Page 56 of The Sinner's Bargain

Mother may not have cared about tags and prices, and Lacroix may not have stated a limit, but I wasn’t comfortable taking advantage of his kindness by being greedy. Plus, nothing ever came without a price, and I wasn’t sure I could pay it when the bill came up.

Then there was the spark of annoyance I felt snap through me over her calling him a mother fucker like that was okay. But I quickly shoved it aside; not my place to get involved. They clearly knew each other and had some kind of history. I tried not to think of them together.

“Just a few things is fine,” I whispered.

The woman bumped up a shoulder and rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself.”

I liked the line she showed me. I’d never worn anything off a rack or made in bulk. Mother believed strongly that everything a person owned needed to be unique and the only one. Sifting through rows of the same outfit in different sizes and colors, I didn’t think I would find that at Mariposa’s, but I did find a few dresses that were my size and complimented my skin tone.

Amari kept handing me things I knew I could never pull off, colors that I had never owned in my life and cuts that revealed far more than I had ever shown.

“Girl, why are you going to church so much when you haven’t even sinned?”

I tore my wide eyes away from the three strips of red fabric locked together down the sides by chunky, silver hoops to stare at the girl. “Church?”

Amari waved a hand at the four simple, beige dresses I had draped over my arm. “I can’t imagine where else you’d wear that much beige.”

I glanced down at my pile, a frown creasing my brow. “This is just normal clothes.”

Amari’s eyes narrowed. “See, the thing I know about men like Lacroix is that they want to see skin. None of this school teacher crap.”

I gasped. “I am not with Mr. Lacroix in that manner.”

I could have announced Jesus was coming the way Amari clapped her hands over her chest and threw her head back. “Thank the Lord. I was just thinking you were too smart to get tangled up with a guy like that. Whew!” She wiped imaginary sweat off her brow. “Okay, so now all that makes much more sense.”

But now I was eyeing my new things with doubt. Malcolm had been very clear that I needed to be someone else. I couldn’t look like Naya Blackwell anymore.

But a strap across the chest and one across the hips was just too much even for the new Naya.

“What do you suggest?” I said tentatively.

Amari raised an eyebrow. “Really? You trust my wisdom?”

I didn’t tell her I had no choice. I had never picked clothes for myself and I had no idea what I liked, but maybe if I got some pointers, I might see something I liked.

Amari took the task as a personal challenge. She pulled out several articles and led me to the open space near the back. I’d been in enough changing spaces to recognize the purpose.

“I only have the one room at the moment,” she said as she guided me to the wall of neatly spaced doors. “Some little fuckers thought it would be a good idea to spray paint the other booths with black paint. Thankfully, this room was spared because a customer was inside changing at the time.”

Her longer fingers closed into the top and she tugged the door outward. The outfits in her hand were hung inside on the hook and she stepped back.

I made no move to get in. Even as Amari continued going on about grabbing a few other items, I stared at the cube with the three walls of mirrors and a single, wooden chair tucked into one corner.

Mother’s box had no mirrors or chair, I surmised dully. I’d only had the cold, hard floor to curl up on and wait for the walls to stop pulsing inward.

“You getting in?” Amari was watching me, waiting. “You need to fiddle with the lock a bit. It closes fine, but sticks opening. You just need to wiggle.”

I didn’t want to wiggle anything.

I didn’t want to be anywhere near that coffin, even if it had a bright bulb overhead.

But I couldn’t refuse. How was I supposed to explain the idea of small, dark places terrified me? No one would understand. Plus, Mr. Lacroix had been kind enough to bring me and was waiting. Just like Amari was waiting. And Cyrus. They were waiting for me to find clothing so they could resume their day. I was making everyone wait. I was being selfish.

It was fine.

The top and bottom was open. It had a lock I controlled. I could leave at any time I wanted.

Telling myself it was fine, I stepped into the cubby and closed the door behind me.

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