Chapter 53

9 p.m. Friday

"This whole night just sucks!" Regan said as she wiped away tears. "Andy thinks I'm a fucking snob because I was nice to his family. Elizabeth thinks I'm a bitch because I don't worship the ground Lupe walks upon. You and Ruth got dragged down here to play fuckin' mini golf!"

"I like mini golf," Joy said. "I think you would, too. Chris and Paul would enjoy watching Ruth bend over to putt with her buttons down. I wasn't worried about having fun. We do that wherever we are. Right now, I'm worried about you. I mean, you heard what Elizabeth said about how shitty that girl's life has been and you're still ragging on her. That's not you – or at least it isn't the post-Andy you. What went on in the car?"

"He was giving me shit because I treated his father and grandfather with courtesy!" Regan hissed. "Can you fucking believe that? Most people get pissed off if you're nasty to their family. He gets pissed if you're nice. He doesn't understand that some people are used to being treated a certain way and they expect it!"

"You lost me," Joy said in confusion.

"They're British aristocrats," Regan said unnecessarily. "When I was in New York, the daughters of several U.N. delegates went to my school. I know how people like that want to be treated even if they pretend otherwise."

"OK, you've really lost me," Joy said, shaking her head. "Did you think that Evan and Anne expected us to act like we were at a royal ceremony? I didn't get that impression at all. I thought ... well, I thought Andy might have not known them but they all sure act alike."

"You looked like a bobblehead every time either of them spoke!" Regan pointed out in angry tones.

"Oh," Joy said, slightly embarrassed. "I was just interested, you know. When I was a girl, my favorite stories were about knights and ladies. I loved the Camelot stories and, well, I've always wanted to visit England because of them. We've never gone so this was as close as I've come. I'm sorry if I was a bit over-awed. It wasn't because of who they were; it was because of the subject they were discussing. I probably should have let them get to know you, I guess."

"I figured you'd thought about the same things that I had," Regan admitted. "I almost strangled Ruth when she joked about Evan living in his mother's basement. That was so inconsiderate."

"I thought it was funny and so did everyone else," Joy told her. "So you got the wrong impression tonight. It'll be better tomorrow."

Regan shook her head.

"I'm starting to think that you're right," she said sadly. "Andy and I ... we're too different. We look at the world in opposite ways. Like tonight, I thought we'd have some time to talk about the week. I mean we hardly talked at all. Instead he wants to come here with his friends. I've never been miniature golfing in my life."

"Then you have that in common with Andy," Joy said. "He's never been either. He told Chris that it couldn't be any worse than taking you to a batting cage – which is another suggestion Paul offered."

"But why does he want everyone around?" Regan asked.

"Uh, Regan, you brought me and Ruth with you," Joy pointed out. "What was he supposed to do, hang out with all three of us? Sure, if we had plans like we did on Sunday, he'd be all for it but just sitting around and gossiping with three girls is never going to be high on a straight guy's list. So he invited other friends that we knew so we'd have people to talk to instead of talking to you all night."

"Oh," Regan said, her face falling.

"Did you mention any of this to him?" Joy asked.

"No," Regan said. "But why should I have to? It's a man's job to make plans."

"Uh ... bullshit," Joy said. "It's no more a man's job to make plans than it's a woman's job to make dinner. You talk and you bicker and then you compromise. I'm positive Andy had a different plan for this evening until you told him that we were coming down with you. So he compromised so we'd all feel comfortable. This could have been a fun evening."

"But I ruined it," Regan said bitterly.

"We all had a hand in it," Joy said. "Ruth and I should have just come down tomorrow morning. We knew that you and he hadn't seen each other in a week. Instead, we just tagged along. And I should have let other people talk to Anne. She started talking about how her father earned a knighthood and, well, I was hooked. I think I pretty much monopolized the evening after that. Besides, after you clear the air with Andy, the night still has potential."

"I still think he's thinking too much about that girl," Regan stated.

"Then you're silly," Joy said, "and there is little hope of you wising up before you lose him. Yeah, it sucks that you have to share his attention right now. I get that. But you need to get over it. He has no interest in that girl other than acting as a surrogate big brother – just like Elizabeth intends to act like a surrogate big sister to her. The kid has nothing. No one has ever given a shit if she lived or died until those gangbangers and Andy. Does she have a crush on him? You bet she does.

"The same way you started to crush on him because he was the first person in your life to ever do something selfless on your behalf. Does he look at her like he looks at you? Not on your life. But she is someone he's going to look after – even if it means that you're mad about it. You can accept that for the next few weeks, he's going to be watchful of what's happening in her life and only move on once he's certain she's safe. Or you can fight against it and lose him. But right now, we need to get back out there."

"I think we should just head back to my house," Regan said.

"That sounds fine if it's OK with the others," Joy told her.

"I mean just the three of us," Regan replied.

"Uh-uh," Joy stated. "If I was just going to watch TV and twiddle my thumbs, I would have stayed at school. We're here and there are five fun people waiting outside. You can head home if you want. I'm sure someone will drop Andy off at the hotel when he's ready. But I'm staying and having a good time. If you want your relationship with Andy to continue after tomorrow night, I recommend you quit whining about an eighth grader and stick around. You can be mad at me if you want but I'm telling you now, if you take a swing at me, be prepared for me to swing back."

