“Fuck you,” I growl.
All she does is smile.
I move past her, holding out my hand for Chrissy to take. She reaches it, but the witch slaps my arm away and moves between us.
“She ain’t going with you.”
“I want to go!” Chrissy yells.
“That’s too fucking bad! You’re my kid. You’re staying here.”
“She’s coming with me,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Oh yeah? You wanna take her.” She steps aside. “Go ahead. And I’ll call the cops to let them know that you kidnapped my daughter.”
“You—”
She smiles at me. “You want her? You can pay for her.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, you’ve obviously got some kind of fancy nice job. Got all this fancy stuff. You tried to hide the car from me, but people around here talk. I know what you’re up to. You want this one? Pay me.”
“Fuck you!”
“It’s fine,” Chrissy says. “Just go, Cass. It’s okay.”
“The fuck it is!” I turn my gaze to my mother. “You let the insurance run out and she didn’t have her meds. She could have died. Do you even know the fucking meds she’s on? What are they called?”
“Don’t talk to me like that, you little shit!”
“How much money do you want?” I ask, my hands shaking.
“No, Cass,” Chrissy says. “Don’t give her anything,” she mutters.
“How much?”
The witch smiles at me.
“Actually, I changed my mind.” She steps up to me. “Now get the fuck out of my trailer.”
I grit my teeth, my hands balling into fists.
“You’re going to fucking regret this,” I hiss.
“Get out of my house!” she screeches, then lunges at me. I hurry outside before she shoves me and this turns into more—like murder. “Get the fuck out of here and don’t come back. I’ll call the cops if you do!”
“Chrissy, I will fix this!” I say, looking at her from the bottom of the porch. Even from here I can see the tears pouring down her face. “If you hurt one hair on her head, I will fucking murder you,” I seethe, holding our mother’s gaze.
She just laughs.
I call Cammy as soon as I’m in the car. She doesn’t answer, so I call back. Still no answer. I figure she must be busy with customers, so I drive while I wait for her to call me back, hoping it’ll help me cool off. I don’t have much time before I have to go to Harmon’s, but I waste as much time as I can trying to calm down. I’m not only angry, I’m stressed out. I’m scared. I want to call Chrissy to make sure she’s okay, but I’m afraid she doesn’t have the ringer on silent and that witch will hear it and take it. I could get her another, it’s not that serious, but that could be the only lifeline I have to Chrissy for a while. Also, giving the witch a phone is the same as giving her money and she doesn’t deserve that. I just have to wait for Chrissy to reach out to me.
I don’t believe for one second that my mother won’t call the cops and say I kidnapped Chrissy. Of course, Chrissy and I would both deny it, but she’d still have to go back. The witchwould keep doing it just to be a petty bitch, and eventually I’d end up in some real trouble over it. She fights dirty and my hands are tied.
My phone rings the moment I park in Harmon’s driveway with two minutes to spare. I answer it because I have to let Cammy know what’s going on.
“The witch was at the house when Chrissy and I went there, and she wouldn’t let her leave with me.”