For Good by Karelia Stetz-Waters Read Free Book Online

don’t want to hear it.”
     “Of course I do,” Marydale urged.
    Kristen thought back. “My mom didn’t beat us, but she never paid for stuff either. Food. School stuff. Pads when I got my period. We never stayed in an apartment more than a month or two. I got a work permit when I was fifteen. I was just sick of it. But my mom thought it meant she’d be able to buy outfits for her performances . She told the manager at the taco place where I worked that she had to collect my money because I’d spend it on drugs. She was the one using.”
    “That’s awful.”
    “Finally my manager called my high school, and my guidance counselor helped me find a lawyer who would take my case pro bono. I think that’s when I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I remember going into the courthouse. My mom was there, and she kept talking about how she was just about to get her big break, and I couldn’t do this to her because I was her girl . And I almost said no. I almost said I wanted to stay with her, but Sierra was ten, and I saw what was going to happen to her if she stayed with our mom. I think my mom was on meth at that point. Then it was all over, and Sierra and I were on our own.”
    “That must have been hard.”
    “It was easier without my mom.”
    “You’re tough.”
    “I just did what I had to do.”
    “I know that story,” Marydale said.
    Kristen waited for her to say more, but when Marydale spoke again, she asked, “Did you leave anyone else in Portland besides Sierra?”
    “My friend Donna. We grew up a mile or two away from each other on Eighty-Second Avenue. Her parents are dishwashers at this dim sum place called Golden Lucky Fortune. They used to save food for me and Sierra. Donna and I used to see each other every day, but I don’t think she misses me much. She’s dating this career military guy. Special ops. They’ll make a movie out of him. He’s a jerk, but somehow she likes it. He’s got an amazing jawline. And before that, there was the opera singer, the police chief, and I think there were at least two CrossFit teachers. Poor Donna.”
    “And you? Did you have a boyfriend in Portland?” Marydale leaned back, perfectly balanced on the railing. “Someone you miss?”
    “In college, I think I was still looking for ‘the One,’” Kristen said slowly. She had cried when the bottom-shelf philosopher dumped her, but after that her dates had faded into the landscape of adult responsibility: specific prearranged meetings at restaurants both parties had researched independently. Sex after an appropriate period of time and using all the modern precautions. “After college I dated, but I never really had the time to…care.”
    “Were they all nice guys?”
    “You mean were they abusive? No.”
    Marydale looked away, and Kristen had the impression that she had misunderstood Marydale’s question.
    “It’s not like guys notice me much,” Kristen added.
    Marydale slid off the railing and sat next to her. “I find that hard to believe.”
    Kristen took in the sweep of Marydale’s body, from the scuffed turquois boots to her rhinestone belt buckle to her hair.
    “You don’t have that problem,” Kristen said.
    Marydale tilted her head to one side, revealing a faux-diamond earring.
    “I think you’ve got that sexy-librarian thing.” Marydale draped one arm over the back of the porch swing. “Any girl can blow out her hair and put on some false eyelashes and a pair of Peel-n-Stick Push-Ups—”
    “Do I even want to know?”
    Marydale cupped her own breast with one hand.
    “In case the Good Lord didn’t provide, but you don’t need all that.”
    Judging by the swell of her breast rising from the low-cut V of her shirt, Marydale didn’t need them either.
    “But you…you’re different.” Marydale rubbed the tips of her fingers into Kristen’s shoulder. “You remind me of the range.”
    “The range?” she asked.
    Marydale ran her fingers beneath the coil of Kristen’s French twist,