The Secret Sister by M. DeLuca (leveled readers txt) 📗

other was almost palpable, a shimmering wall of sweaty teenage hormones.

On the way to the gamers’ store I spotted Lester who was working a lot of overtime – probably to fund their escalating drug habit. I caught him with his sweaty face pressed against the window of Toonz, his breath fogging a small circle on the window. Not wanting him to spot me, I hid around a corner. He checked to see both directions were clear before he slid into the store and made his way to the counter where Earl Rafferty was perched, chatting like a madman into his cell phone. Lester loomed over him, his shoulders hunched. Earl broke off the conversation and nodded his head towards the back room. Lester plunged through the curtain into the darkness of the cubicles. I was so focused on him I almost jumped out of my skin when two cool hands clamped across my eyes.

“Doing some secret surveillance?” said a familiar voice. I whirled round to find Colby grinning at me. My heart did a somersault. I was burning for those hands to be all over me, but all I could do was swallow and make lame excuses.

“Just checking Lester out. I think he’s jerking off to porn at Earl’s place.”

“Perv. People like him should be banned from fostering kids,” he said, digging his hands into his pockets.

“I haven’t found a good time for the escape plan. Patti never goes out. But it needs to be soon so let’s make it Wednesday.”

Colby reached a hand out to twirl a long, ragged tendril of my hair. I’d just started letting it go wild. He leaned close and whispered in my ear. “I’ve been thinking that when you’re at Reid’s I can spend some nights with you. I sometimes stay there at weekends. Especially when my dad has people over. Imagine what it would be like to hold each other all night and wake up together.”

Back then I thought this was true love. The warm, slow burn in my lower body that made me squirm with an urge to run round in ever-decreasing circles until all that excess energy was used up. Then the seedy mall became a magic place, its graffiti-covered hallways and grimy corners filled with the hiss of whispered promises and the memory of breathless groping.

I clung to Colby’s hand. “I can’t wait till Wednesday.”

He glanced around. The mall was filling up with last-minute shoppers. Office workers dropping in before starting the long commute home.

He bent his head downwards and kissed me on the mouth. Our teeth thunked together and we pulled back laughing. I stood on tiptoe and kissed him softly, slipping my tongue into his mouth. The taste of gum and sweet saliva made my skin tremble.

“You’re so hot, Anna. I can’t wait until you’re at Reid’s house. In the meantime I got something for you.”

He reached into his pocket. “Here. Read this,” he said, taking out a dog-eared paperback. “It’ll turn you on.”

I checked out the cover. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller.

“It was banned everywhere when it came out. You’ll soon find out why. Just don’t show any teachers you have it.”

Stashing the book in my backpack, I glanced through the window of Toonz to see if Lester had surfaced. “Must be watching a double feature,” I said, pushing my hair away from my eyes.

“Maybe he couldn’t get it up for the first one,” said Colby, trailing a finger down my arm. “See you at school?”

I nodded. How could I tell him that wildfires, tornadoes, even alien invasions wouldn’t stop me from getting there to see him?

That night I could barely concentrate on my homework. Just the idea of hatching a real plan to get away from Lester and Patti had me perched on the edge of my seat in a permanent state of readiness. As if I could spring up and run five miles without stopping. But I couldn’t forget about Birdie. Somehow I had to be able to get her up and out of that house before Lester took those few steps across the bedroom threshold while I was away at school and took everything from her.

And I knew it was only a matter of time before he did.

“Do you take sugar in your coffee?” said Nancy. I blinked my eyes and snapped back to the present. Tuning into the past was becoming a habit. Images slid in and out of my consciousness until I barely knew what was real. And I had no idea how I appeared to other people around me when it was happening. Was I just sitting there staring into space? Was I was even talking to myself like a crazy person?

“No – thanks, Nancy,” I said, taking a long sip. I could feel a jolt from the caffeine filtering into my brain.

Nancy sat on the edge of her chair occasionally glancing at the door. I recognized the posture. I’d sat opposite Lester and Patti that way, carefully monitoring their voices, gestures, tiny movements. Always watching, testing the mood, training myself to spot the first sign of trouble. My body was exhausted by the time they stuck a joint under my nose, forced me to take a couple of hits then said get lost and go to bed and check on your sister.

Correction. They didn’t have to strong-arm me to smoke weed.

I was craving it by the time it got round to me.

The skunky sweet smoke was the only thing that took the edge off my constant state of tension.

“Don’t let Gord get to you,” said Nancy. “Most of the time he’s pretty accommodating. He just has this need to feel like he’s in control. Make him believe he’s running things and he’s like putty in your hands. Then you can basically get on and do your own thing.”

“Is that what you do?”

She tilted her head. “Do what?”

“Let him think he owns you?”

She opened her mouth to respond but the office door burst open and the two guys strode