Page 47 of Dyana
“Evan!” I admonished as I slapped his arm.
“What?” he asked. “It’s true.”
“What do you need, Cora?”
“I was going to ask you if you could cut my hair. Between being pregnant and this heat, I’m over the long hair, but if you want, I can stand guard outside so you guys can... finish.”
“Not necessary,” I replied. I moved Killer off my lap and hopped off the table.
“Are you sure?” Cora laughed, gesturing to my pants.
I looked down and saw they were still undone. I groaned and quickly buttoned them again while Evan chuckled. “I’m sure. Get the scissors. Oh, have either of you seen Jack? I need to talk to him.”
“Not recently,” Evan said quickly.
“Didn’t he go into town?” Cora asked. Evan made a sound behind me. Cora’s eyes flicked to him. “I mean, I haven’t seen him either.”
My eyes narrowed, and I turned to Evan. “Why did Jack go into town?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise!” Evan said quickly when he saw me getting angry. “We’re allowed to keep things from you if it’s a surprise.”
“I still don’t like it.”
Evan smiled and leaned down to kiss the tip of my nose. “Too bad. Go give Cora a haircut. We’ll finish this later.”
Cora grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the shed. “Come on. Jack is perfectly safe on his own, and you’ll find out what he’s up to soon enough.” Cora fetched the scissors and a comb, then sat on one of the log seats we had outside and handed them to me.
“How short do you want it?” I asked as I combed through her mid-back length blonde locks.
“Up to my shoulders. Those men are good for you,” she said as I got to work. “I like seeing you happy.”
“I love them,” I admitted. “I didn’t see them coming. I never thought I’d have what you have, but I’m glad they found me. They make me feel like a human instead of a monster.”
“You were never a monster, Dyana,” Cora replied softly. “I’m glad they were able to show you that.”
I didn’t attempt to remind her that I was a monster. I wasn’t sure if it was because I knew I’d be wasting my breath or because I was starting to believe that maybe I wasn’t a monster after all. I wasn’t proud of the things I’ve done, but I did what I had to do to survive, and if I was truly undeserving, why was I given a chance at a life full of love and family? Good things didn’t happen to bad people, right? I knew the logic was flawed, but that was the best explanation I had right now. I was calling that progress.
“Me, too. Where’s Johnny?” I didn’t want to talk about me anymore, and I knew changing the subject to her son would keep Cora distracted for hours if I let her.
“Trent and Remi took him down to the creek to splash in the water. Oh! Guess what he did this morning?”
“What?”
“He said, Mama!”
“He’s talking!”
“Yes!”
“I thought we agreed that he didn’t actually say that, Ghost Girl,” Derrick said from behind us.
“You agreed,” Cora argued, “I did not. I know what I heard.”
Derrick crouched in front of her, a teasing smile playing on his lips. “At best, he said, Muh, Cora.”
“I believe you, Cora,” I interjected. “His Daddies are just jealous because he didn’t say Dada first.”
Derrick rolled his eyes. “You’d take her side no matter what.”
