I think she’s trying to be nice.
“If you and Ellie ever have kids, I think you’ll make a good dad,” she says and I like the way that makes me feel. Warm and happy.
“Thank you,” I tell her, knowing that is important to say after someone says something nice to you.
“Bye, Flynn. Tell Ellie—“ She stops talking.
“Tell Ellie what?” I ask.
Dania touches the baby’s head and smiles again.
“Never mind. Don’t tell her anything,” she says.
And I don’t.
Chapter Twenty-one
-Ellie-
The sound of Dania’s moans on the other side of the wall made me want to throw something. It was the fourth time this week she had brought home a random and screwed his brains out…with her door open…and very, very loudly.
I turned up the volume of the television, trying to drown out the obnoxious shriek of my best friend’s mating call. Someone should probably tell her that she sounded like a screeching dolphin. But that someone wouldn’t be me. I had some sense of self-preservation left.
I had only been out of Spadardo’s for a week and I was starting to almost miss it. By the end of my stay I had established a reputation for punching first, talking later, which allowed me a modicum of respect. Which also meant I was left the hell alone.
They had a library and a decent cafeteria. I got regular exercise and even got my GED. It was sad to admit that I had been more productive in juvenile detention than I had ever been on the outside.
I had thought living with Dania would at least give me a bit of time to figure out my next steps. I should have known sleeping on her couch would involve being subjected to her out of control sex show multiple times a week.
Forty minutes later a guy walked out of her bedroom, his jeans unbuttoned, pulling his T-Shirt over his head. He was greasy and unwashed and looked to be around forty with a bald patch and patchy beard. What in the hell had Dania been thinking?
As he walked toward the door, I noticed the gleam of a gold band on his left ring finger. Geesh, he was a real winner.
He didn’t acknowledge me. He left, slamming the door behind him. Dania came out a short time later wearing only a cami and her underwear. She was beautiful in a completely natural way. But her good looks were marred by her complete lack of self-esteem. It was hard to think much of someone who clearly didn’t think much of themselves.
“Did Joe leave already?” she asked, looking around for the middle-aged loser.
I jerked my thumb toward the front door. “He just left,” I said, finally able to turn the volume down on the television.
Dania pouted and sank down on the couch beside me, pulling her legs up underneath her. She looked so young sometimes that it was depressing to realize how fast she was forced to grow up.
“Where’d you find that guy?” I asked, making a face.
Dania glared at me in warning. “Joe’s nice. He comes into the shop a couple of times a week to pick up orders. He works on the town maintenance crew,” she said. Dania had gotten a job at the car parts store on the far side of Wellston. It was an ideal job for a girl desperate for male attention. Being the only female, she got a lot of it. Her mattress could attest to that.
“He looks…old. And married,” I said.
Dania drew herself up defensively. “He’s only thirty-eight. That’s not even really middle aged yet. And his wife’s a bitch. He says he wants to leave her.”
“What and be with you?” I scoffed. I couldn’t believe it. Dania actually seemed to like the old fogy. But I knew that this was the same as all of her other notches on the bedpost…sex only.
“Shut up, Ellie. I don’t want to hear your judgy bullshit,” she growled, her face flushing. I knew it was time to backpedal in order to avoid a Dania Blevins meltdown.
“Forget I said anything,” I placated, holding up my hands.
Dania rolled her eyes. “Let’s go to Woolly’s. Maybe Stu and the guys are there,” she suggested, getting to her feet, forgetting about Joe. I knew that there would be someone warming her bed sheets later tonight.
I looked at my friend and felt sad for her. Sad for us both. We were two extremes. Dania was desperate for a connection, so she settled for what she got when she spread her legs.
