When he was done, she thought about it awhile, chewed on a thumbnail, frowned. Then she said, “I’ll do the whole thing for twelve hundred dollars, but it has to be done right now, and only for cash.”
“No problem there. I’ll have to call a buddy of mine over to help me – “
”Oh, no. I’ll only do it with you. You bring somebody else in, and I’m outta here.”
He stopped and thought about that. He could do it himself, but he preferred to have an extra hand. Oh, well. He’d do it her way.
“All right,” he said with a nod. “Well, then. Let’s get started.”
Kendra awoke when she heard the door open. Her eyes felt sticky and puffy, and she still had that giddy feeling, but it was diminished, and mixed with a heavy grogginess. Her finger throbbed, but it was a faraway kind of feeling, distant. She turned to see Mommy coming into the trailer. She watched Mommy pull the screen door closed, then walk slowly to the kitchen table. She sat down and reached into a pocket, pulled something out, and put it on the table. Then she leaned her elbows on the tabletop and put her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs.
Dexter was still curled up on Kendra’s stomach, and she gently picked him up as she sat up and swung her legs off the couch. She put him down on the floor and carefully stood. She felt a little light-headed, but she managed to keep her balance. She walked carefully over to Mommy. A stack of cash lay on the table before her. Kendra put her hand on Mommy’s back.
Mommy jerked with surprise and gasped as she turned her head and looked up at Kendra. Her eyes were puffy and wet.
“What’s the matter, Mommy?” Kendra said.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Mommy turned toward her and wrapped her arms around Kendra’s waist. “It’s nothing. I just felt like having a good cry, that’s all.” She pulled back and looked up at Kendra. “How’s your finger?”
“It hurts a little, but not bad. The pills helped a lot.”
“When did you take them last?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we need to keep track. You can only take them every four to six hours.” She sniffed and rubbed a hand down her face, then wiped her eyes with her knuckles. She sighed heavily. “You didn’t fix your lunch, did you? You must be hungry. Want me to fix you some tuna fish salad?”
“That would be good.”
“You go back to the couch and sit down. Watch some TV. I’ll fix you some tuna fish salad for a big sandwich.”
“What’s the money for?” Kendra said.
“That’s got to go into the bank to cover the check I wrote Marc for the hospital and pharmacy bills.”
“I’m sorry I cost you so much money, Mommy.”
“Oh, huh-honey, it’s not your fuh-fault,” she said, her voice cracking. “Don’t you worry about it. Now, go back to the couch and turn on the Game Show Network and watch your game shows. I’m gonna fix something good to eat.”
Kendra bent down and kissed Mommy’s wet cheek, then returned to the couch.
Twenty
Reznick left his trailer around eight-thirty and walked through the sweltering shadows of dusk to Anna’s and knocked on the screen door. Anna came to the door.
“Hi, Marc,” she said as she opened the screen.
He went inside. “I just wanted to check on Kendra, see how she was doing this evening.”
“She’s been sleeping a lot because of the codeine.”
“Hi, Marc,” Kendra said from the couch. She was lying there with Dexter on her flat belly. Lying there with the dog, she looked more like a child than he’d ever seen her look before. It almost made him feel guilty for all the thoughts he’d had about her. Almost.
“How’s the finger?” he said.
“It hurt really bad for a while, but I took a couple more pills.”
“That’s good, I’m glad they’re helping.” He turned to Anna. Her face looked puffy and she looked worn out. “You okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“Look,” he said, lowering his voice, “I want to apologize for taking her to the hospital. It never occurred to me to take her to a walk-in clinic, and I know it would’ve been a lot cheaper. I’d like to help you out with that bill.”
“No, don’t worry about it, Marc, really. I’ve got the money to cover it now, and it’ll go in the bank first thing tomorrow morning.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. But thanks for the offer. It’s very good of you.”
“Is there anything I can do? You need anything from the store, anything at all?”
Anna shook her head. “No, I think we’re fine. But thanks a lot for the offer, Marc, I appreciate it.”
“Okay. Well, you know where to find me if you need anything.”
He left their trailer and walked slowly back to his own, thinking of Kendra stretched out on the couch like that, one bare knee bent upward, belly flat, breasts at rest, but still quite visible under her shirt, her blonde hair in a pool around her head on the throw pillow.
He felt ashamed of himself – but only a little – because he still wanted her. He still wanted her bad.
Anna could not very well leave Kendra home alone in the shape she was in, so she called the Gentlemen’s Club and told Paul her foot was still hurting and she needed to stay off of it one more night. She’d go back to work tomorrow – Kendra should be feeling better then. If necessary, she would take her over to Rose’s.
Anna had taken a long hot shower after her experience with Steven Regent in unit five. She’d felt filthy afterward and stayed under the stream of water until she didn’t feel that way anymore. But it never went away, not entirely. She left the shower feeling heavy as lead.
Kendra was asleep again on the couch. Another game show was running on TV. Kendra loved her game shows.
Anna lit a cigarette and went into Kendra’s bedroom and sat down at the computer. She checked for e-mail but there was none.
What was the website Steven had said she would be featured on? Something about trailer parks… Trailer Park Girls, that was it, TrailerParkGirls.com. Anna typed that in, and after a moment, the site opened up.
She looked at the cartoon of the busty young woman standing in front of a trailer. At the bottom of the screen, she read, “Real Trailer Parks. Real Girls. Coming Soon.” Then, below that, “NEW! Preview.”
Surely he didn’t have her pictures up already. She clicked on the hyperlink word “Preview.”
A moment later, another page opened with several small pictures on it. Anna looked at the pictures for a long time without fully realizing what she was seeing at first. As she looked at the photos, a numbness crept through her entire body, until she felt as if her whole body had been shot up with Novocain. It was the same blonde girl in all the pictures, first clothed, then topless, then in panties, then naked. Then she had Steven’s filthy cock in her mouth, then his filthy fluids all over her face.
It couldn’t be. It was impossible. Just a strong resemblance, that was all.
She clicked on one of the pictures and it became enlarged.
It was no mistake. It was not just some blonde girl. It was her daughter. It was Kendra. Kneeling naked on a bed, her legs spread, her arms together to press her large breasts close. And she was smiling. Smiling.
What had he done? Had he drugged her? Had he – had he – had he hypnotized her?
Anna heard a strange growling sound. For a while, she could not figure out where it was coming from – then she realized it was coming from deep in her chest. She was growling. Like some kind of animal. Her fingernails clawed at the top of Kendra’s desk. Everything turned a dark shade of red, as if blood had run into her eyes. Her teeth ground together, sounding like thunder in her skull.
She enlarged each picture and looked at it, starting with the first and through to the last. The final picture was the most sickening – Kendra grinning up at the camera with Steven’s semen spattered all over her face. She knew Kendra’s face, knew her expressions – that was a real smile, a real, genuine grin on Kendra’s face. Anna could not understand, how could it be? He must have gotten her drunk. But when? How could Anna not have known?