When she was sure that Yhestin was asleep, she crept down the hallway with quick, quiet steps. That was the key to moving in this house, McKanda had discovered. You had to move quietly.
It was the key to avoiding certain confrontations.
She wasn’t ungrateful, it wasn’t that. She was paid well for her services. And all she had to do was take care of little Yhestin. He was such a sad boy, such a moody creature. McKanda moved quietly down the dark hallways and slipped into the foyer of her suite of rooms.
Taking a moment to breathe, McKanda took a moment to savour the moment of quiet. She knew that the moment would be popped like a bubble in a moment. Taking a deep breath, she closed the door with a soft click.
On cue, her daughter’s voice rang out from the hallway. “Mom?”
McKanda sighed. Why she had to be blessed with a selfish bitch of a daughter in life, instead of being given a boy like Yhestin…well, you couldn’t choose your children, she thought. She reminded herself to be patient.
Her daughter, Vashti Blue, stood in the doorway. She had a new hairdo today. Yesterday, it had been long dark spikes that had graced the doorframes. Today, her hair was down, done in sleek curls that curved around her face.
“Hello Vashti.” McKanda reminded herself to keep her voice even.
“Mom, where the fuck have you been?” Vashti gave her a hard glare. “I’ve been waiting for you for hours.”
“I’m sorry.” Abighail McKanda sighed. She was always sorry. “I had work to do.”
“Well, then come out with me now, we can go to dinner.” Her daughter gave her one pleading glance. When Vashti saw that her mother would not move, she snorted. “You’re going to wait around for him, aren’t you?”
McKanda’s heart sped up. She knew. But then she had always known her daughter knew. “I don’t know what you mean.” She said. She kept her voice soft.
“You’re his whore right?” Vashti took a compact out of a small Prada bag. “You think I don’t know who my father is?”
Abighail stiffened her spine. “I do what I have to do to keep us in house and home.”
Vashti snorted again, even more sardonically than before if possible. “Whatever, you tell yourself what you need to so that you can feel better.” She finished her inspection and closed the compact with a sharp click. “I took some money from your purse.”
Abighail sighed again. “How much did you take?”
Her heels clicking on the hard wood floor, Vashti looked at her mother over her shoulder. “Does it matter?” Her daughter gave her a wink as she closed the door behind her.
McKanda savoured the silence that always followed one of Vashti’s episodes. The silence fell upon her like a wave. Moving towards her small kitchenette, McKanda took out a bottle of gin and some club soda. She made herself a club soda and lime and went to her small living room.
She turned on some music, some nice Billie Holiday. She kept it low. She took a sip of her drink and set it on the table. McKanda stiffened her spine again and reached for the phone.
Dialling a number, she waited only one ring before it was answered. “Front desk.”
“Hi, is this Charley?”
“Yes, this is Charley Inglewood.”
“Charley, this is Abighail McKanda, Yhestin’s Nanna?”
The cold efficiency was replaced right away by a kind voice. “Oh, Nanna. How are you? Your banana nut muffin’s were to die for. You didn’t have to bake us anything.”
McKanda laughed. “Oh, it was nothing. Now Charley, did my daughter just leave?”
There was a beat of silence before Charley answered. “Yes, Ma’am, she did.”
“Well, now Charley, I don’t want to make you do any extra work, but can you do me a favour?”
“What’s that, Nanna?”
“Can you make sure that she doesn’t get back into the house?” McKanda sighed again. “I mean it, too. I don’t want to see that little snot for at least a year. Will you be able to keep her off the property?”
Charley laughed and the sound sent a warmth moving through Abighail. “Oh, it’ll be my pleasure, Nanna.” He laughed again, a throaty chuckle. “Going to teach the little bitch a lesson?”
McKanda let out her own spirited laugh. It felt good to laugh; it was something she hadn’t done in months. “Something like that, yes.” She said. “Oh, and Charley?”
“Yes?”
“Can you make sure her reaction is videotaped?” She let out another laugh of her own. “I’d love to have something to watch on movie night. You can come too, of course.”
Charley snorted and the sound was joyful over the phone line. “It’ll be my pleasure, Nanna.”
It is floing from one day to the next
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