“Pass the envelope to me.”
Brittany glared at her mother and shoved the small letter to her mother. Every week, Bryson mailed her eighty dollars and every week, Cora took it from Brittany. Bryson had made the mistake of calling their mother to alert Brittany to watch out for the mail. Her cell phone had been disconnected because Cora convinced Bryson Brittany didn’t need one while she was home.
After ripping open the envelope, Cora smiled at the four twenty-dollar bills inside. Big lug head, Brittany thought grumpily, stomping to the bathroom and slamming the door closed. Who sent money through the mail? Only Bryson would do something so idiotic.
She went to the mirror and studied her hair. In the two months since she’d ruined it, it had grown out, so when she returned to school she wouldn’t look so bad.
If she returned, she amended with a scowl. She didn’t have the money to pay for any type of transportation. By now, she’d gotten six--hundred forty dollars from her brother, all of which she handed over to her mother for food and utilities.
“Brittany?”
Stephanie’s voice reached her through the door. Brittany opened it and pulled Stephanie into the bathroom, gaze going to the bag she held.
“Did you get it?” she asked.
Since Brittany had confessed to Stephanie, she stopped by daily. Eight times she’d brought a counselor to the house and eight times Brittany had purged her soul. She was keeping a journal as well. Whatever she missed talking about, she wrote about. Usually whatever she wrote about, she talked about.
She also got Stephanie’s promise she wouldn’t share with anyone what Brittany had revealed.
While Stephanie or the counselor hadn’t quite convinced Brittany to go to the police with her story, she felt stronger. So much so that she, Stephanie and the kids practiced self-defense techniques every day.
Yesterday, however, she’d made a startling conclusion—she hadn’t had a period in weeks. After Karl’s attack, the same thing had happened to her and like the last time, she wanted to be sure it was stress interfering with her period and nothing else.
Like pregnancy.
“Yeah I bought a kit with two tests. So get to it. Let’s see if you have a little Trey inside you.”
While they waited for the results of the test, Stephanie refreshed her makeup and pulled a brush out of her purse, restyling her hair. The bathroom was almost too small for the two of them so Brittany dropped the toilet lid down and used it as a seat.
“Damn, I’m a pretty bitch.” Stephanie turned her head this way and that. She wore a glittery dress and matching stilettoes because she was going on a date. “I wonder what Ernest will think.”
“That you’re a pretty bitch,” Brittany supplied, glancing from her hands to the two sticks.
“You know you’re right.” She ruffled her hair a little more. “Hey guess what? I decided to call Jamie to see how her and BJ are.”
Frowning at what appeared to be a pink line appearing, Brittany focused on Stephanie. “BJ?”
“Jamie’s daughter.”
“Jamie has a daughter?” Brittany gasped. “How old is she?”
“Almost four,” Stephanie said with an indefinable emotion.
“You’ve known all along where she is?”
“Yeah, Brit. I just wasn’t ready to talk to her or about her. But you mention her so often, I know how much you miss her and I miss her too. I figured once we finished your test, we could call her.”
Brittany stared in fascination at the white sticks, her gaze traveling from one to the other. They both showed dark-pink lines.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “I’m pregnant.”
Before Stephanie responded, the bathroom door swung open and Cora stood there. Taking in the scene, she narrowed her eyes at the incriminating evidence. Heat crept through Brittany and she jumped to her feet.
“Momma, I can explain.”
“Ain’t no need for no damn explanation. I can see what’s going on for myself.” Cora eyed Brittany from head to toe. “Stephanie, please leave. I need to talk to my daughter.”
“Er, um, sure thing, Ms. D.” Stephanie kissed Brittany’s cheek. “Congratulations, honey. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You’ve gone and gotten yourself pregnant,” Cora pointed out once Stephanie left.
“I didn’t get myself pregnant,” Brittany snapped. “I had help.”
Her mother glared. “I’m not having your lip in my house, Brittany Emanuela.” She fisted her hands on her ample hips. She was short, like Brittany, and had put on a lot of weight in recent years. “Whose is it?”
“Does it matter?”
“You’re just like your father. Promiscuous.”
“How do you know what I am? You weren’t ever around.”
“Why would I want to be around you when you chased away my man?”
Incredulous, Brittany stared at her mother. “Daddy left. I had nothing to do with that.”
“Yes you did. From the time you were born, you never did what you were supposed to do. Couldn’t even look like me to make my life easier. I should’ve gotten rid of you. All you ever did was cause me trouble. Or I should’ve sent you to live with that good-for-nothing bastard who made you.”
Brittany heaved in a breath and it caught in the back of her throat. “Daddy—”
“My husband wasn’t your ‘daddy’,” she bit out. “You’ve been worthless like him your entire life. I tell Bryson all the time to cut you off. My baby is working his ass off to pay your tuition and you don’t even appreciate it enough to keep up your grades.”
“Br-Bryson is paying my tuition?”
“You think I would? The day my husband left was the day I stopped having a daughter. Your daddy was a hoe and you’re one too. You both made me lose a good man. Go back to the bastard who put his baby in your belly. You’re no longer welcome here.”