SNOW GLOBE (18 page)

“I want her home today,” Aja’s mom said. “She’s done nothing wrong. The system is screwing her.”

“The system is what we have to work with.” The attorney put her legal pad in her briefcase. “I need to get to the courthouse now to file a motion to have your case heard ASAP. I’ll come back later to photograph those bruises. That’ll be worked up as another case.”

Aja hugged herself. She could still feel his cold fingers under her shirt, and the thought of it made her sick.

“No matter about your past record, if this guy really did assault you, I will do my best to bring charges against him.” Maggie packed her papers in her briefcase. “I’ll get an investigator to begin checking Richards’s background.”

“Thank you,” Aja’s mom said. “But, please, try to get Aja home. She shouldn’t be here.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Maggie said as she squeezed Aja’s arm. “There are a few layers here to peel back. The trespassing and resisting-arrest charges against you are what I’ve been appointed for. I’ll look into the assault. For now, sit tight and stay out of trouble.” Maggie looked pointedly at Aja’s mom. “That goes for you, too.”

“She’s innocent. I want her home,” her mom said defensively.

“Mom, it’s cool. I’ll be okay until tomorrow,” Aja said, then looked at Maggie. “You can get me out of here by then?”

“Let me get to the courthouse now.” Maggie snapped her briefcase shut. “I’ll be in touch.” She nodded and left.

Aja’s mom turned to her. “This whole thing is a nightmare. Clara Wells and I are getting a group to help fight this.”

“Mom, he deserves to be nailed, but come on. Why don’t we let this attorney see what she can do? What if you get tossed in jail?”

Just then the woman working at the center came in and said, “A-ja, you have to come in now. Visiting is over; we’re locking up.”

“Come with me now,” Aja’s mom whispered. “We’ll bust out of here and run.” She had tears in her eyes.

“Soon, Mom.” Aja stood and tried not to cry. “Can you check on Mr. Jensen? Call Janie and see how he is.”

Her mom nodded, crying softly.

Aja watched her go. Her mom was still beautiful, lean and muscular, and had always held herself proud and strong. She looked much younger than her forty-one years, but today she looked withered, her laugh lines turned to wrinkles. It was like she’d crumple at the mere whiff of a breeze.

After the doors closed and locked with a buzz that went through Aja like an electric shock, she gathered her books and went to the center’s common room. There were groups of teens at a few tables talking. Most sat in front a TV. Aja found an unoccupied table and started her schoolwork.

She finished her homework and opened the college application forms. She read the topics for the college essays and thought about what she could write. Topic A: Describe an event that has shaped your life. Topic B: What are your future dreams? Looking back what would you change? Topic C: Tell about an unforgettable experience and how it shaped you.

Aja smiled. At least with her checkered and diverse past, she’d have no problem coming up with ideas.

Chapter 32

Aja was still mulling over the essays when Tish and Sissy flopped down at her table.

“Whatcha doing? We already done school today.” Tish pushed Aja’s stack of books away. “Physics? You’re kiddin,’ right?”

Aja shook her head. “No, I want to graduate at the end of this semester, but because I’m here, I’ll probably still have to go to summer school.”

“Why do you care so much about school? It’s stupid.”

Aja shrugged.

Tish looked at the college applications. “What’s that for?”

“College.”

“Man, if I was graduating, I’d stop. Who wants to go for more school? You’re one crazy bitch.”

Aja laughed. “I guess I am.”

“’Specially if you had to come here for not doing your homework. Never heard of that.”

Aja changed the subject. “Do you know that social worker, Ms. Lewis?”

“Lou-Lou Lewis? Yeah, she your T.O.?”

“T.O.?” Aja asked.

“Truant officer, bitch. For someone so smart, you’re dumb.”

Aja could read Tish easily; she went ahead and let the vision in. She got a flash of Tish’s home life. A mother who competed with her, told Tish not to do something, yet the mom did it. There was a man who tried to hurt Tish, and her mom blamed her. Aja got an eerie feeling in her stomach warning her to stop the vision.

