Better Left Buried by Belinda Frisch Read Free Book Online Page B

see he didn’t believe it. “How are things otherwise?”
    “Otherwise? Fine.”
    “I’m not sure that was the word Ms. Herr used when she contacted me about the power being shut off and a number of other things.”
    “What other things?” The phrase made her nervous. She coughed and sniffled, reaching for the box of tissues on the table next to her.
    “Are you sure you’re all right?”
    Sooner or later she was going to have to explain her condition. “I think I’ll take that water now.” She drank down two cups from the water cooler in the corner and settled on her cover story.
    “Better?”
    Harmony sat back down. “Much. I’m sorry. I stayed at a friend’s house last night and I think I’m allergic to her cat or something. I woke up and my eyes were all swollen and itchy and I can’t stop coughing.”
    “ You should try some antihistamine for that.” He shifted in his chair and took off his glasses. His expression became severe. “Harmony, we need to talk about your mother. She missed the last several appointments and again she’s unable to attend. I have no choice but to notify family court of her non-compliance. I hope you understand that. And I’d like to talk to you about the situation your mother was involved in several days ago.”
    “Situation?”
    “ The police informed Sylvie of your mother’s recent arrest. One of the conditions of you staying home is your mother’s sobriety.”
    “I know. I’m sorry.” The pepper spray made it that much easier for her to manufacture tears. “It was my fault. Please, we had a fight. I was angry with her and I said the meanest things …” She dabbed at her eyelids with the tissue. “I ran away from home and she looked for me the entire night before she started drinking. Her sponsor called me and I hung up. I knew she was in trouble, but I was just so mad. She drank, okay, fine, but it was one slip. Do you know how hard it’s been for us?”
    “I do,” he said, “but violence without provocation, that’s something else altogether.”
    “Violence? Against who? The liquor store clerk?” It wasn’t the first time her mother had said “no” to being refused.
    “No, against Joan Miller.”
    “Brea’s mother?”
    How had she not heard about this?
    “I see you didn’t get the whole story.” Dr. Bennett folded his hands over his chest and blew out a sour breath. “My goal is to keep you at home, Harmony, for the next six months until your eighteenth birthday when hopefully you’ll be able to take care of yourself. The group home is overcrowded and honestly, there are younger kids that need the available beds, but I will send you there if you can’t follow my rules. I want you to make a follow-up appointment, soon, and I need your mother to be here. Failure to keep the appointment for any reason is an immediate remand to the Midtown Home for you. Do you understand me?”
    Harmony nodded, still floored that her mother had gone after Brea’s.
    “This new behavior from your mother is troublesome. She was fortunate that Ms. Miller dropped the charges, but I need an explanation as to what provoked the attack in the first place.”
    “You and me both.”

CHAPTER TWELVE
     
    Brea erased ten lines of work for an algebra equation she couldn’t solve and threw her pencil across the room. She was still shaken from what happened with Rachael and wondered how many people had read the word “whore” painted on her locker. She pushed her lap desk to the foot of her bed and watched a chunk of red goo float to the top of her lava lamp.
    “Knock knock.” Jaxon smiled from around her partly clo sed door. He was wearing a snug black v-neck, a white t-shirt, and jeans.
    “What are you doing here?” After the day she’d had, the last thing she felt like was company.
    “Your mom let me up.”
    “ Figures.” Anyone else would be relegated to the living room with the lights on and the drapes open.
    “What’re you doing?”
    “Stupid homework. I