Summer's Belle Read online

  Shaking off the unanswered question, she gathered her purse and overnight bag. With Ryan gone it was time to focus on her siblings. She needed to get inside to the dark apartment and see what crisis situation her siblings were facing this time. She’d just talked to them before her missed visit. They knew the day she was coming home. Her stomach clenched as she walked up the broken sidewalk and entered the building through the battered exterior door.

  Two

  Stale, cigarette-laced air assaulted Britney’s senses as soon as she stepped into the foyer. Brit hated the smell. Her own clothes had reeked of cigarettes throughout her childhood, and any visit home came complete with a repeat saturation. She hesitated on the landing and took shallow breaths through her mouth while waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior.

  Tiny shards of broken glass crunched under her feet as she moved forward, the miniscule size hinting that it had been awhile since the entry light had been vandalized. The only wisp of illumination in the entry drifted up from the naked bulb centered in the lower level’s hallway. A few feet in, parallel stairways led in two different directions. The section to the right led up to the higher levels while the left section of stairs led to her family’s latest apartment on the bottom floor. Brit headed in that direction. And as instinct had told her in the car, the apartment was far too quiet. She wondered if the family had moved out and for once had simply forgotten to tell her. Surely at the very least, her mother would alert Brit about any move so she could continue to cash the monthly check Brit sent.

  Something was wrong. Brit had a sudden urge to call Ryan. She wanted to tell him to turn around and come back for her. They could leave now, as he’d suggested, and caravan to the beach house. But her hand never made it as far as her cell phone. She knew she couldn’t leave without the assurance that the little ones were safe.

  A wall of worry washed over her. Surely her mother hadn’t let the kids return to foster care. They’d been separated into different homes the last time. Her brother Sam, just shy of eighteen, had told her after the last time that he wouldn’t go back—he’d ditch the family first. Allie, ten months his junior, agreed, insisting she’d never return to that life. She’d been hurt the most by her foster-care experience, and her rebellious attitude about another placement would most likely land her in a juvenile institution if it ever happened again. The younger three kids wouldn’t likely fight it, but Britney knew from experience their spirited innocence would be altered.

  She stood outside the thin door, listening for any sound of life. Usually by this point she’d hear Noelle and Skye whining, their thin bodies overtired because no one had taken the time to tuck them into bed. Their mother would be yelling over the blare of the ever-present television, telling them to shut up so she could hear. Muffled music would blast from one of the two bedrooms.

  This time, instead of being assaulted by noise, only the buzz of the overhead hall light welcomed Britney home. Hesitantly, she reached forward and turned the doorknob, which rotated easily in her hand. Slowly she pushed the door open. A lone candle burned on the coffee table in front of the couch. The sour odor of rotten food and inefficient plumbing filled her nose. Four of her siblings sat in a row on the worn-out sofa, flanked by their neighbor Ms. Murphy on one end and a knock-kneed Noelle at the other. Silent tears of mortification ran down Noelle’s tiny face. Sam wasn’t anywhere in sight.

  Anger flowed through Britney. She knew what the look on Noelle’s face meant. The child was terrified and had wet herself. How long they’d all been forced to sit there, Britney didn’t know. She scanned each face as Ms. Murphy glared at her with self-righteous reproach.

  Allie’s face was easy to read. Even by candlelight, anger and fear battled across her features. Nine-year-old Brady glanced up briefly before returning his attention to pulling a loose thread from the drooping sofa. Britney didn’t miss the quick look of panic in his dark eyes that begged her to do something. Noelle’s twin, Skye, slumped back, kicking his feet back and forth and thumping them against the couch. The only sign that he’d recognized Britney was an extra hard kick that hit the coffee table, which rocked the precariously placed candle. The action earned him a glare from their warden.

  “Ms. Murphy? What’s going on?”

  “What’s it look like is going on?” Ms. Murphy bristled. “Your ma’s done run off again and has left all these kids behind.”

  Britney’s heart fell.

  “How long ago?” She directed her question to Allie.

  Allie shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe three weeks?” She paused, staring at the candle deep in thought. The candlelight reflected the gold highlights in her tangled auburn hair. “Maybe it was a bit less. It’s hard to say exactly. You know how she is. She came and went a few days here and there for two or three days at a time before she disappeared completely, so it took us a while to realize that at some point she’d left us for good.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Britney walked over to Noelle and swept her up into her arms. She tried to ignore the dampness that seeped through her shirt at the waist. Noelle buried her face in Britney’s neck and clung to her. Brit turned her attention back to their neighbor. “I’m here now, Ms. Murphy. I appreciate your staying with the kids until I got home.”

  Ms. Murphy stood. “I’ve suspected your mother was gone for a few days now, but I was only able to prove it tonight.”

  The woman glared at Brady.

  “She c–caught me s–stealing an a–apple,” Brady’s stutter was back, more pronounced than ever. “I’m s–sorry, Brit. We was just so hungry, and she left her grocery bags just laying there in the hall.”

