LENKA
In truth, I don't want Danny going anywhere near my place. He insisted on taking me home, and I’m so apprehensive about it.
I’m not the type of person to be ashamed of who I am or where I come from, but I’ve been party to Danny’s life, and it makes me feel so inferior. As Henry parks the car in front of my building, I know one thing for sure. I’m not asking Danny to come in.
“So, this is it?” He seems just as nervous as I am.
“Yep. Do you think that Carl and Adele are in the Bahamas yet?” I try to stall.
“Yes, they’re there. They both sent me a message before we left the house.”
“Were we really the last ones to leave?” I laugh.
He nods. “Sure were. It’s a first for me. Usually, I’m the first to leave.”
“Oh, how come?”
“A business deal in the making or work problems. There’s always something work-related. It’s as if I can’t think of anything else but work at the best of times.”
I shrug. “Maybe you’ll find something else to think about.”
He winks. “I already have.”
I close my eyes and sink into the seat, not wanting to get out of the car, but knowing I can’t stay here forever. I need to face my fear of going inside and finding my mom drunk, and Danny needs to go to work. Two things we’re dreading, but both of them our reality.
“Damn, I wish that I was in the Bahamas.” I sigh, thinking about the sun, the sea, and the beach.
“You’re not the only one.” He scoots a bit closer, bending his head to catch my gaze. “You don't have to go in, you know? Lenka, I can take you anywhere.”
“Yes, but I have to go in. My brother needs me.”
“Fine. We can always go whenever you have time.” Danny offers me a soft smile.
When he presses his lips against mine, I think about the man that I’m now dating, and I know that no matter what’s waiting for me inside, I can face it because, for the first time in a long time, I have something to look forward to. It’s Danny Turner, the man who paid me to be his fake fiancée and my now very real boyfriend.
I leave the car and walk up the same tired, dirty stairs. They haven’t changed. The apartment’s quiet. A bit too quiet for my liking, especially seeing as it’s only seven.
I head for the living room. The TV’s gone, just like so many times before when Mom has pawned it for drinking money. Some part of me wonders why I try so hard.
I drag Candy's suitcase to my bedroom. I'll give it back to her in a few days. For now, all I can think about is how exhausted I feel.
I sit on my bed and pull out the envelope that Danny gave me in the car. I didn't open it then because I didn't want him to think that this was about the money for me. I would have been completely fine with him not paying me at all considering that I walked away with something so much better than money anyway.
I expect to see three, or even four hundred in the envelope. I start counting the stack of hundreds, and my heart begins to race at the realization that it's a lot more than I was promised.
Mom would love to get her hands on this money. As if smelling the money, she appears in the doorway, smiling at me with her yellow-stained teeth. “Lenka, you came back. I thought that you weren’t going to come back.”
Did she really care?
I shove the envelope back into my purse, hoping she didn't see it. The thought flashes through my mind that there's enough money here to escape my shitty life. I could leave now if I wanted to. I could take Scott, and we could just disappear.
"I should go see Scott," I say, standing to leave.
I walk into Scott’s room, and he’s sitting in a corner on the floor. There's no longer a bed where one used to be. Mom must have sold that, too. I shake my head as he gets up to come to me.
“Sis, I'm so glad you're back.” He pulls me into an embrace. "I was worried you weren't coming back. That you'd had enough." Scott steps away from me and drops his gaze to the floor. "I don't think I'm going to go to college. I think a job is more important right now. Making enough money so that we can get a place together and get out of here. Mom's out of control. I don't want to live like this anymore."
I gather him in my arms for another hug. The pain in his expression stings my heart. "Don't you worry about a thing. We're going to be fine now." I think of the money in my purse. “We’re getting out of here.”