Okay, at a bit of a stressful time. But here we are.
"Are you two all right?" Mom asked us when we got home.
Courtney and I had managed to snag a bus out to my house. It was already six-thirty. If my mom had gotten a job yet, she would have been in the house by now. I hadn't heard anything about her getting one just yet, though. If she did, it would be dicey to find a daycare or babysitting job around here for Josh and Valerie, at least if we wanted to keep them away from bad politics. Anyway, that might take a while.
"I'm afraid not," I said in response. I shot Courtney a look that said,You want to fess up, or should I?
The look on Courtney's face clearly suggested,You talk. She'll believe you.Which was true. Mom did tend to trust my word a little more than Courtney's – gee, perhaps because I wasn't as prone to exaggeration as my drama-queen sister was?
That whole plan was shot, however, when the news came on. I hadn't even noticed Mom was paying attention to it. It didn't seem like the sort of thing she'd look at. But I suppose she didn't have anything else better to do.
"A tragic blow to a city in peril," droned the newscaster. "At four o'clock in the afternoon, a fire broke out in the St. Francis Inn on Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia. The authorities suspect arson, and plastic explosives were also reported on the site."
"St. Francis Inn?" Mom sounded concerned. "Don't tell me you two were downtherewhen it happened."
Note to self: never underestimate momma's intuition.
"We were going to tell you about that," I said.
The newscaster cut in with the next bit of breaking news: "Margaret and Miriam Camford, daughters of real estate tycoon Richard Camford, were reported fleeing the scene of the crime and are suspected of being responsible for the fire, which killed two people. Fortunately, no one else was injured."
"Thank God," Mom muttered.
"So, I'm not grounded?" Courtney asked. "Yes, I should have told youwhereI was going with Billy, it's just –"
"I'm just glad you're alive," Mom said. She turned off to the side, her fists clenched. "If it was Camford behind that –"
Her tone, and the look on her face, suggested murder. I hadbadlyunderestimated her temper. No doubt Oscar Kawatogama had also given her details about the embezzlement. She'd probably heard more from Amos' mom, too.
"What was that on the report…plastic explosives?" Mom asked, her tone even more furious.
"The girls were spreading it around the kitchen," I said evenly, keeping the rage out of my voice. "We saw."
That was when the other shoe dropped. The anchor reported: "Police reports state that a foreign exchange student, Olga Levpravda, was attacked by one of the suspects, which resulted in severe injuries in the latter. This was confirmed by several other eyewitnesses, four of which attend Miss Levpravda's school."
"Olga?" Mom asked next.
"She's the foreign exchange student I mentioned last night," I explained. "She sees things we do – she has for a while."
"That's not what I meant. She was attacked?"
"By Mimi Camford. Big mistake."
"Huge," Courtney cut in. "As incost-her-an-eyehuge."
Mom winced at Courtney's remark. "Well, I hope she doesn't get in trouble after that."
"It was self-defense," I said.
"I already guessed that much. I'm more upset that it was one of Camford's daughters who incited her. She'll claim it was Olga's fault, I know it."
I cleared my throat. "I think the police report and the press already beg to differ."
"That's good," Mom replied. "It's just – I don't want to stew this over, and Camford's going to. I don't want –"
"Mom, Ican'trun now. Not again. I've made too many friends to just leave them in the dust. Loss of Angels might as well be going to dust, and all that was holding it together was us, even if they didn't realize it. We can't run from this."
I was tired of it. Getting pulled out of school for a refusal to acknowledge I was being bullied, getting yanked out of LA because Mom was fed up with it. Always running away. I wanted it to stop. Besides, I was the leader of VLADJI. Icouldn'trun, not when my friends needed me.
Mom set her jaw, apparently realizing I wasn't backing down. (I did carry her stubborn streak, after all.) "Fine. I'm talking to the board. They'll oust Camford when they find out he destroyed that shelter."
I was relieved to know we weren't going anywhere. But I had another request: "At least get Callie out of Memphis Street."
"I'm already aware it isn't a good fit for her," Mom said, exasperated. It sounded as though she'd been in some serious talks with the school about placing her out, and they weren't going well. "I'm pulling together paperwork to withdraw her immediately. Might take some time, though."
I knew what she was referring to. You can't just yank someone out of school. You had to complete a ton of paperwork just to pull out one kid. It was especially hard when it was in the middle of the school year.
"I hope they understand," I said.
After that exchange, I went up to my room.
"Wait till it gets out that two of Casey's kids were caught in there," Courtney said as we got the room ready for bed. Courtney wasn't big on keeping the room clean, and it took a little more work than was really necessary.
As I worked on my side, I couldn't help being lost in thought. And I couldn't help singing about my distress.
Am I really gonna stay in the shadows?
Is this really gonna be my life?
How can you expect me to stay below
When all I want is a life?
For myself, and for everyone like me
A place to achieve
I'm starting to think you don't care
To think you don't believe
I couldn't believe myself. I was in a ton of security yet scared for my life. I knew I'd have to use my celebrity, and I didn't like it.
Since you wrote that in, you let all in
Upon everyone of your kind
To make themselves to a life in hell
And I'm not going to lie
I began considering everything in the world. I was angry at the Camfords, at Richard, at every one of them, for writing the world to their needs,theirwants. What about me? Couldn't I get the same thingwithoutplaying up the celebrity?
I can't see this ending well
Nothing good comes when you sell your soul
There's no shame in fighting
If you're fighting for the right goal
You think it's right, I know it's wrong
This you'll know when they come along
I'm telling you, I'm not a fool
You let your lies flow, why so cruel?
Courtney turned to me. "Sis," she said. Gone was the drama from her voice. "I'll report them. You cover school, I'll cover the boyfriend and the police."
There was the Courtney I knew.
"Thanks, Court," I said in reply. "They aren't going anywhere. Not just yet."
I wrote some lyrics, yes, but I haven't found a tune for them... yet. Verse for the update: James 2:26. Stay tuned! More coming up!
