Bailey lunged across the seat, grabbing for Casey’s arm, but was jerked back by her seat belt. “What do you mean if you don’t see me? You’re coming back to the shed tonight. I’m going to get that info for you about Pat.”
Casey turned to look out at the fields. “That’s what I wanted to tell you. I’ll see how things go, okay?”
“You promised.”
“I did?” She did?
“You said you would let me see how you look. And I said I wouldn’t run screaming. Remember?”
Was that a promise?
“I’ll try, Bailey, okay? It’s the most I can say.”
Bailey’s lips pinched together. “Fine. That’s the last I’ll be helping you.”
She gunned the engine and looked back over the seat. Casey jumped out from the door and slammed it shut, watching as Bailey speed-reversed down the lane to the road, where she skidded into the gravel, sending up a plume of dust.
“Way to go,” Death said, standing beside her and coughing as the dust blew their way. “You sure know how to make friends and influence people. It’s a talent you have.”
Casey glared at Death and went into the shed, where someone else was waiting for her.
Chapter Eleven
“Terry?” It was the pudgy one.
He got up from the five-gallon bucket, where he’d been sitting. His bike leaned against the wall in the corner, with his overloaded backpack on the floor beside it. He cleared his throat. “Is she gone?”
“You heard the gravel flying.”
“What’s she mad about this time?”
“She’s mad a lot?”
“All the time. But she gets over it quick.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, then took them out again. His eyes flicked to the right and left, not looking directly at Casey, and not seeing Death lounging against the doorway.
“What is it, Terry?”
“Nothing. I just…”
Casey overturned a bucket and sat on it. “How did you get here so quickly? Didn’t school just let out?”
“I’ve got study hall last period. They don’t care if we stay or not. At least, they don’t say anything.”
“And you decided to come see me. By yourself?”
Terry shuffled his feet, then sat down across from her. “I didn’t want the others to know I was coming.” He glanced up, meeting her eyes briefly.
Casey waited.
“It’s…Sheryl.”
Ah. Yet another kid worried about Sheryl. “What about her? Other than the fact that she doesn’t like me?”
“It’s not you.”
“Could’ve fooled me. She was ready to turn me in last night.”
“Not really. It was a show.”
“For what?” Or for whom?
“She just…it’s any adults. She doesn’t trust them.”
“And you do?”
He made a face. “My parents are…well…lame, I guess, but they’re not bad.”
“And hers are?”
“I didn’t say it was her parents.”
“You didn’t have to. You went right from ‘adults’ to ‘parents.’ Sheryl’s folks must be the problem.”
Terry closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean… Look, it would be a lot better for Sheryl if you would just…leave. Okay? She doesn’t need anything else right now. She’s having a hard time.”
“Oh, spare me.” Death made a gagging motion. “This poor sap is so far gone I want to puke. Pathetic.”
Casey studied the boy’s face. Death was right. Casey didn’t figure the whole being in love thing was reciprocated, from what she’d seen the night before, but Sheryl did seem to at least be the kid’s friend. “Terry, I don’t want to make things worse for anybody, believe me. But I’ve got a few things to do before I take off. Sheryl doesn’t need to come anywhere near me. She can pretend I don’t exist, okay? And I’ll be gone before she knows it.”
Terry put his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. “What can I do?”
“To help me?”
“No. To get you to leave. Is it money you want? Other clothes?” He looked at her pink shirt.
“I told you. I have things to do.”
“We can stop you.” His look of determination turned his baby face into something different. Older.
Casey looked straight into his eyes. “Look, Terry. The quicker I get my business done, the quicker I’ll go. Getting in my way is only going to make things harder. Just…let me do what I need to, and I’ll leave you—and Sheryl—alone, forever. Ask Bailey. I told her the same thing.”
“Which is why she was mad.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because she likes you. She’s not going to want you to leave.”
“Then Bailey is going to be disappointed.”
Something in Terry’s face changed. He liked the idea of Bailey not getting what she wanted. And of Casey leaving.
Casey stood. “I think you should go now.”
“But…I want to help.”
“Sure. Great.”
“Really. If helping you will make you go away, then that’s what I’ll do.” His face reverted to its usual softness. “Just don’t tell Sheryl, okay? Or Bailey.”
Casey looked at Death, who had pulled out a new rubber band and was twanging it. “I won’t tell. And I’ll let you know if I think of something.”
Terry had to accept this. He got his bike and wheeled it to the door. “I guess I’ll see you tonight.”
“What are you bringing?”
He shrugged. “It might just be store-bought cookies this time. I have to go home and take a nap.”
“I wondered when you guys slept.”
“I tell my folks school wears me out. They believe me.”
Or they pretended to and worried secretly about what their son was doing that they didn’t know about.
Casey followed him outside. “See you then.”
“You won’t say anything about—”
“You were never here.”
Casey and Death watched as Terry rode away, heading back toward town.
“That boy’s in for a lot of heartache,” Death said. The rubber band was silent now.
“They all are,” Casey said. “It’s part of growing up. The sad part is, it will probably never go away.”
Chapter Twelve
“I don’t know,” Death said, head cocked. “I think I liked you better as a brunette.”
Casey peered into the little mirror Bailey had bought. Her hair now matched the black velvet curtains in Bailey’s room. It couldn’t be any darker. Underneath it, her face looked like ivory. Or like she spent her days in a coffin. “It’s not permanent. I hope.”
“Try the lipstick.”
Casey pulled out the tube. “At least she found me a real color for this. Not black, like she wears.”
“It’s cute on her.”
“Yeah, you would think so.” She colored her lips, and rubbed them together. “Not too bad.”
Death considered it. “A little light for you, but it goes with the pink shirt.”
“I’m not going to be wearing the pink shirt.”
“Right. Blue scrubs. Very attractive.”
Casey clenched her jaw. “I’m not trying to be attractive. I’m trying to be different.”
“You know they’re going to recognize you anyway.”
“Thanks for the optimism.”
“Hey, think about who you’re talking to.”
Casey looked at the rest of the cosmetics in the bag. “To be continued.”
“Aw, you’re not going to finish?”
She wiped the lipstick off with a tissue—also provided by Bailey, who obviously spent a lot of time with make-up. “Davey and his son-in-law don’t need to see the new me. The less people who do, the better.”
“They’re going to see the hair.”
Casey grabbed the cap she’d put on in Bailey’s car and jammed it on her head, shoving all of her hair up into it. “Better?”
“Some. You’ve still got the little stringy ones at your neck.”
“They’re not going to be thinking about my hair. They’re men.”
“True.”
Casey grabbed the bag with Evan’s papers. “So, are you coming?”
“You’re walking?”