  “While I was unlocking my door and taking the other bags inside! It’s a sad day when you can’t leave something outside your door for a moment before someone steals from you,” Ms. Murphy spat. She turned her glare on Britney. “I’m calling the state. These kids can’t live alone like this. I would have called already, but your smart-mouthed sister over there insisted you’d be home soon.”

  “And she is home, isn’t she?” Allie snapped back. “I told you she’d be here.”

  “Your sister might be home, but that doesn’t change the fact that your mother abandoned you, and someone needs to be told.”

  Britney stepped forward in alarm. “Ms. Murphy, Allie’s right. I’m here now, and as their guardian, I’m fully capable of taking care of things from here.”

  Thoughts of Ryan, their friends, and the beach house momentarily flittered across her mind, but the immediate safety of her siblings, as usual, trumped any plans that Britney had made. She couldn’t sit by and hand the kids over to the state.

  “I’m sure you are, Britney, but you’re too young to be saddled with so much responsibility. They’ve had no electricity. No running water. Someone needs to know. I have an obligation to call.”

  “No you don’t.” Panic raced through Britney. “I’m twenty-four. Lots of women are mothers at my age. They’ll be fine under my care. I promise.”

  Ms. Murphy shook her self-righteous head.

  “Then at least let me have tonight with them. I’ll take them to the motel down the street and make sure they’re cleaned up. Please.” She was begging, but she didn’t care. She only hoped the old woman would show some shred of sympathy for the situation. “Let me get them cleaned up and fed. Let us have this last night together before you split them up.”

  Ms. Murphy looked like the request pained her, but finally she nodded her head in agreement. “One night. But in the morning, you bring them back here, and we’ll make that call together.” She reached out to pat Noelle on the head. Noelle pulled away. “I’m sure they’ll be just fine in the state’s care.”

  Three

  Britney exited their hotel room’s private bath carrying a clean but sleepy Noelle and deposited her onto the makeshift pallet on the floor. Allie had put the bedding down as promised while Britney focused on bathing the twins and trimming their filthy nails and unruly hair.

  Allie had
moments earlier wrapped an unhappy Skye in a white hotel towel and wrestled him into his new set of pajamas and into bed while Britney finished up with overly tired and fussy Noelle.

  Noelle curled up in her new blanket with a soft sigh of contentment. She forced open heavy eyes long enough to make sure Britney remained nearby and then let them drift shut as her tiny pink lips formed into a heartwarming smile of contentment. Her fluffy blue pajamas accented the rosy flush on her too-thin baby cheeks as she drifted off to sleep. Britney’s heart warmed as she reached down to caress her baby sister’s silky blond curls.

  She glanced over to where the boys slept soundly on the queen-size bed across the room. Brady sprawled across the expanse, seeming to enjoy the space after sharing a twin bed with Skye at the apartment. Even with all that space, Skye cuddled against Brady’s side in the middle of the bed. Britney walked over to where Allie had settled on the other comfortable-looking queen bed and collapsed her own exhausted body beside her sister’s.

  Allie looked around the room at her sleeping siblings. “They look good, Brit. You did a great job.”

  Britney looked at her sister. “I could say the same to you. You kept them safe until I got home.”

  Tears filled Allie’s green eyes. “Not true. They were a mess, and you know it.”

  Britney wrapped her fingers around Allie’s clenched hand. “You did what you could. But why didn’t you call me?”

  “You had finals. You’d worked so hard to get where you were. I knew you’d pack up and come home if you knew Mom had left us again. I didn’t want to mess it up for you this late in the game. You couldn’t afford to blow your last semester after all that work.”

  “Aw, Allie, you know you guys are more important to me than finals or anything else.” Britney would have known their mother had left if she’d come home for her last visit instead of studying with Ryan. Instead she blew them off at Ryan’s request.

  Allie looked like she was going to be sick and hurried to the bathroom. She’d always been one to make herself ill over difficult situations. Brit wet a washcloth and had it ready when Allie returned.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I’m sure it’s just stress.”

  “We don’t have to talk about Mom right now. Why don’t you go to bed? We’ll have plenty of time to talk in the morning.”

  “No, I said I’m fine,” Allie snapped. She had a certain look of vulnerability about her.

  Britney felt worse than ever for pursuing her education and leaving Sam and Allie to hold things together at home. She’d honestly thought a college degree and career would be the best way to get the family out of the cycle of poverty they’d been caught up in. But now mixed emotions had her wondering if she’d used the situation as an excuse to get out of the apartment while leaving her siblings to deal with the mess. She knew deep down that wasn’t true.

  Allie shifted on the bed. “I want to talk about it. Mom left a few days after you called to say you weren’t coming home that last weekend. Sam took off a couple of days later. At least he left me with a twenty-dollar bill, which is more than I can say for our mother, but it didn’t last long.”

