Deep down, Sara knew another would be coming. The only question was when. Every day she waited anxiously for the mail and every day she breathed a sigh of relief when there was no note in the pile of bills and solicitations. Could it be that Gary had grown tired of his little game and decided to leave her alone? Her heart quickened at the thought and she had to fight to still the rising hope. She couldn’t be so lucky.
Letting her off easy wasn’t Gary’s style. After all, he was a man who’d once boasted that he’d slashed the tires of an ex-girlfriend’s car when she’d refused his phone call. She could only hope that he’d moved out of state. Or was back in prison.
Sara swallowed hard. She was kidding herself. Gary hadn’t gone away. He was still out there somewhere, watching and waiting, laughing that he was making her sweat.
How long had it been since she’d seen him? More than a decade probably. She’d been fourteen and a freshman in high school. Gary had been her mother’s live-in boyfriend. He was a big man, six feet four inches, with dark shaggy hair and a beard and mustache that always needed trimming. He worked construction and had the stamina of an ox.
Though Gary had never touched her, his eyes always glowed with a malevolent gleam, and Sara made it a point never to be alone with him. Her mother thought the guy walked on water, and in their house, his word was law.
Like in the matter of the dress. Sara’s first high school dance had been fast approaching and she didn’t have anything to wear that was even remotely suitable. Gary and her mother always had enough for alcohol and cigarettes so Sara figured they could spare a few dollars for a dress.
She’d waited patiently for the perfect opportunity to ask her mother. Finally she couldn’t wait any longer. The dance was two days away.
That night would always be clear in her mind. Even after all these years she remembered the hot stickiness in their third-floor walk-up apartment.
It had been a Thursday night in late September…
Sara glanced at the time. It was past ten and she was determined to ask her mother tonight. But it would have to be soon, before her mother and Gary left for the bar. When they got home, neither of them would be in any shape to answer a question. Plus all indications were it would be a late night. Gary had won big at the casino and he was in the mood to party.
“Mom?” Sara paused at her mother’s bedroom door and rapped lightly. She’d made the mistake of barging in once without knocking and her cheeks still burned with the memory of what she’d seen. “Can I come in? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Sure, honey.” Her mother sounded surprisingly happy and Sara’s hopes rose.
She opened the door and slipped into the room. Her mother sat at the vanity table she’d made out of an old desk, reapplying her makeup. Gary was sprawled out on the bed, still wearing the ragged jeans and T-shirt that he’d worn to work that day. Sara resisted the urge to point out that if anyone needed a makeover, it was Gary.
“Uh, this is personal.” Sara glanced at him, hoping he’d catch the drift and leave.
“Gary and I don’t have any secrets,” her mother said, swiping her lashes with another coat of mascara.
“That’s right, and don’t you forget it, either.” Gary propped himself on one elbow, letting his gaze linger.
Suddenly Sara’s shorts seemed too short and the modest V of her cotton T-shirt too low. She resisted the urge to tug on her shorts and place one hand over the lowest part of the V.
The jerk smirked as if he knew the direction of her thoughts. She lifted her chin and turned away.
“Mom, I have a favor to ask.” Sara kept her voice low and spoke quickly. “Could I—”
“If it involves money, the answer is no,” Gary said loudly from the bed, punching the remote and blasting the room with hard rock music.
“Could you turn that down?” Sara’s hands clenched into fists and she glared at Gary. “We’re trying to talk here.”
“Sara!” Her mother’s gaze darkened. “Show some respect. This is Gary’s house, too.”
Since when? Sara wanted to ask, but she bit her tongue. She couldn’t afford to blow this opportunity. The dance was Saturday night.
“I’m sorry.” Sara shot Gary an insincere smile before turning her attention to her mother. “I don’t know if you remember me talking about this dance at school? The Freshman Frolic?”
Her mother’s makeup brush stilled for a moment before she shook her head. “No. I don’t think you said anything to me. Maybe you mentioned it to Gary.”
Yeah, right. As if I’d ever talk to him about anything important.
“Anyway—” Sara forced a cheery smile “—it’s Saturday night, and it’s the biggest dance of the year for freshmen. Everyone is wearing those dresses, you know the ones with—”
“Stop right there,” Gary interrupted, waving a beer in one hand. “I told you if you’re asking for money, the answer is no.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Sara snapped.
Gary’s gaze turned steely and an uneasy silence descended. Sara’s mother’s fingers whitened around the handle of her brush. “Sara, you shouldn’t speak to Gary that way. Tell him you’re sorry.”
“I’m not sorry.” Sara glared at him. “This is none of his business.”
“This is my house,” Gary said in an ominous tone. His brows pulled together like two dark thunderclouds. “And you better not forget it.”
“You are so stupid,” Sara said, deciding to tell it like it was, knowing the money was as good as gone anyway. “This isn’t a house, it’s an apartment. And, for your information it’s our apartment, not yours.”
“You wait a minute here. I pay—”
“Don’t even go there.” Sara ground out the words between clenched teeth. All the anger and frustration she’d buried this past year rose like a volcano from deep inside. “You haven’t paid on the rent since forever. If it was up to me, you’d be out on your butt faster than you can say ‘get me another beer.’”
“Why you little—” Gary plunked the beer on the table with a thud and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
“Gary, honey, she didn’t mean no harm. Did you, Sara?” Fear filled her mother’s eyes and her look begged Sara to agree.
Seeing Gary’s murderous glance and his hands clenched into fists, Sara had no choice but to back down. Though she’d never felt the repercussions of Gary’s temper, her mother had, and Sara would do anything to prevent that from happening again.
“I didn’t mean any harm.” Sara nearly choked on the words. She forced an apologetic smile. “Honest.”
“Yeah, right.” Gary’s gaze shifted from Sara to her mother. “What about you, Ilene? Do you agree with your daughter? Do you think I’m a worthless bum?”
“Of course not, Gary,” her mother answered so promptly, Sara wondered if she’d even heard the question or had just decided to agree with whatever he said.
“I work hard for my money,” Gary said, his gaze daring her to disagree. “And I can spend it any way I like.”