In a series of rapid movements similar to stop, drop, and roll, I was out of my car and headed up the stairs to the community center to pick up Bee.

They charged a late fee of fifty dollars, and there was no fucking way in hell that I could afford fifty dollars.

“I’m here. I’m here!” I shouted as I pulled open the door

“Hi. Are you Bee’s mom? I’m Sophie Lang.” A tall brunette woman gracefully swept in front of me. I felt like a clumsy clodhopper next to her.

“Yes. Hi.” I was skeptical as to why this woman was greeting me instead of it being Denise, the head of the center. “Where’s Bee?”

“Oh, she’s in the other room playing with my girls. My husband, Carter, is watching them.”

“Where’s Denise?”

“She had to leave early today, so we agreed to stay late.”

“I’m so sorry for cutting it so close. I had a class at Valencia College after work.”

“Ms. Nichols, you’re fine. Denise told us you probably wouldn’t be a minute early. I wanted to come out and introduce myself. My daughter Harlow and Bee have become besties, so I thought that maybe they could get together sometime and play.” She handed me a business card that read: Sophia Christakos, Children’s Author.

Her phone number, email, website, and address were listed.

“Christakos? I thought that you said your name was Lang?”

“Pen name.” Oh, I hadn’t even thought about that. “If you ever find you’re running late, don’t hesitate to call me. I’m usually working from home, but if I can’t help, Carter can always come by and at least stay with her.”

“Carter? As in Deputy Carter who volunteers here?” I asked.

“Yes. Your daughter has him wrapped around her pinkie. She is going to be quite the heartbreaker someday.”

“Thanks. I’ll just go get her.” I headed toward the television room. I liked Carter, he and Bee had a special bond. I’d always hated the fact that she’d never have that kind of relationship with a dad. Carter was one of the good ones, that four-leaf clover in a field of crabgrass.

“Absolutely. But please keep my number. I don’t mind; I’m usually around.”

“Well, aren’t you fortunate.” Okay, I was being a bitch, but she’d no clue how much I wished that I could just be around for my daughter.

“I didn’t mean it . . .”

“I’m sorry, I know you didn’t. I’m tired, and I’m taking it out on you. If you don’t mind, I’ll get Bee, and we’ll be on our way.” If she had been about to say anything else, she changed her mind. I needed to work on my attitude. I didn’t have any friends, and my attitude was only part of the reason. The other part was I was afraid. What if they found out, what if they turned us in, what if…the story of my life began and ended with what if.

I headed down the hallway. “Bee, come on, let’s go!” I shouted.

“Bye. Bye, Harlow. Bye, Gianna. Bye, Avril. Bye, Carter. Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.” There was a beat of silence, and then Bee’s voice sounded again. “Okay, I’ll ask my mom.” Bee’s voice was filled with excitement. She obviously had enjoyed spending the extra time with—I looked down at the card—Sophia’s family.” She ran out to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Hi, Mom bug.”

“Hi, Bee bug. Did you have fun?”

“Yep. Did you know Harlow is my best friend?”

“I did, her mom just told me. What do you have there?” I pointed at a bag full of goodies.

“The Santas came today.”

Bee loved the Santas. From what I’d gathered, they were a nice older couple that helped financially support the community center and had a special fondness for Bee. It was where she’d gotten the Kindle. “What did the Santas bring everyone today?”

“They bought a new television—a big one—and bean bag chairs. Mrs. Santa gave me another card so I could put some more books on my Kindle, but she snuck it to me. It’s our secret.”

I looked up and caught Sophie’s eyes as we passed her in the hallway but tore my stare away and focused back on my girl. “Well, why don’t you tell me all about it while we grab some dinner.”

“I already had dinner.”

“You did?”

“Yep. Miss Sophie brought . . . ummm . . . Miss Sophie!”

“Shhh. Don’t shout.”

“But I don’t remember the name,” Bee said, as if that was reason enough for why she should scream from the parking lot.

“How about you describe it to me.” I opened my car door and waited for Bee to run around and jump in on the other side before I got in.

“She said it was the geek version of beefaroni.”

