Mia blinked. She’d never seen that look on Gus’s face before. Then she walked forward, and a cloud of stale cigarette smoke and alcohol enveloped her.
“Anne Marie,” Gus began in a stern voice. “Have you been out all night drinking and smoking?”
Mia’s cousin flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I got bored. Some friends invited me to a party.”
“Your cousin needed to leave for work. You promised you’d be here.”
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” Anne Marie started to turn away and head toward the back of the three-bedroom house. She was in the guest bedroom next to Mia’s room.
Mia blocked her way. “Don’t be rude. Gus is talking to you.”
“Look, I don’t see what the big deal is. I went out for a few minutes. So you didn’t go in to school today. It won’t start for another week. You don’t get paid to go in and set up your classroom. You can still go in tomorrow. No big deal.”
“The big deal is that you left Gus on her own.”
“So she was alone for a few hours. Nothing happened to her. If it bothered you so much, you should have called.” She smirked, a vicious gleam in her eye.
“Call you? After you blocked me?” Mia folded her arms across her chest.
“Oh, yeah. I did, didn’t I?” Anne Marie shrugged. “You were annoying me.”
Mia held her temper in with effort. “Gus’s grocery money is gone. Did you take it?”
Anne Marie met her glare with a defiant hair toss. She snapped her gum. “I didn’t have enough. I figured it didn’t matter. You said I’d get paid anyway.”
“Anne Marie. I think you need to leave.”
The cousins turned to stare at their great-aunt.
“Gus! You can’t kick me out. I’m your niece!”
Gus pushed herself to her feet.
Mia grabbed Gus’s cane from where it had fallen on the floor and rushed to give it to her aunt.
“This is my house, Anne Marie. I love you, you’re my niece. But I will not tolerate lying, drinking, smoking, stealing, or disrespect.”
For a brief moment, Mia felt sorry for her cousin. But only until she recalled walking into the house and finding Gus alone among the chaos her cousin had left when she’d walked out the night before.
“I don’t want to stay here anyway.” She stormed into her room and threw her belongings into her bags, then lugged them out the front door and stalked to her car. She tossed the bags into her back seat. Anne Marie spat on the driveway once before getting in and turning the vehicle on. She revved the engine and sped away, tires squealing as the vehicle whipped around the corner.
“Good riddance,” Mia muttered.
Turning back into the house, hopelessness hit her. She was back in the same situation she’d been in two weeks ago, when the doctor had told her Gus needed full-time care. She needed someone to stay with Gus so she could get her classroom ready before the first day of school.
Gus shuffled over to the door. They both watched the trail of dust left in Anne Marie’s wake. “I feel bad that I had to do that, but it was for the best.”
Mia wrapped an arm around her aunt. “It probably was. She’s my cousin, and I love her. But she wasn’t very reliable. We’ll have to come up with a new plan though.”
Gus sighed. She moved into the living room and sat in her chair. “I hate being so much trouble.”
Mia walked to her aunt and squeezed her shoulder. “You aren’t any trouble. And you know if we needed help, you’d be the first in line. It’s our chance to give you a hand.”
Gus picked up her crossword puzzle book. Mia watched her aunt for a moment before turning back to the problem at hand. Who could she call to stay with Gus?
“You could ask your mother.”
Mia’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t realized she’d asked the question out loud. “Excuse me?”