“Oh.” Kinley slumped back.
“Why the sour face?” Darla glanced over at Kinley, curious at the reaction she received.
“Just thought you would be a good mom.” Kinley shrugged as she leaned back forward and turned the knob bringing the music back to full volume.
Lizzie, did you think I was a good mom?Darla’s stomach knotted up. Despite Kinley’s immature behavior, she recognized that she was an incredibly sweet child.I’ll give her a good life up until the switch, she thought, searching for a justification for robbing the young girl of her future.
Darla contemplated finding someone else to switch with, allowing Kinley to live her life fully, to marry if she wanted, to have kids. None of that would be possible with Darla’s plan to take her youth and beauty as her own. Maybe she could waituntil Kinley was older before the switch. Darla could wait until she was on her deathbed again.
She had done it before. Darla remembered back to Jane, and how what she thought were her final moments had turned out to be the beginning of her future.
Darla turned the radio down. “Kinley, where do you see yourself in ten years?”
“I always assumed I would work at the diner,” she finally replied.
“Okay, but now that you don’t have to, what do you really want for yourself?”
“Hmmm, I dunno. Now that we are heading to Hollywood, it would be fun to look fancy and be on the big screen. I don’t know if I would be any good, but it does look fun!”
“I want to help people!” Jenkins piped up from the back, his small voice squeaked the words out.
“What else? What kind of house would you want to live in?”
“Oh, there was this one movie I saw that had a big white house and a wraparound porch with a swing on it. And it had a fountain in the front yard. There were so many rooms, but I wouldn’t want to clean them all by myself, so I guess I would want kids to help me out with the chores.” Kinley laughed.
“I just want a house where I have my own room.” Jenkins giggled as Kinley undid her seatbelt to reach back and tickle her brother.
“Oh yes, I definitely don’t want to smell your stinky socks.” The cab filled with the symphony of their laughter, and Darla felt a strange peace fall over her.
Maybe this is something I can really do well. I could be what they need to have better lives.
“Wait until you see my house. It is two stories and has a pool in the backyard. And of course, you would each have your own room and bathroom.”
New squeals erupted and Darla relaxed, enjoying herself as the conversation progressed. Viewing Kinley as an innocent child made her realize that there was no way she could take away her hopes and dreams. She would have to find someone else, even if it meant more work to get access to the money.
Darla chuckled to herself, contemplating that maybe she could even ask Kinley for help on the next switch when she was older and could be trusted with the secret about her gift.
“Oh, I love this song!” Kinley blared the music to a punishing volume and the speakers gave a squeak of resistance before both ladies were happily singing along to the lyrics, off key but on beat. Jenkins even bounced along, eyes sparkled as he watched the show in the front seat.
Darla felt a new sense of peace and hope about their futures. This was going to be a new kind of legacy, one born of friendship and kinship. Maybe Kinley could grow to care for her in return.
She watched from the driver’s seat as Kinley belted out the chorus into her fake microphone, lost in the moment so much that she missed seeing the red light on this stretch of the highway. More importantly, she missed seeing the oncoming truck until it collided into her side of the car.
The smoke surrounded her face and allowed her a small amount of visibility to her immediate surroundings. Darla couldn’t tell which was her car and which was the truck. She let out a cough, and there was an immediate pain in her chest.
She looked down and saw her steering wheel was wedged up against her body. White-hot pain seared through her chest as she tried twisting to squeeze out from between her seat and the steering wheel.
“Ahhh!” She screamed, but it did nothing to relieve her from the pain radiating from her chest.
She reached her hand to wipe the sweat from her brow and instead saw that a bright red liquid drenched her hand. More pain registered in her body, and her rapid breathing left her gasping and coughing as she realized very quickly that she was in bad shape.
The kids!
She looked over and choked out a guttural cry as she took in the image of the small broken body.
“No, Kinley!” Her eyes closed and fresh tears fell at the sight of Kinley. Her breathing increased as panic swelled inside of her. It was only a glance, but she knew Kinley was gone.
“Why?” Her voice broke as she remembered how Kinley removed her seatbelt to tickle Jenkins in the back seat.
