Page 80 of Bad Seed

“It’s done whenever you want to eat,” Justine said.

Karen walked up behind her and gave her a quick hug. “Thank you for this. I want to get out of these shoes first.”

“No problem,” Justine said. “Sweet tea or coffee?”

“Sweet tea,” Karen said, and hurried away.

Justine filled two glasses with ice and filled them with the tea she’d made, then put them at the table. She carried the casserole to the table and set it on a hotplate, removed the lid, and put a serving spoon beside it, then took the salad and the bottle of salad dressing from the fridge and put them on the table, too.

She was sitting primly at her place, waiting, when Karen returned and sat down.

“I feel like I need to give thanks for your help and this food before we eat,” Karen muttered.

Justine frowned. “Just don’t, okay? That prayer stuff freaks me out.”

“That’s the devil in you, scared of the Word,” Karen said, and then winked.

“Maybe so,” Justine said. “Maybe so. But I still don’t like it.”

Karen was still laughing as she scooped out a generous helping of the hamburger and noodles, added a serving of salad, and then took a sip of her tea and leaned back, waiting until Justine had filled her plate.

“Enjoy,” she said as she picked up her fork.

Justine smiled as she took a bite, blithely adding a little salt to the casserole and some pepper to her salad—eating, drinking, and watching every bite her mother chewed and swallowed.

Justine poured the rest of the dressing onto the lettuce that was left and gave it a toss, then added another helping to her plate.

“More salad?” she asked. “It’s not good left over and will go to waste if we don’t eat it.”

“Good thinking,” Karen said, and put the rest of it on her plate, added another handful of croutons,along with a second helping of the Hamburger Helper. “Coming home to the wonderful supper is such a treat. Thank you, darling.” Then she started on her second helping.

Justine smiled. “You’re so welcome. And thank you again for coming through for me. I can promise you, that will never happen again.”

Karen was chewing and smiling, and then she wasn’t.

She reached for her throat, her eyes widening in panic, but Justine was looking down at the salad on her plate and didn’t notice.

Karen banged the flat of her hand on the table and then shoved her chair away from the table and tried to get up.

Justine looked up, then flew out of her chair. “Mom! Mom! What’s wrong?”

Karen was visibly choking now, and waving her hand toward the hall.

Justine grabbed her mother around the waist and started doing the Heimlich maneuver over and over, trying to get whatever was stuck in her mother’s throat to come up. One minute passed that seemed like an hour, and then another, but nothing happened, and then all of a sudden, Karen went limp in her arms.

Too heavy for Justine to hold up, she fell with her. Her hands were trembling as she felt for a pulse, then leaned over her mother’s face.

Karen’s eyes were frozen in a wide-open stare, bloodshot and bulging. Her tongue was swollen andprotruding from the side of her mouth. Her skin was flushed and hives were visibly apparent.

Justine leaned over, checking to see if she could feel breath on her cheek. No pulse. No air coming out.

Now she was crying and screaming as she ran to get her phone to call 911.

“911. What is your emergency?”

“My mother, my mother,” Justine kept saying between sobs. “She choked while we were eating. I tried to help her cough it up, but it didn’t work. She fell on the floor and she’s not breathing anymore. Help me. Help me!”

The 911 operator verified the address that came up on the call and dispatched help, then kept talking to Justine.

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