“What do you mean? Before, you mentioned option B…”
“Murder or maiming,” he clarified. “No, I won’t have to resort to either of those things. Your ex-boyfriend will listen when I tell him what’s up because he’s a spineless bitchface. I’ll get him to understand that it’s in his best interest to sit this one out.”
“You said he had a gun, though.”
Silas seemed unconcerned, but he didn’t disagree. “Let’s talk about your part,” he suggested. “How are you going to fix my sister?”
“What exactly is wrong with her?” I asked, and he got mad. Very.
“Nothing,” his deep voice boomed, and I jerked back in surprise. “There’s nothing wrong with Lyra.” His big fists had clenched on the table and he leaned forward, like he was daring me to disagree.
“You were the one who just asked how I was going to ‘fix’ her. That implies that there is a problem, and if you want me to deal with it, then you have to define it,” I told him calmly. “What’s wrong?”
He sat back and raised his hands to rub his forehead. “Yeah, you’re right. She’s having trouble at school, that’s one thing. And she’s having problems here in the neighborhood, too.”
But he also thought that she was smart, very smart. “I don’t know where she gets it,” he mentioned. His sister had started reading when she was about three, not just letters but whole words and then whole books, too. They were always going to the library to get more, and a few years before, a woman there had told him about math and science enrichment stuff. He’d started doing that with Lyra and she had excelled. But when she got to school?
He shook his head slowly, and he looked confused. “She’s failing that shit. How do you fail first grade? Even I got through elementary school. The teachers keep saying that she’s not trying and I don’t get it.”
I didn’t have the answer either, but I had already learned a lot. It sounded like Silas had been a part of her life for a long time. He had been the one taking her to the library and he was the one talking to her teachers now. “Her parents aren’t involved?” I asked.
“I adopted her,” he said, then he tilted his head and nodded. “You’re good.”
“What?”
“You’re not showing your emotions right now,” he pointed out, and that had been my goal. I’d been going for “interested” but also “serene.” “Unruffled” was a better word. “You’re covering what you feel, which I’m guessing is surprise. Maybe horror.”
“No, I’m not horrified. I know that other people often have to step in when parents can’t or don’t, and when I work, I don’t get emotional. This feels like work,” I explained. “Tell me exactly what’s happening with her school. Is she getting in fights?”
He hesitated, and then sighed. “Yeah. With boys and girls. They’re doing all kinds of discipline and restorative shit but none of it’s helping.”
“What are you doing about it?”
“Christ, I’m trying!” He leaned forward again. “In Lyra’s mind, the worst thing I can do is take away her books, but is it smart to stop her from reading?” His voice had risen in disbelief. “I can’t ground her because she never wants to leave the house unless she’s with me. When I make her go out to play like I used to, she fights with the other kids on our street. I try to talk to her about her behavior and she cries and says she’s sorry. She’s had so much shit going against her and then I’m supposed to drop the hammer?” He sat back and sighed. “Obviously, whatever I’m doing is wrong.”
“Why do you think that I could help?”
“Because the teacher was asking me if Lyra had any positive female influences and she sure as hell does not. And you’re…” Now Silas held up his hands, and he ran his eyes over me. “You’re…”
“I’m here and I said I’d do it,” I filled in. “Ok. I don’t think we should start tonight, though. I’m really tired.”
“I don’t think you should drive home alone. You picked one of the worst possible places to live in the city.”
I was aware of that. “It’s cheap,” I commented. “This house is nice.”
“It belonged to my grandma. That was the deal I made with my dad,” he said. “If I took Lyra and made things easy for him, he would let me have this house so she would have a place to grow up. You can stay here in the extra bedroom.”
That was what I did. I followed him upstairs, thump, thump, thump, to the guest room that didn’t seem to get a lot of use. Everything had a thin layer of dust but it was filled with real furniture and all that interested me was taking off this terrible bra and throwing it out the window. The dress, too. When Silas shut the door, I removed them, except then there was nothing to do but sleep in only my undies and that seemed inappropriate in a house with him and his little sister. There was no lock on the door, either, but there was no helping it. I washed my face, rinsed out my mouth, and performed a version of my security routine from my apartment. Then I crawled into the bed, which was a little musty but not that bad, and closed my eyes.
It seemed like it was only a few seconds later that they flew back open.
“Who are you?” The little girl standing next to my bed, Lyra, shoved back her hair. “Why the hell are you naked?”
“Don’t you cuss at me, young lady,” I said, and I heard all the Kentucky in my voice.
She blinked and folded her lips closed. That gave me hope for her, because I saw that this girl knew the difference betweenright and wrong. Also, I saw that the chair I’d put in front of the door had done nothing to prevent visitors.
I scooted my way up to sit against the headboard, keeping the sheet pulled around me. “I’m mostly and not totally naked because I didn’t have anything to sleep in,” I said. “My dress was too uncomfortable. Usually, I wear shorts and a t-shirt, like what you have on.”