"I'm not going to get into a fight with you," Regan said.

"You looked like it," Joy said. "I just wanted to warn you before you got too pissed off to think straight."

"You think this will be fun?" Regan asked, looking at the closed bathroom door.

"It will be for me," Joy replied. "I think it's entirely up to you whether you enjoy the evening or not."

Lupe got out of the shower and picked up the new underwear Mariel Pena had helped her pick out that afternoon. It wasn't threadbare and stained like everything she had brought with her. It was silky and lacy and felt cool to the touch.

The hot water hadn't cut off five minutes into her shower because someone had turned on the sink or flushed the toilet. She had stood under the spray for almost 30 minutes and enjoyed every second of it. The bathtub was clean. It didn't have years-old rust stains and smell like mildew. She hadn't felt the urge to wear her shoes in the shower as she often did at home.

Once she had slid her panties up her legs and pulled on her brand new pajamas, she picked up a fresh hairbrush and started to run it through her long, black hair. She giggled when she had to wipe the steam off the mirror in order to see. The reflection looking back at her seemed like a stranger. She had slept in a comfortable bed the night before in a room that was neither too hot nor too cold. She had eaten three meals that included vegetables and meat – a first in her memory. She had been permitted to walk the three blocks to Anita Lopez's house to meet her for a ride to the administration building. She hadn't feared being raped or shot or robbed.

She found that she enjoyed her lessons with the district administrator. He was a jovial man – entirely unlike the downtrodden souls that taught at her elementary schools and at the middle school. The man seemed genuinely excited to have a student ask questions and he often strayed from the textbook in order to expound on different points of interest. For the first time since second grade, Lupe wasn't bored or scared while she learned.

She set down the hairbrush and rubbed her jaws. She realized that her face hurt because she had smiled so much during the day. She had been amazed when the kid everyone had warned her about had put an iPad down in front of her at breakfast. He had simply said that he figured she would get more use out of it than he would, picked up a piece of toast and started to leave. He had stopped and told her that he had a laptop that was less than a year old if she wanted it, too. He had said he had a phone that did everything he needed.

Lupe had been stunned into silence but Elizabeth had answered for her, thanking her brother and accepting on Lupe's behalf. The boy had said he'd clean off the hard drive and reformat it that evening – and he had. She had a room and a bed that she didn't have to share; she had a computer and a tablet to use whenever she wanted; she had been told that she could have whatever she wanted out the refrigerator – except for soda (those were restricted to one per day for the children) and the beer and wine (which was completely off limits). She had seen fresh fruit at breakfast but hadn't recognized it. She had been too shy to ask but now, thanks to the Internet, she knew it was a kiwi. She thought she might go down and try it.

She had decided that the Penas were alright – even the boy. He was tall and sort of goofy looking, Lupe thought. Andy had told her that Chuck Pena didn't have the best reputation and if he bothered her, to let Elizabeth know immediately. Now Lupe wondered if Andy might not be a little jealous. She had brushed her hair until it shined. Mariel had told her that they would go out to the mall tomorrow to buy her new clothes for a dinner with Andy and his parents. New clothes from the mall and a dinner with Andy! It was something that she had never even bothered to dream about. Maybe, she thought, she could even get a new pair of shoes to replace the worn out sneakers that's she'd been wearing even though they were too small for her feet.

She carefully put all of her toiletries on her side of the medicine cabinet that she shared with Elizabeth. Elizabeth had seemed way cool to Lupe. The girl was a cheerleader and valedictorian. That meant that she was even smarter than Andy. She was glad Elizabeth had a handsome boyfriend because the older girl had talked about Andy like she had her sights set on him, too. It was nice to know that Elizabeth wouldn't be a rival. She liked her and hoped that she could be valedictorian someday. Lupe's life in the inner city had taught her how to deal with an enemy – and she had decided that she already had one to worry about: Andy's girlfriend.

It was good that Elizabeth was going to be the girl's roommate at college. That would let Lupe keep tabs on things. Sure the girl was pretty but there were a lot of pretty girls around. Mariel had said that she thought Lupe might be prettier than even Elizabeth when she "filled out." Lupe was pretty good at spotting bullshit and she thought Mariel meant it.

Of course, Lupe knew what "filling out" entailed. Her boobs had grown a whole cup size since Christmas – and now she a bra that fit correctly, instead of being too loose or too tight like the ones that had been thrown in the garbage that afternoon. She wiped more steam from the mirror and lifted her shirt up to her neck to inspect her breasts. They were small still, she knew, but she liked the way her nipples pointed upward. She had seen Andy's gaze when she'd opened her shirt. She knew he liked what he'd seen.

She slipped her pajama bottoms down and lifted her shirt over her head – disregarding the fact that she had put them on only a few minutes earlier.

She used her towel to wipe off the full-length mirror on the bathroom door. Her panties were white and stood out against her dark skin. They hugged her slim frame in a way that her old cotton ones never did – courtesy of the fact that the elastic at the top still functioned. She turned to side to see her profile. Her breasts didn't look as small when viewed from the side. She put her hands beneath them and hefted them upward, trying to determine how she would look with a bust the size of Elizabeth's.