"What do you want?" I teased.
"A horse," she said. "My own. I mean, you can give me Cricket, but then I have to be able to ride her whenever I wanna."
"Not gonna happen," I said. "Not until you can take care of her without help, and you can't make it here to feed her. So, try again."
"Um..." She dragged that out as long as she could. "Maybe some makeup? Like the stuff Violet showed me?"
"Keep dreaming. What else?" But I put that on my list.
She sucked in an excited breath. "A laptop?"
"No." I was just going to stop that before it started. "You already have a new phone. Newer than mine. Try again."
"Maybe a whole day with you? Like, I could stay for the night and everything?" she asked. "I just miss you, Dad."
I let my eyes close and hugged my phone a little tighter. "I'll see if I can swing that, but I can't promise unless your mom says ok. She gets you this year for your birthday. But, I might be able to sneak another day with you for cake and ice cream. Maybe we'll go to Violet's and do some pool stuff?"
"Oh! Can I have things for the pool?" she asked. "I saw this big unicorn floaty, and it was so cute. And I want some clothes. Cute stuff, not kid stuff. Brody keeps trying to make me wear children's clothes. He wants to dress me as bad as he does. Mom thinks I need to look like she used to, but she can't seem to realize that her stuff's not cool anymore."
"Clothes," I said. "I might be able to swing something."
But I heard another voice in the background, and then the phone was snatched out of Faith's hands. "Luke?" It was Meredith.
"Hey," I said.
"Why are you calling her again?" she demanded.
"Birthday list," I told her. "But while I've got you, what are the chances of me stealing her for a couple of days next week? I know you get her on her birthday, but I was hoping for a little birthday celebration of our own."
"Not if you're taking her back to that place," she said. "I was talking to Lisa Davis, and she said that some sketchy things are happening up there. Did you know that your friend's grandmother was a dyke?"
"Lesbian," I corrected. "And yes, I know. I lived with them, Meredith."
"Then you should know exactly what kind of stuff they do. I have no intention of my daughter being corrupted like that. For all I know, they're getting her stoned or something."
"It's not like that at Southwind," I promised. "I know Violet's not like a lot of people in this town - "
She didn't even let me finish. "That woman is a tramp. She's a bad influence. And that man? He's a fag. Marge down at the feed store said he came in with his boyfriend. Next thing you know, they'll be doing that to you. And that's your business, Luke, but I'm not going to have Faith around them."
My heart slammed to a stop. "What?"
"It's like a damned cult. They suck you in and then screw you up. They use all their big-city tricks to get you all confused and enamored, and then they start perverting you. Drugs, sex, and everything else. First one of them says something, then the others start making it sound like a good idea, and before you know it, you're just as screwed up as they are. I mean, do you have any idea of the things those people do? They bring criminals here, Luke. Then they turn them loose. No jail, no nothing. Those are not good people, and Brody says that shrink you're taking Faith to is from there? What thefuckwere you thinking?"
"I was thinking that she was bullied and I can afford to trade some work for her to get therapy." But I was starting to wonder if maybe Meredith had a point.
"Yeah, well, that man's coming here tomorrow. Brody says he's going to tell him off. I don't know what he's up to, but I'm not ok with this, and I'm not going to let you drag me down with you. That's how we got in this mess in the first place. You told me you'd take care of me, and then you didn't."
"I fucking well did," I reminded her. "I made sure you had everything you needed. I quit school for you and Faith. You keep trying to cut me out and keep throwing the blame on me, but you were there too. You were the one who said you were on birth control, so don't give me that shit."
"You saying you don't love your daughter?" she asked.
"Not at all. I'm just saying that blaming me doesn't change a damned thing." But she was a little too right about other things. It bothered me more than I wanted to admit. "Meredith, just let me talk to Faith?"
"No. She needs to do her chores, and you need to get a life. Don't you have anything else to do on a weekend than bother us?"
"Yeah," I grumbled. "Then tell her bye for me. I'll drop off her presents later this week."
"Good." And then the line went dead.
