window so she could call out, letting a gust of cold, wet air into the car. “In you get, sport.”
Eden crawled into the backseat of the car, dumping the damp backpack on the seat beside her. No eye contact. Ashe could hear the tinny voice of a rap-per trickling from Eden’s headphones, like there was a mosquito-sized gangsta hiding in the music player. When had Mr. Bad Bug Man found his way onto Eden’s playlist? She’d checked that thing two nights ago. Mr. Bug had better have a clean mouth, or he was so deleted.
Ashe raised the window again, shutting out the rain, and watched her daughter in the rearview mirror. Eden was fair-skinned with pale freckles, like Ashe, but her hair was brown and her eyes the hue of hot chocolate. That coloring came from Roberto.
“Headphones off in the car.”
Eden gave her a filthy look, but switched off her player and buckled up.
“Genghis Khan.”
“You bet,” Ashe said cheerily, putting the car in gear. “That’s me, Genghis Mom. Now I’ll take you home for your daily meal of bread and water; then I’ll lock you in the basement and let the rats gnaw your bones. It’ll be fun.”
Eden sighed and lolled against the car seat like the victim of a particularly bad vampire attack. The thought made Ashe go cold inside, but she kept her smile in place.
Eden lifted her head a little. “You’re dressed up.”
“Had to go see a lawyer. Boring grown-up stuff. How was school?”
“Dumb.” Standard response.
“What kind of dumb? Other- kid dumb? Teacher dumb?”
“This place is just totally stupid. I did all these classes already at Saint Florentina’s. I’m bored, bored, boredboredbored. I want to go back. I’ve only been gone a few months. I’ll catch up.”
Ashe understood. The school hosted students from all corners of the globe and had an excellent academic program. It taught its charges to stand out, not fit in. Adjustment to a regular school wouldn’t be easy. “If you went back, wouldn’t you miss Grandma and Aunt Holly?”
Eden shrugged, fiddling with her music player. “I guess.”
“But you miss your old friends, too,” Ashe said gently. “I get that.” She signaled and pulled into traffic slowly, cautious in case some young’un dashed out from behind a car. One of the mothers waved. Ashe waved back with a bright smile. See, this mom thing isn’t so hard .
“Yeah, I miss them. A lot.”
Poor kid . New school, new people. New country, even. A mom she’d half forgotten. It made Ashe feel like every conversation was open-heart surgery, and she was wearing boxing gloves. Eden had run away when she first arrived, making it as far as the bus station. Something Ashe hadn’t mentioned to Bannerman, because she prayed it would never happen again. “Have you met anyone here you like?”
“They know I’m not from around here.” Eden said it with the acid bite of someone far older.
Oh, crap. What has been going on that I don’t know about? “I guess that makes you exotic.”
“Yeah, right.” Eden sat up, ending the rag-doll act. “I’ll wear black lace and dance the flamenco.” She giggled at her own joke, raising her arms like someone holding castanets. “Viva España.”
Slowly, the tension in Ashe’s gut uncramped, as if that laugh were a powerful drug. “You should be showing off all that high-class international education.”
“Yeah, well, Marcy Blackwell and her friends laugh at me because I know all the answers in class but I don’t know the names of all the stupid baseball players.”
Then kick their heads in. No, wait, wrong answer. Bad mother. No cookie.
“You’ll learn about North American sports, and you don’t want to play stupid to please somebody else. Trust me on that one. It never pays to pull yourself down so that someone else feels better.”
“I want to go back to Saint Flo’s.” Eden turned her face to look out the window. “At least they don’t call football soccer.”
“Barbarians.” Ashe drove,
Eden crawled into the backseat of the car, dumping the damp backpack on the seat beside her. No eye contact. Ashe could hear the tinny voice of a rap-per trickling from Eden’s headphones, like there was a mosquito-sized gangsta hiding in the music player. When had Mr. Bad Bug Man found his way onto Eden’s playlist? She’d checked that thing two nights ago. Mr. Bug had better have a clean mouth, or he was so deleted.
Ashe raised the window again, shutting out the rain, and watched her daughter in the rearview mirror. Eden was fair-skinned with pale freckles, like Ashe, but her hair was brown and her eyes the hue of hot chocolate. That coloring came from Roberto.
“Headphones off in the car.”
Eden gave her a filthy look, but switched off her player and buckled up.
“Genghis Khan.”
“You bet,” Ashe said cheerily, putting the car in gear. “That’s me, Genghis Mom. Now I’ll take you home for your daily meal of bread and water; then I’ll lock you in the basement and let the rats gnaw your bones. It’ll be fun.”
Eden sighed and lolled against the car seat like the victim of a particularly bad vampire attack. The thought made Ashe go cold inside, but she kept her smile in place.
Eden lifted her head a little. “You’re dressed up.”
“Had to go see a lawyer. Boring grown-up stuff. How was school?”
“Dumb.” Standard response.
“What kind of dumb? Other- kid dumb? Teacher dumb?”
“This place is just totally stupid. I did all these classes already at Saint Florentina’s. I’m bored, bored, boredboredbored. I want to go back. I’ve only been gone a few months. I’ll catch up.”
Ashe understood. The school hosted students from all corners of the globe and had an excellent academic program. It taught its charges to stand out, not fit in. Adjustment to a regular school wouldn’t be easy. “If you went back, wouldn’t you miss Grandma and Aunt Holly?”
Eden shrugged, fiddling with her music player. “I guess.”
“But you miss your old friends, too,” Ashe said gently. “I get that.” She signaled and pulled into traffic slowly, cautious in case some young’un dashed out from behind a car. One of the mothers waved. Ashe waved back with a bright smile. See, this mom thing isn’t so hard .
“Yeah, I miss them. A lot.”
Poor kid . New school, new people. New country, even. A mom she’d half forgotten. It made Ashe feel like every conversation was open-heart surgery, and she was wearing boxing gloves. Eden had run away when she first arrived, making it as far as the bus station. Something Ashe hadn’t mentioned to Bannerman, because she prayed it would never happen again. “Have you met anyone here you like?”
“They know I’m not from around here.” Eden said it with the acid bite of someone far older.
Oh, crap. What has been going on that I don’t know about? “I guess that makes you exotic.”
“Yeah, right.” Eden sat up, ending the rag-doll act. “I’ll wear black lace and dance the flamenco.” She giggled at her own joke, raising her arms like someone holding castanets. “Viva España.”
Slowly, the tension in Ashe’s gut uncramped, as if that laugh were a powerful drug. “You should be showing off all that high-class international education.”
“Yeah, well, Marcy Blackwell and her friends laugh at me because I know all the answers in class but I don’t know the names of all the stupid baseball players.”
Then kick their heads in. No, wait, wrong answer. Bad mother. No cookie.
“You’ll learn about North American sports, and you don’t want to play stupid to please somebody else. Trust me on that one. It never pays to pull yourself down so that someone else feels better.”
“I want to go back to Saint Flo’s.” Eden turned her face to look out the window. “At least they don’t call football soccer.”
“Barbarians.” Ashe drove,
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