Page 15 of Haunted

With her right in front of me, I called Vicki, who said she already had plans to come to the shop after work to make sure Ella doesn’t overwork herself. It earned me a muttered “fuck you” and the middle finger as she walked away. Vicki is a nurse at one of the low-income clinics, so I know Ella will be taken care of.

I take Aria’s backpack from her. “Why don’t we go say goodbye to Aunt Ella?” Before she runs from the room, I tack on, “Quietly. She’s with a client right now.”

She turns in the doorway and says, “Don’t forget Goodie!”

I eye the cage holding the little shit, tempted to forget him, and I swear he’s smiling smugly at me.

“You better keep your teeth to yourself this time or you’ll be a dead rodent,” I mutter, then grab the handle.

I follow behind Aria, who dramatically tiptoes down the hallway. I chuckle as her arms go up and down with each step, like she’s trying to sneak up on someone. The buzzing of Ella’s tattoo machine stops when she rounds the corner into her station. Ella is just snapping off her gloves when I look inside. Normally I wouldn’t let her go into a room while someone isworking, but Miles is a regular and has kids of his own. Aria’s been to his house before to play with them.

“Hey, Ree Ree, you leavin’?” Ella asks, pulling Aria into a hug.

“Yep! We’re going to have spaghetti and watch movies all night!”

Ella smiles at her excitement. “You better make sure Luca stops and gets your favorite ice cream. You can’t watch a movie without ice cream.”

She leans forward like she’s going to tell her a secret, but when she speaks, it’s not very quiet. “I was going to ask him when we leave.”

I notice Ella’s wince when Aria flings her arms around her neck and squeezes tightly. The bruises on her face have turned from a deep purplish red to an ugly brown and green. She’s got a couple of small bandages on her face, but luckily the swelling in her eye is no longer present. She still has her wrist and arm wrapped in gauze, but I know that’s for sanitary purposes, since there are open scratches.

I’m just about to extract Aria from Ella when she shoots me a warning look and pulls back herself.

“You be good for Uncle Luca, okay?”

She nods. “I will.” Leaning forward, Aria places a gentle kiss on Ella’s cheek where there’s a patch of bruised skin.

“Love you, Aunt Ella.”

Ella’s eyes soften. “Love you too, Ree Ree.”

“Bye, Miles!”

“See ya later, Aria,” Miles responds and holds his hand out to her to slap.

We leave and twenty minutes later, I’m pulling up to my house, a pint of birthday-cake-flavored ice cream in tow, to see Mom’s little Toyota parked in the driveway. Even though Iwasn’t expecting her, it’s no surprise she stopped by. I know why she’s here, and it’s confirmed when I open the front door.

“Hi, munchkin,” Mom croons, slinging a hand towel over her shoulder as she walks out of the kitchen. “Come give Gamma a hug and kiss.”

Aria runs across the room and flings herself at Mom. I don’t know why Theo asked me to watch her, not that I’m complaining, when we all know Mom would jump at any opportunity to spend time with her granddaughter.

“Are you here to watch movies with us, Gamma?” Aria asks after she pulls back. “Me and Luca are going to watch Willy Wonka.”

Anytime Aria’s at my house we watch the older classic kid movies.

Mom smiles down at her, pushing back the bangs that’ve fallen into her eyes. “Not tonight, munchkin. Your Pa is taking me out on a date tonight.”

I raise my brows at the eager look in her eyes. Mom’s always been the type to refuse eating out, even on the rare occasions we could afford to. She said her family would always have a healthy home-cooked meal on the table each night. Her lip curled with disdain when she thought of a stranger cooking for her family. Cooking was something she enjoyed doing. It was just another way she showed us her love.

“Your father can be very persuasive,” she says with a shrug and a twinkle in her eye.

My lip curls. I know the persuasive ways she’s referring to. Mom and Dad have always been touchy. Not in an inappropriate way in front of us kids, but there’s been plenty of times when Dad would walk up behind her and peck the back of her neck while we were at the table doing homework. The walls were thin in our house, so Mom’s giggles carried from theirbedroom into mine and Theo’s. Luckily, they were quieter when they did… other things.

I shudder at the thought of what those “other things” are.

Mom laughs, knowing exactly where my mind went.

“Anyway.” She looks back down to Aria, “I stopped by to put on the spaghetti for your uncle.” She pinches one of her cheeks. “And to see my beautiful Aria for a few minutes.”

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