Page 23 of Renegade

“How did you—” I instinctively reached out and took it from her hand.

She cut me off mid-sentence. “It’s not important how I got it back. I’m so sorry I hurt you, baby. I just want to make it up to you, and I know that a necklace can’t fix everything, but maybe it’s a start?”

I clenched my hand around the necklace until the charms dug into my palm. Monica had caught me completely off guard and I struggled to find the right words. “I—you really don’t want anything? You came all this way—the necklace. I just—” I paused and tried to form one coherent thought.

Monica smiled and my heart splintered at the sight of her rotting teeth. She was sober and trying to make amends, while looking like she was homeless. Maybe she just needed someone to help get her cleaned up and presentable so she could find work.

Nope.

I couldn’t let myself get sucked into her drama again. I just needed my brain to convince my heart of that.

“Lauren, you don’t owe me a thing. Just take care of you, okay?” Monica rubbed her arms and hopped up and down to warm herself. I’d gone numb the minute she’d given me the necklace and couldn’t tell you if it was cold or not.

Guilt wormed its way into my brain.

I didn’t have to help her, but maybe I could get her a warm meal and some appropriate clothing. This wasMom of the Year Monica, notAddict Monica. That had to count for something, right?

She wasn’t going to stay in my apartment—that had been my mistake the last time. I’d just get her a hot meal and maybe a jacket.

“Monica, do you have a place to stay tonight?” Damn. I’d meant to ask her something else. Something safer.

She shook her head. “Not really, but that’s nothing to worry yourself about. I’ll figure something out.”

I scratched at an invisible itch on my neck. If I left her out here, was it really the worst thing ever? I’d still sleep soundly; warm in my apartment, while she slowly froze to death on aCitibusbench downtown.

My phone chirped and I pulled it out of my purse to see a weather alert text.

“First Alert Weather: Patchy freezing drizzle may fall over the western and southern viewing area late tonight and into Friday morning. This may cause icy spots for the Friday morning commute. The South Plains could see some light glazing from drizzle Friday morning.”

I puffed my cheeks out and exhaled forcefully. It looked like the decision had been made for me, but my stomach was still in knots. I held up my hand. “Can you just give me a minute? I need to make a quick phone call.”

Monica smiled. “Lauren, you do whatever you need to do. I’m just going to find somewhere to hunker down for the night. You go on.”

I suppressed a groan and walked a few feet away before dialing Josué’s number. “Please pick up…please pick up,” I muttered to myself as it rang.

“Bueno, mija,” He sang into the phone.

“Josué, I’ve got a teensy bit of a problem…” I trailed off as Monica made her way over to the dumpster at the far edge of the parking lot.

“What happened? Where are you? Do you need money?”

I sighed. “Um, Monica found me. And she got my necklace back, so…” I made a small gulping sound before dissolving into tears. It was stupid. I chalked it up to hormones. I was about to get my period and that always made me emotional.

Josué began cursing rapidly in Spanish on the other end of the line. I heard Isaac ask what was wrong before he responded curtly, “Está llorando— the bitch found her. LoLo, call the police. Tell them what she’s done—”

“But it’s supposed to freeze tonight. I can’t just leave her out here,” I argued.

He growled, “Mija, you can leave that bitch out in the cold. I don’t give a flying fuck if there’s a blizzard tonight and she gets buried in six feet of snow.”

Isaac mumbled something in the background before Josué handed him the phone. “Hey Lauren, what’s going on? Josué is completely worked up and not making any sense. Are you okay? Do you need us to come to you?”

I wiped away the tears on my cheeks. “I just—Monica’s here. She, um, she came to make amends. She got my necklace back—I don’t know, Isaac. I can’t just leave her here, but at the same time, she can’t stay with me. What do I do?”

He was silent for a minute and I worried that he might’ve hung up. Isaac knew a little about Monica, but Josué and I had kept most of the details quiet. She just brought a certain amount of drama with her.

“Hang on, Lauren. I’m just stepping into my office.” There was a soft click as the door closed behind him and then he was back. “Okay, I’m just going to see if there’s a shelter near you that you could take her to for the night. That way you know she’s being helped, but you don’t get caught up in whatever she’s got going on. Sound good?”

I sniffled and tried to pull myself together. I was a grown woman, I should’ve been able to handle this on my own without having to reach out to Josué and Isaac. But Monica had a way of swooping in and turning my life upside down.

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