“Don’t ignore me, bitch. I asked you a question.” Tish broke Aja’s image.

Aja jerked back to reality. “Sorry, what?”

“You zoning on drugs? I asked why you want to know about Lou-Lou.”

“Who’s Julia?” Aja asked, remembering the vision she had when she passed Ms. Lewis.

Sissy spoke for the first time. “Oh man, don’t say that name around her. Julia was one of Lou-Lou’s truant kids. Old Lou-Lou felt sorry for her, thought she could save her ass.”

Tish laughed. “Yeah, that ’ol bitch Lou-Lou took Julia to live with her, then the little bitch cleaned her out. Left town with Lou-Lou’s money and jewelry.
Hil
-arous.”

The black cloud that was Ms. Lewis’s aura made sense to Aja now. Trust turned to dust. No wonder the woman was such a hard ass. Aja noticed both Tish and Sissy pass a look between them that said there was more to the story.

“Good luck with her being your T.O.,” Sissy said. “I got a kid, and she still makes me come here every day ’cause I’m not eighteen yet. Soon as I turn old enough, I ain’t never crossing that dike’s path again.”

Tish laughed. “You shoulda named your baby after her.”

“Don’t make me hurt you,” Sissy said.

“You get to go home at night?” Aja asked Sissy.

“Yeah, lots of us just go to school here.”

“Come on, it’s slop time,” Tish said, standing. “Quit that.” She pointed at Aja’s books. “I got a headache just looking at those books.”

As they stood, Aja said, “Haven’t you ever enjoyed any classes?” She glanced at her physics book. “Have you ever mixed baking soda and vinegar? Every science fair always has a kid making a volcano.”

“Science fair? No way.” Tish took the lead to the cafeteria.

“What about the Mentos trick, ever done that?” Aja asked.

“What, try to fit all of ’em in your mouth?”

“No, get a liter of Diet Coke and put a roll of Mentos in. It explodes.”

“Cool. Hey, Sis, bring a Coke and Mentos tomorrow,” Tish said. “I want to blow up this joint.”

“It’s not going to leave a hole in the building.” Aja laughed. “It just makes a big mess.”

They walked to the cafeteria, where only a few students were lined up to eat. “Where is everybody?” Aja asked.

“They all gone home.” Tish grabbed a tray. “Only us hardass criminals get to spend the night.”

Sissy broke away to leave for the evening. “My ride’s here, see ya’ll.”

Aja got a sick feeling in her stomach, first when she saw the brown glop they were serving for dinner and second, for being one of the hardened criminals who was locked in.

Chapter 33

The next afternoon the attorney, Maggie, and Aja’s mom came to the detention center to take her home. She was going to be able to go to school and home, like before, but this time Ms. Lewis said she’d be stopping by every night.

“Before we go, I want to get those photographs of your bruises,” Maggie said, pulling a camera with a funky ring-flash around the lens. “Let’s find a private room.”

They were allowed to use an office next to the lobby. Aja raised her shirt enough to show the painful bruises. “I couldn’t sleep last night because they hurt so bad.” She didn’t mention that a veil of fear also kept her awake, fearing she’d be locked in this place forever.

Aja’s mom became livid when she saw the bruises. “I’ll kill the bastard myself.”

“Mom, remember, peaceful resolutions for all.” Another of her mom’s favorite mantras.

“Sometimes revenge just feels better,” her mom sighed.

They finished with the photos and left the building. Aja sucked in a big breath of air, not because she couldn’t go outside in the locked detention yard, but because the feeling of freedom was sweet. The deep breath hurt her bruised ribs.

“Your counselor, Mrs. Burnett, wants us to stop by school on the way home so she can give you your assignments.” Her mom started her truck, which spit and huffed with the effort. “She said she gave you some college essay topics, too?” Her mom looked at her. “She said you aced your SATs.”

“Yeah, she’s really trying to help me go to college.” Aja pulled the folder of finished homework out to give to Mrs. Burnett.

