"

"Yes. Why are you here? What's going on?"

"People been treating you okay?"

"Yes, Janey." She sighs, annoyed I'm not answering her questions. "Pearl's real nice."

"Yeah?"

"She helped me with my math homework."

"You needed help with math? That's one of your best subjects."

She shrinks back guiltily. "Not really. I just wanted to see if she would."

"That's sneaky, Blister." I reach for her hand and give it a squeeze. "Good thinking."

"She keeps making me eat though."

I laugh, it surprises both of us. "Does she?"

"Yeah. I feel bad saying I'm full." A little shyly, she adds: "The food is good."

I could almost cry at that, but I pinch her skinny arm instead. "Good. You could do to eat a little more anyways."

"Ouch!" She giggles and swats me away. "Janey!"

"And Tex was nice to you?"

"Yeah. He's funny. Did he tell you his horse joke?"

"Not yet. I'll suffer through it soon, I'm sure."

Her eyes must finally be adjusting to the dark because she reaches for my face, her tiny expression changing to one of near-parental concern. "What happened?"

"It's hard to explain, Blister."

"Tell me anyways."

"You remember when our trailer windows got smashed in?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the guy that did that has been asking me to pay him so he doesn't do it again, or do something worse."

"Is that why you've been working so much?"

"Yeah. And why I quit the diner. He kept asking for more and more money."