Page 72 of Jep

“You’d be surprised what one small piece of information can do. It could give us leverage to get Jade to open up.”

“I hope they’ll let Carla know what’s going on so we can talk about it later.”

“They’ll give her as little as they can, but if she’s smart, she’ll piece it together.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time Jade’s gotten herself stuck in a bad situation. But she’s always weaseled her way out again.”

“That won’t happen this time.”

“I know.” She rubbed at her head again. “I hope she’s smart and cooperates. I don’t know why she wouldn’t, but if she’s really bought into these ideals, anything’s possible.”

He pointed toward her head. “Is that a headache? Or did you get hurt?”

She pulled her hand away and looked at her fingers. “I don’t know I’m doing it half the time. It’s ’cause I’m worried about Jade.” She pushed her hair out of the way. “Old injury.”

He had to lean in to see it. “Oh yeah. There it is. Little baby scar.”

She shook her head in mock indignation. “It hurt when it happened.”

“I hope the story is better than the damage.”

“I was eight. Jade and I were playing at a creek down the road from where we lived. I slipped on the rocks and fell in. Bumped my head when I hit the water. It was the one time in my life my sister looked out for me.”

“I doubt that’s true. You probably just don’t remember the others.”

“The only person my sister has ever been interested in is herself. The only way I could even get her to come to the creek with me is if I promised to give her my dessert at dinner.”

“Ouch. Your parents never noticed?”

“Are you kidding? Jade learned it from our mom. You never got anything for nothing with her either. I did all the laundry so she’d come to my room and say goodnight to me when I went to bed—I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”

“Sounds like you had it rough growing up.”

“I shouldn’t complain. I know others had it worse than I did. You saw a guy die when you were a kid.”

“That doesn’t lessen your pain. Was your dad around at all?”

“He was a very successful salesman for a pharmaceutical company, so he was away a lot.”

“At least it put food on the table.”

“This might sound weird, but it would have been better if he couldn’t.”

“That does sound weird.”

“If my mom hadhadto work, maybe things would have been different. I don’t know if she drank because she was bored or not, but I can’t remember a time she wasn’t off her face. If she had a job to go to, maybe it would have kept her sober.”

“Where does your aunt fit into all of this?”

“After my dad left us, my mom…she didn’t cope. Eventually it got so bad the neighbors called child services, and that’s when Jade and I went to live with Carla. The saddest part was that I can’t remember feeling sad. I was just relieved. For the first time in my life, I knew what it meant to have someone look after you.”

“Then I’m glad you had your aunt. That’s tough.”

She shrugged. “It had a happy ending…until now.”

“It could have been worse.”

“I guess so. It’s a hard argument to take hold of, though. It’s like telling a kid to eat their vegetables because there are starving kids in Africa. What about you?”

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