Chapter 22

Melissa waited until her brother and Miss Middlesex were ready to leave, and then said, “Hey, since you’re going out and all, can I get a ride to the Mall? Some of us girls are supposed to meet up there this morning.”

“You just got back from being out all night,” said Jane.

“I know, but I’m not tired. We went to bed early so we wouldn’t keep Melody’s parents up,” she lied. “There’s a new store opening at the mall and we all want to go check it out together.”

It was all bullshit, but her parents couldn’t know that. Her “plan” didn’t go much farther than being in the car with Bobby and the teacher, but she figured she could at least find out something more.

“Miss Middlesex is tired,” said Bobby. “She just wants to get home so she can relax.”

“What happened?” asked Melissa, innocently.

“That’s none of your business,” said her brother.

“And why are you taking her to get her car, wherever that is? Why isn’t Dad taking her?”

“Melissa!” warned Jane.

“Because I know where she lives,” growled Bobby, ignoring his mother. “She used to tutor me in math.”

“Oh yeah. I remember,” said Melissa, who had heard the warning note in her mother’s voice and decided she needed to back off. “So, can you drop me at the mall?”

Normally, Jane would have told her daughter to stay home. But she was a woman, and she knew how curious Melissa must be about what she’d seen that morning. If she restrained her daughter, Melissa would think something was up. She would ask lots of questions. But if she went to the mall with her friends, maybe this would all blow over.

“Be back by lunch,” she ordered.

“Deal!” said Melissa, without objecting or negotiating.

“Is that alright, Dear?” Jane asked Bobby.

Melissa’s spider senses flared again. Why would her mother ask Bobby if it was okay?!

“Whatever,” said Bobby. “We’re leaving now, whether you’re ready or not.”

“I’m ready!” yipped the girl.

It wasn’t until they were gone that Bruce looked at his wife and said, “Do you think it’s strange that she didn’t ask for any money?”

Jane frowned. Then she groaned.

“She’s not going to the mall.”

“What do you mean? She just asked Bobby to drop her off there.”

“She’s not with them to get a ride to the mall. She’s with them to snoop ... to try to figure out why Mindy was here.”

“Oh,” said Bruce.

“Oh? That’s it?”

“Oh my?” he said, obviously floundering.

“If she finds out, it will be all over town, Bruce! That girl couldn’t keep a secret if it was sewn into her underwear!”

“Well, we’ll just have to make sure she doesn’t do that,” said Bruce, troubled by the image that popped into his mind of someone “getting access to” a secret that was sewn into his daughter’s panties.

Bobby knew his sister. He’d seen through her BS instantly and he knew exactly why she’d asked for a ride. That was borne out when she didn’t try to call shotgun, and even said, “I’ll just sit in the back.”

“We’ll drop you off first,” he offered, once he had the car moving.

“That’s okay,” she said. “We won’t all meet up until later. You can take Miss Middlesex wherever you need to.”

“Right,” said Bobby, smiling. “That might not work out, though. Her car is in Hillsborough, and it’s going to take us an hour to get there. Then it will take an hour to get back, and by then you’ll only have an hour to spend with your friends.”

“What’s her car doing in Hillsborough?” asked Melissa.

“You sure are nosy this morning,” commented Bobby, turning a corner.

“Well who wouldn’t be?” asked a frustrated Melissa. If her brother took her straight to the mall, she’d never learn anything! And besides that, there were no friends at the mall for her to spend any time with. And on top of that, she’d forgotten to mine her father’s wallet for cash before she left! She didn’t have any money with her at all, not even enough to get a Coke! Her plan was not working out!

Mindy sat, uncomfortably, in the front passenger seat. She had no idea of how she could help Bobby deflect his sister’s obvious curiosity.

“So you want to know why Miss Middlesex stayed at our house last night ... right?” he said, looking over his shoulder.

Melissa leaned forward.

“Of course I do. Anybody would.”

“Even though it’s none of your business,” he said.

“Well, she stayed at my house,” objected Melissa. “Doesn’t that make it my business?”

Mindy hoped she’d never been like this impertinent girl when she was in her teens.

“Okay,” said Bobby. “Here’s the deal. You see, Miss Middlesex and I became lovers while I was still in high school, but it was a big secret, of course. And then I got her pregnant, but I didn’t want to face up to that, so I went off to college. But Mom found out about it and you know how she wants grandchildren to spoil rotten, so she made me go get Mindy and bring her to the house so she could talk about adopting the baby when it comes.”

“Bobby!” gasped Mindy, shocked to her core.

He grinned.

“That version of events is so much more interesting than the truth,” he said.

Melissa had leaned forward, eagerly. Now she sank back, disgusted.

“If you didn’t want to tell me, you could have just said you didn’t want to tell me,” she grumbled.

“Gee, didn’t I tell you it was none of your business twice?”

“I was just curious, that’s all,” said the girl. “I mean when was the last time Miss Middlesex came to our house?”

“She didn’t,” said Bobby, “because Mom always went to visit her.”

“When?” said Melissa, truculently.

“In the hospital? Both times? When they became friends?” Bobby shook his head, sadly.

“Oh yeah,” said Melissa. She had, in fact, forgotten about that. Her mother had spent hours with Miss Middlesex in the hospital, back when there was a rumor that Bobby had tried to kill her.

Mindy’s mind had been working on overdrive after Bobby had so artlessly told the truth to his sister, but in a way that made her disbelieve it immediately. He’d been brilliant, and she was impressed. Still, the girl might keep asking questions. What came into her mind was a way, she hoped, that would smooth over all this. She turned in her seat and looked back at Melissa.

“My car isn’t in Hillsborough. I don’t know why Bobby lied about that. I suppose you’ve heard the rumors about how I got ... pregnant.”