Page 79 of Protecting Bianca

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

“I’m sure. But thank you.”

“What’s that sound?”

“What sound?”

“That screeching sound.”

“Oh. I think it’s the car. It’s been making funny noises lately, but they come and go.”

I nearly missed the exit to my old neighborhood. “I’ve got to go, Jager. I’ll see you at the office later.”

I hung up and concentrated on the road. It wasn’t that the streets were unfamiliar, but I hadn’t been down in this part of town in a very long time. I wished I could say it looked the same, but it looked run down. The economy had been tough the last few years, and this was always a working-class neighborhood.

I slowed down as I approached the red-bricked house down the street. Several shingles were broken and the peeling paint on the garage doors was visible from the street. My mother and father purchased the home brand new when they first married. My mother got to keep it in the divorce. My dad left us and never looked back. I wished I could ask him about it, but I hadn’t spoken to him since I was five years old.

My heart raced in my chest, beating so hard I thought it would break through my rib cage. I massaged it while taking long, deep breaths.

Calm down. She’s only a woman. Flesh and blood like me.

I knew she would be home at this hour. My mother never left the house before ten, even though she was up by seven. She took her time getting her hair and makeup on for the day. Sheworked the afternoon/evening shift at the grocery store for the past thirty years.

Fuck it. Just go.

I turned off the car and climbed out. My heels clicked on the concrete pathway leading to the house.

I think I’m going to throw up.

My stomach turned as I raised my hand to knock on her door.

Why did I come here again? I should just turn around and leave.

But I tightened my fist and knocked on the door instead.

As I crossed my arms, the breeze picked up outside, and a chill ran through my body. My teeth started to chatter, most likely from the cold, but if I was honest, a little from my nervousness, too.

Finally, someone unchained the lock from the other side of the door and my mother’s face appeared through the crack.

When she recognized me, she opened the door wider, but didn’t say a word.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“Can I come in?”

She looked behind me. “Is it just you?”

“Yes.”

She cleared her throat and opened the door. “What do you want?”

My heart beat so fast, I could hardly catch my breath. “I wanted to talk. Do you have some time?”

“I gotta work, but sure. Don’t you have work today?”

I took a couple of hours off this morning from work, but I didn’t think it was worth mentioning that to her. “Not this morning.”

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