Page 428 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

I open a cabinet and gasp.

Plastic.

Plastic everywhere.

Containers stacked to the ceiling,

cloudy bottoms.

Lids jammed sideways,

all red and blue and clear.

“Oh, thank God I came.”

Sera’s brow pops.

“Okay. Who is this girl?”

Paola says, “Andrew’s friend.”

Maria sighs, dreamy and proud.

“L’unico vero amore di Andrew.

“Andrew’s one true love.”

My head pops up from under the sink, and I point a trash bag at her ‘cause, like, she didn’t have to say it in both languages.

“Okay, so. First of all, Maria’s heavily medicated and cannot be trusted with anything she says.” I snap the trash bag open. “Second—I regret to inform you that the Harding household has been storing lasagna in slow-release poison boxes.”

Paola takes the trash bag from me.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“DEHP. Phthalate leaching.” I dump a stack of containers into the bag she doesn’t realize she’s now holding open. “You are storing your food inside plastic made from the same ancestral sludge as gasoline.”

Maria gasps from the recliner.

“Exactly.” I point at her.

“Correct response.”

“Allison—” Paola starts.

But I keep going, “Microscopic plastic is probably lodged in Andrew’s arteries as we speak.” I grab a stack of lids and throw them in. “This?” I snatch a small measuring cup off the counter and hold it up between two fingers. “This is literally killing Andrew.”

The living room falls quiet.

Then Lisa snaps,

pointing a red nail at me.

“See? Told you she was crazy.”

Paola’s gaze follows the cup I’m tossing into the trash, brows pulled tight, face pulled horrified.

Her gaze slings back to me.