“Janie called,” Aja’s mom said as she pulled into traffic. “She said to tell you that Mr. Jensen’s not eating again. He keeps asking for you.”

“Is he okay?”

“She said he’s still getting IVs, but they want him to eat real food.”

“I wish I could see him.” Aja smiled, thinking of the trouble she, Tish and Sissy got into by blowing up the tube of Mentos in Diet Coke earlier that day. It was worth having to clean up the sticky mess. Mr. Jensen would have been happy. Aja left instructions on how to make a volcano. As she was leaving, she saw Tish in the rec room building a small hollowed-out mountain with Play-Doh.

They drove for a few minutes in silence, then Aja asked, “Has anybody called?”

Aja’s mom glanced at her. “No, he hasn’t.”

“I didn’t say Walker.” Aja sighed and thought of Kendall and her meanness and lies. Maybe that was the way to be in life. Screw the rest of the world and just take care of yourself.

“Don’t be like Kendall, honey.”

“Mom, stop!”

“Sorry, I just saw it. You know I usually can’t read you.” She sighed. “Even though many times I wish I could.”

Aja slumped in her seat and tried to keep her head clear.

They pulled into the school parking lot, empty since school was out for the afternoon. Mrs. Burnett was waiting for them in her office.

“Aja, Mrs. Harmon, thanks for coming.” She looked at Aja. “Did you get your assignments done?”

“Yeah.” Aja handed the folder of homework over.

“Here’s today’s homework.” Mrs. Burnett gave Aja a new stack of papers.

“Thanks for doing this,” Aja said, taking the assignments. She wondered if Mrs. Burnett thought of Aja as her “project,” like Ms. Lewis and Julia.

“You have a test in English tomorrow, and Mrs. Dempsey is aware you’ll be in class.”

“Okay.”

“And Aja?”

“Yes.”

“No science experiments please, like with Mentos,” Mrs. Burnett said sternly, but with a slight smile. “Ms. Lewis got a call from the detention center, and she called me.”

“Noted.” Aja smiled back.

“Did you look over the essays?”

“Yeah, I’ll work on them more tonight.”

Aja’s mom had been quiet during the meeting. As they stood to leave, she turned to Mrs. Burnett and said, “You don’t have to feel sorry for Aja.”

“What? I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

Aja cringed.

“I’m not a bad mother, just different.”

“I see.” Mrs. Burnett stood behind her desk, looking as if she’d been stripped of her clothes. “I can tell you you’ve raised a very bright young lady.”

Stalemate.

“I know,” Aja’s mom said, looking with pride at her daughter. “She’s very special, thank you.”

“Aja,” Mrs. Burnett turned to her. “Lauren Jensen called. She’s asking the assisted living hospital for permission for you to visit Mr. Jensen. You seem to have made an impression on him. I’ll let you know more about that tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Burnett.” Aja followed her mom out, but turned back and said, “Thanks, really, for everything.”

Chapter 34

After school the next day, Aja and her mom pulled into the residence home’s parking lot. Aja had butterflies in her stomach and hated herself for wondering if Walker would be there, as well as being nervous because everybody here thought she was a thief, including him. They were to meet the director, Edna, and Lauren Jensen in the lobby and walk to the hospital to see Mr. Jensen. The one person Aja didn’t want to see was Mrs. Poston.

When they walked into the lobby, Edna stood near the front desk with Lauren. She turned and greeted Aja curtly. “Aja, I’m only allowing this because of Mr. Jensen. Otherwise…” she let the sentence hang in the air like a deflated balloon.

Lauren approached her. “Dad said he was going to help you with homework. His eyes really light up when he talks about you, and he still calls you Princess Bride.”

Aja smiled. “He was helping me with physics. I need to tell him about some new…um, friends I just made. I showed them some science experiments, and they thought it was fun.”

Aja’s mom rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Aja made quite an impression.”

Aja failed to mention that she almost wasn’t released because of the commotion she’d caused.

“Come on, let’s go,” Edna said in a clipped tone.