Page 56 of Caged Bird

Spider eyed Zane. “You trust them to be alone here?”

Eddie laughed. “Where the hell are they going to go with a decrepit old bag of bones and a sniveling kid who can’t walk more than a mile?”

“They could leave the old woman,” Spider suggested.

I already knew Zane would never. And neither would I.

Eddie knew it too. “That’s not how they’re programmed.” He leaned over and slapped the side of Zane’s face three times. “Plus, I think Zane has learned his lesson, haven’t you? You’ve seen what happens when you piss me off?”

Zane’s only response was a quick glance in my direction.

My entire body stiffened at the reminder of the punishment we’d both endured.

Eddie nodded. “I don’t think anyone is going to be stepping out of line again. Do you?”

“No,” I said softly, hating that he was right.

“No,” Zane agreed.

Smug, Eddie and Spider both moved toward the doors of the truck. I scurried forward, helping Zane get his mom off the back before Spider could pull away, his tires ripping up the grass and kicking clumps of dirt all over us.

The three of us were left in the clearing, the rumble of the truck engine disappearing between the trees.

Zane glanced over at me, agony on his face. “We need to get her inside.”

“Of course.” I touched the woman’s arm gently. “Margaret. Do you remember me?”

She twisted her head toward me, a soft smile settling on her lips. “Fawn. You’re still here.”

My heart squeezed as I took her arm, and between Zane and me, we guided her up onto the porch. “I’m here. And we’re going to get you inside and get you some water and something to eat and put something on all those cuts and bumps and scrapes. Is that okay?”

Margaret nodded and let us sit her down at the kitchen table.

I caught Zane’s gaze. “There’s a first aid kit beneath the sink in the laundry room. None of her injuries look too bad. I’m mostly concerned about dehydration.”

Zane nodded and left to find the supplies. I got Margaret a glass of water, set it in front of her, and then dug around in the cabinets to find something sugary for her to nibble on.

Zane came back with Band-Aids and antiseptic pads and creams, Otis clinging to the leg of his pants, his eyes big when he set them on Zane’s mom.

I reached for him, and he darted across the small kitchen to me, hiding in my long skirt.

Otis stared at Margaret, curious but with a healthy dose of fear that I hated he had to have around strangers. Because most who came into this house weren’t the kind of men a little boy should ever know.

But for once, this was a stranger I wanted in my home. Margaret had never been anything other than sweet and kind to me. She was the reason Zane was a good person, kind and sweet. And I didn’t blame her for Eddie. She hadn’t created the hate and violence in his heart. I hadn’t known their father, but I suspected even he hadn’t been the cause of Eddie’s issues.

Eddie could blame no one for the way he was except for himself. He’d been born this way; I was sure of it. If he was a product of his environment, then Zane’s sweetness couldn’t be explained. They’d grown up in the same house.

“Otis,” I said gently, fitting my hand to the back of his head and ruffling his hair. “I want you to meet someone.” I ducked down to his height, so we were both staring up at Margaret. “This is your grandmother.”

Otis’s eyes widened in surprise. In theory, he knew what grandparents were. Aunts and uncles. Cousins. But until Zane had walked in the door a few days earlier, he’d never really fully grasped the concept.

All of a sudden he had an uncle, one I knew he could see the good in, the way I did. Otherwise he wouldn’t have sought Zane’s comfort when he’d needed someone to hold him.

And now he had a grandmother too.

But it was Margaret’s face I couldn’t look away from. She stared at Otis, and then over at me, and then back at him. Her eyes filled with tears, and she reached a shaky hand out just a tiny bit, like she wanted to touch him but knew she shouldn’t.

“Margaret. This is Otis.” I took her fingers in mine. They were cold as ice, and I squeezed them reassuringly. This woman had experienced too much in the last few days, and though thiswasn’t being chased around her house by a masked man with a knife, or being driven for hours in the back of a truck, this might have been the biggest shock of all.

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