She clasps her hands across her lap. “That’s an awfully big chaise for a petite woman like you to handle all by yourself.”
“I scooted it. It’s not that heavy. I’m stronger than I look.”
Rouge narrows her eyes. Then she gets to her feet and glides to my dressing room door, glancing dismissively over her shoulder. “I hope you feel better, Bianca.”
I blink. “I already am. Thank you, Rouge.”
She opens the door slowly, keeping her eyes on me until she’s finally departed.
I lock the door and lean against it.
She didn’t buy it.
I gave her an answer to every question, but she’s my sister. She knows when I’m lying.
But what she doesn’t know yet is why I was lying.
There are lots of reasons I could have gone into the restroom and not wanted anyone in there with me. Maybe I took a lover in there and hooked up with him. I couldn’t have used my dressing room because the musicians were in there.
Maybe I was shooting up some illicit substance. I wouldn’t be the first Aces patron to do something like that in the bathrooms. We’ve dealt with a lot of overdoses.
The least likely explanation is that I was uncovering my sister’s organ harvesting ring.
At least that’s what I’m hoping she’ll think.
Rouge is smart. Smarter than I am. I’ll be the first to admit it.
But she underestimates my intelligence. She couldn’t possibly think I’d uncover her deepest, darkest secret.
God willing that’s the case.
I look at my watch.
Thirty minutes until closing.
One more set and I’m home free.
4
HARRISON
“Every time Harry doesn’t come home from school, the first place I check is the ravine behind our neighborhood.”
My mom’s said that countless times. And it’s true.
This is my place to hang out by myself. It’s a half mile or so away from my parents’ trailer park. The school bus drops me off nearby, and I’ll usually hang out here for an hour or two before finally going home.
There’s not a whole lot there waiting for me after school lets out anyway. Mom and Dad both work at least until five, sometimes later if they need overtime. My older brothers Harold, Harrow, Harvey, and Harker usually hang with their own friends. My one younger sibling, Harlan, thinks he’s my best friend and will glom onto me the second I get home. He’s two years younger than I am, just started first grade. He’s having a hard time adjusting and I’m like a security blanket to him.
My time in the ravine is the only time I have to myself. The only time I’m not in school or packed with my family like a bunch of sardines in our tiny mobile home.
Sometimes I’ll catch bugs while I’m down here—one time I got a praying mantis—and sometimes I’ll throw rocks into the little creek. Sometimes I can make one skip across the water. Harold is really good at it, but he’s good at most things.
But mostly what I just do here is think. I think about a lot of things. What I want to be when I grow up. What kind of girl I’m going to marry. What kind of house I’d like to build.
One thing is for sure. I’m going to get out of this part of Des Plaines. I want to live in downtown Chicago. Maybe I’ll be a doctor at a big hospital or something.
I get off the bus and head down to the ravine. But today, for the first time, another boy is there. He looks about my age, and he’s dressed in a fancy striped sweater with a white dress-shirt collar sticking out. Pressed khaki pants and fancy-looking brown shoes—the kind Dad saves for special occasions, like Nana O’Rourke’s funeral.
