The View From Here by Cindy Myers Read Free Book Online

hair almost invisible against his pink scalp.
    Lucille had no idea what Olivia herself looked like these days. The young woman changed her appearance like a chameleon, blending in with whatever crowd she associated with at the time. She’d gone through a Goth phase, dying her hair ink black and wearing Kabuki white makeup. Another time, she’d bleached her hair platinum and donned pencil skirts and round-toed pumps and rolled curls à la Veronica Lake. Still later, she’d added pink streaks to the blond and taken to wearing baggy jeans and skintight baby T’s and listening to loud, angry rap music.
    Maybe having a child of her own had settled her down some. Lucille hoped so, though she couldn’t call this latest move settled.
    The call had come out of the blue, while Lucille was working at the store. “Hey,” Olivia said, an abrupt, sharp syllable that was more a command for attention than a greeting. “The kid and I are thinking about coming out to see you for a while.”
    Lucille’s heart pounded at the words, but she told herself not to get too excited. Olivia had promised visits before and they hadn’t materialized. “You know I’d always love to see you and Lucas,” she said.
    â€œYeah, well, I lost my job and D. J. moved out, so I thought it was a good time to come stay with you a while.”
    Lucille took it D. J. was the latest boyfriend, though she’d never heard him mentioned before. The last she’d heard, Olivia was living with someone named Allen. Lucas’s father had disappeared from the picture so long ago, Lucille could scarcely remember his name. Bryan, maybe?
    Then the news about the job sank in. Olivia had been working as a receptionist at an electronics manufacturing business for the last five years. “You were laid off?” Lucille asked.
    â€œFired, actually. I was sick of the place anyway. You’ve got room for us, right?”
    Physically, Lucille had two empty bedrooms, if you counted the little room up under the eaves where she stored luggage and extra inventory from the store. Emotionally, she was less sure she had room for her daughter’s always disruptive presence. But she had the boy to think of. Maybe this would be a chance for her to get to know her only grandchild.
    â€œHow long do you think you’ll stay?” she asked.
    â€œDon’t know. ’Til you and I can’t stand each other, I guess.”
    Lucille winced. When Olivia had last lived in her mother’s home, she’d been a strong-willed fifteen-year-old who balked at Lucille’s curfew, requirements she do her homework before watching TV or visiting friends, and her refusal to buy Olivia cigarettes or a car. She’d run away on a bus to her father, and he and Lucille had decided their daughter would be better off staying with him.
    Lucille had been secretly relieved Mitch was willing to take over the burden of dealing with the obstreperous teen, but that relief was coupled with guilt that she’d somehow failed her daughter. “All right,” she said. “I’ll look forward to seeing you.”
    They were driving in tonight, and Lucille supposed she was as ready as she’d ever be. She went to the window and stared out at the darkened street, as if that would make Olivia drive up any sooner. A single headlight appeared in the distance, approaching fast. A motorcycle with a dark figure crouched on its back. Lucille recognized Jameso Clark. Handsome, wild Jameso, the kind of man-boy she had chased after time and time again when she was a girl. Unless things had changed, Olivia would waste no time picking Jameso from the herd here in Eureka. Lucille felt no qualms about this. Jameso was a good man, if a little restless. He might be a positive influence on Olivia, and at least he would give her one more reason to stay in town.
    She looked down the street again. Two houses down, every light blazed. Cassie Wynock