“Karli, go to bed!”
“Daddy, don’t hate on my love for Jamal,” she said with her hands on her non-existent hips. “He’s taught me so much. He’s a Potterhead. I’m a Potterhead. He even taught me how to cast a spell with my wand with a gentle swish and a flick of my wrist. In order to ward off the bad you need to say ‘expect a pronoun’. Or something like that. I don’t know what it means, but that boy is a teacher and I love him.”
“Willow! Willow, come get this child. Also, please check her room for a hidden stash of cookies. She’s hyped up on sugar,” he said, going to the door to pull his young daughter out of the drapery and open the entryway. “Say goodnight, Skylar.”
“Goodnight Skylar,” the boy repeated.
“Thank you for a nice evening, Skylar,” Dusty said, coming into the house and leaning against the door jamb.
Willow asked, “Did you have a good time, sweetie?”
“Mom, it was the best. I danced with Jamal, Skylar, and few other boys. The girls all danced in a circle and I even exchanged numbers with a few other kids,” she said, giving Raphael the side eye. Dusty shook her phone at him but her eyes were on Karli. “Mom, are you taking Karli up to bed?”
“I was just about to do that,” Willow said. “Don’t be up late.”
“Yes ma’am, just want to show Daddy a few pictures,” she said, waiting for her mom and sister to leave. Karli wasn’t ready to go yet.
“Dusty, did he stick his tongue in your mouth? You know that’s really unsanitary,” Karli said. “He looks like his breath is smelly.”
“Goodnight, Karli,” Dusty said, taking a seat on the couch and waiting for her father to come and join her. She took her time opening the phone. Raphael was uneasy as she spoke in a low voice. “A man followed us to the Rec Center.”
Raphael tensed. “How do you know he was following you?”
“I spotted him as we walked across the street. He was trying too hard to stay in the shadows, which made me pay closer attention,” she said. “When we were inside, I kept an eye on the door. He came in to go to the bathroom.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I told you that if anything seemed off or you were uncomfortable to call me, Dusty,” he said, using his Daddy reprimand voice.
“Please, don’t be upset, but this man is no expert,” she said.
“You don’t know that. He could have been a psycho waiting for you outside of the door and thrown you in the back of a van and shot Skylar or worse. Don’t take chances like this. What makes you think he wasn’t an expert?”
“Daddy, he came inside and went to the bathroom. When he came out, I could see he was looking for me, but I was standing behind him. Then he turned around and I snapped this photo,” she said, showing Raphael her phone. “He took off Daddy. An expert would have tried to take the phone from me. It was like he knew I was going to show it to you.”
The photo appeared on the phone, and it was Rami Slanecki. The fucking Glitter Man was hiding in his bushes. He knew that fucker wasn’t going to give up on finding his sister, which is why he never went to her or Cady, but why was he here on the island after all of these years? Rami had to have known he spotted him at the farm with Wrong Way. What was he doing?
“Daddy, do you know this man?”
“I do, and he’s no harm to any of you, but if you see him again, please let me know. And next time, you spot someone ... never mind. There won’t be a next time,” he said.
“That’s not fair!”
“I gave you specific instructions, and you wanted to play Nancy Drew. You could have been kidnapped, hurt, or worse. This is a nasty world filled with nasty people who want nothing more than to hurt you for their sick pleasure. Don’t take chances, Dusty,” he scolded.
“You’re right about the world but wrong about me. Daddy, I’m a fighter. We deserve this life and no one following me, hiding in the shadows, or trying to intimidate me is going to take it away,” she said, getting to her feet. “If you want to ground me, ground me, but I’m not going down without a fight. When that doorbell rang earlier in the day, we were all frozen with fear that a person could have been at the door to take us away from you. I’m done being scared of men. I’m done hiding under beds and in closets and worse to keep disgusting men from ruining my life. They will not take this from us, and the next time that doorbell rings I will answer it with a knife in my hand. I’m through being scared. I’m ready to fight. Your daughter is a fighter. I’m fighting for this life with you.”
He was taken aback by how aggressive her stance was. She spoke with power. She spoke with purpose. She spoke with conviction.
“I receive your words. I won’t let anyone take this life from you either. Goodnight, Dusty Rose Hoyt,” he said.
“Goodnight, Daddy,” she said, leaning to kiss his cheek.
He sat quietly for a moment, wanting to go upstairs and keep his promise to Willow, but he was entirely too exhausted mentally, emotionally, and physically to do anything but crash headfirst into a pillow. He went to his office, pulled out the notebook and went over the list again.
Clean the gun.
Threaten teenage boy (girl) with gun. (Dusty is hardheaded)
Show daughter how a boy is supposed to hold her when they dance.
Dance lessons with teen daughter.
Clean bigger gun and knife to threaten teenage boy girl.
Movie night.
Set time with the girls on for Saturdays.
Write financial plan, include stocks, bonds, index funds and a few blue chips.
Talk to Willow about setting an allowance for the girls.
Talk to Willow about her monthly allowance for the house and personal accounts.
Debit card for Willow’s crafting.
Swimsuits for the girls and Willow. Get those on the way.
Remind Willow to pack dresses for the girls. White gloves for tea? Straw hats?
A tablet for Karli.
Create online account with child parameters for Karli to buy 100 books.
Enroll the girls in a self-defense class
Who the hell was Jamal(?)
“Jesus, this takes a lot,” he said, securing the back door and setting the alarm. Tomorrow, he would talk to the Archangel about a tracking system for The Glitter Man and more. Tonight, he needed to sleep.
Chapter Twenty – Photocopy
RAPHAEL WAS ALWAYS taught to start with the good news first. The good news was that the girls were quiet. A four hour and 12-minute drive was blessedly silent, which was the good news. The bad news was that the quiet came at a price. In Karli’s mind, Dusty Rose had committed a horrific sin and smiled for two minutes too long at Jamal, to which she declared on the back porch in front of all of her sister’s friends that Jamal was her man.
The kids found it rip roaring funny since Karli was only 10 and Jamal was a cool teenager of an entire three years too old for a little girl. Dusty took too long to defend her sister, which turned out to be worse than a mortal sin, but more than anything, Karli’s feelings were hurt. Raphael had to intervene and send all the kids home, which made Dusty angrier at Karli. Even a quick stop in Coosawhatchie, South Carolina for the swimsuits didn’t loosen their lips.