“Geek version?”

“Yup. She’s geek, and she says these weird words that are geek.”

I chuckled. “I think you mean Greek.”

“Yeah. That’s what I said.”

“No. You said ‘geek,’” I clarified.

“Same thing.”

“Let’s not tell Miss Sophie, okay? Well, I’m going to grab a burger, then we’ll head home. Homework done?”

“Yup.”

I kept an eye on the road for that black Charger as we pulled into our normal secret hiding spot in the woods. It was nearly eight, but thanks to daylight savings time, we still had about thirty minutes of sunlight. Shifting into our routine, I got out first and looked around before knocking on the car and signaling it was safe for Bee. I opened the trunk and switched out clothes, tossing the dirty clothes in a basket and putting a fresh set for each of us in the duffle while Bee gathered her stuff.

When we walked in, we moved like a well-rehearsed play.

“Hurry up, Bee bug, get your bath and up to bed.” I set our stuff down and dug into the bag to find her bath stuff plus her pajamas. Pulling out our flashlights, I switched one on.

“Mommy.”

“What?” Even I could hear the exasperation in my voice, but I knew she was going to ask for something, she’d used Mommy.

“I forgot to charge my Kindle. Can you plug it in?”

“Bug, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow, and you can plug it in when we are in the car.”

“Mommy, plug it in here.”

“No.”

“Why?” Bee looked as if she was on the verge of crying.

“Don’t. Sweet girl, I will do anything for you, and I try to give you everything, right?”

Bee nodded.

“Then you need to let me give you this, understand the difference between right and wrong. This is not our house. I’m trying hard to save up enough money for the deposit to rent a place, but it is hard. We are staying in this house free, so we are not going to cost the owners any more money. Electricity costs money. Water costs money. Taking a bath costs the people who own this house money.”

“Do you pay them?”

“I work it off. I clean the house and scrub the floors. If I didn’t, they would have to pay someone to do it.”

“Can’t we work off charging my Kindle?”

“No. Bee, we take enough from this owner. You can charge it in the car tomorrow morning. I’m sorry. Now go take your bath and remember not to drain the water, I still need to take a bath.”

While she played in the bath for a bit, I raced upstairs and made our bed. When I came back down, I was headed for our essentials bag but stopped when I saw several sheets of paper on the kitchen bar that hadn’t been there this morning. Picking them up, I flipped through them. It was company letterhead, but only one sheet had writing. One line stood out: find a secretary. I snapped a photo of the page with my cell phone and returned the stack to where I had found it. I’d call tomorrow.

I resumed my nightly chores. I opened our bag and pulled out a bottle of vinegar and a stack of old newspapers. Tearing off a sheet, I began cleaning the glass sliding doors, removing all dust and dirt from construction going on in the area.

“Yuck,” Bee said from behind me. “I hate the smell of vinegar.”

“I know, but it cleans the best, and the newspaper doesn’t leave streaks.”

“Did your mom teach you this?”

I set my cleaning stuff down and pulled my girl into my arms to help towel dry her hair. “No. My mom didn’t clean. We had a lady who would cook and clean for us. Her name was Mercedes, and I learned from her. She spanked my butt one time.”

“Did you still like her?”

“I loved her. I didn’t tell my parents she spanked me because they would have fired her. Plus, I knew I deserved it and she did it because she loved me. Kind of like the few times I’ve swatted your butt. I love you, but you were being a little shit.” I pulled Bee to me and snuggled her tight. She let out a giggle.

“I love you, Mommy bug.”

“Love you too. Now go upstairs and get to bed. I still have to take my bath and clean up a little before I come up.” I gave her a giant kiss and a hug and watched her run upstairs.

Heaving myself up, I grabbed my toiletries, pajamas, and another towel before heading up to the bathroom. Adding a little hot water to the cold bath water, I quickly bathed and was out. Slipping on my pajama shorts, I groaned. Fuck. Twisting, I pulled out the waistband and tried to read the label, medium. These motherfuckers were getting tight, which was probably because of all the damn fast food we ate. I was going to have to buy size large. I wasn’t even five-foot-five.