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Britney squeezed Allie’s hand. “I’m here now. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

  Resentment toward their mother rolled through Britney. Once again she’d followed her own selfish desires and had left the kids in a precarious situation. It just went to show that some people had no business having children. “She’s not coming back this time. I’m not letting her do this again.”

  Allie resumed her defensive stance of indifference and shrugged. “We’d be all right if she did. You have your new life. Your boyfriend.” Her fingers gave away her distress as they worried the hem of her new tank top.

  “I’m not leaving you, Allie. We’re going to figure this out together. I can get an apartment big enough for all of us.” She considered their situation in silence. Ryan wouldn’t give her the time of day if she showed up at the beach with the kids in tow. Not that she’d have the money for her share of the beach house now anyway. She’d just spent a good chunk of that on necessities and food for the kids. “What happened to the money I sent home for this month’s expenses?”

  “Momma kept it. She said you never sent it, but I saw your letter in the mail, and I watched her hide the check. I guess that’s how I knew that when she left this time, it would be for good.”

  “Oh.” What could Britney say to that? Momma had hid the money while they all ran out of food, electricity, and running water.

  “Do you think Ms. Murphy will call the authorities? We’ve crossed a state line. I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

  “I don’t think I will. I have legal custody of y’all. I made Momma write up a paper after the last time she left you.”

  “Is the paper legal?”

  Brit shrugged. “I can’t say for sure, but I think it’ll be fine. If it isn’t, I’ll go to court and fight for you.”

  Earlier that evening, after Ms. Murphy had left, Britney scoured the dark apartment for useful items by the penlight on her key chain. She gave up on the thought of trying to salvage anything to take along with them a short time later. The kids’ clothes were filthy, old, and outdated. She’d grabbed the intricately carved lockbox their mother kept in her closet and had quickly ushered the barefoot and barely clothed kids out to her car.

  Britney now eyed the wooden box that rested on the end of their bed and nudged it with her toe. They’d never been allowed to touch it or to look at the items that rested inside. They hadn’t found the key, but Britney knew she could jimmy the ancient lock without much trouble.

  After they’d left the apartment, Britney bypassed the nearby motel and put as much mileage between Ms. Murphy and themselves as she could. A few hours later, Allie had stayed in the car with the sleeping kids while Britney ran inside a discount store to purchase clothes, shoes, hair shears, fingernail clippers, and various other toiletries for her siblings. Next they’d located a midpriced hotel. To Britney’s relief, the hotel clerk hadn’t looked up from the computer screen as the motley crew passed through the pleasant lobby while loaded down with their purchases.

  Allie had jumped in the shower while Britney readied the little kids’ clothes and necessities. Her mother’s box had been in her peripheral vision, begging for her attention the entire time. She’d waited long enough.

  She glanced over at Allie. “I’m opening it!”

  Allie jumped as Britney’s sudden declaration broke the silence. Brady shifted on his bed but didn’t wake up. Britney lowered her voice. “I’m opening Momma’s box.”

  “She’ll kill you.”

  “She’ll have to find me first. She doesn’t know where we are. She probably won’t ever try to find out where we are. And she won’t know what we took and what was tossed out by the apartment manager if and when she does ever find us. Besides, if anything in this box helps us out of this mess, it’ll be well worth any wrath down the road.”

  “I guess you have a point.”

  Brit reached over and placed the box in front of them.

  Allie moved closer. “What do you s’pose is in there? Money? Diamonds? Stolen goods?”

  “Not the first two, but the last suggestion is a definite possibility.” Britney worked the lock, but it didn’t give. She reached down for her nearby shoe and tapped it against the lock. To her surprise, the lock gave way on her first effort.

  Britney looked over at Allie, and Allie nervously licked her lips before stating, “Go ahead, open it up. No reason to stop now.”

  The lid creaked as Britney forced the hinges open. A lone packet of ribbon-tied letters and cards were the sole occupants of the box.

  “That’s all?” Disappointment laced Allie’s words. “A bunch of old letters? How will those help us? Why’d Momma make such a big deal about it?”

  “I don’t know.” Their mother hadn’t seemed like the sentimental type, so this stack o
f carefully guarded notes didn’t make any sense. She lifted the bundle from the box, and a shiny glint of gold reflected in a lonely corner.

  Allie reached in and drew out the heart-shaped locket. “It’s a necklace. Momma never wore jewelry.” She held the chain at the nape of her neck. “It’s pretty.”

  “It is. Open it. Let’s see what’s inside.”

  Allie fumbled with the clasp, and the heart popped open. A picture of a smiling teen faced them from one side of the locket while an older woman reflected the smile from the other half of the open heart. “Who do you think they are? The younger one looks just like you.”

  Britney leaned close. “Maybe it’s Momma? Though I’ve never seen her smile like that. She looks so happy.”

  “So you think the older woman could maybe be her mother? Our grandmother?”

  “No, our grandparents died when she was a baby. She grew up in foster homes.”

  “Kind of like us. I never knew that.” Allie looked contemplative. “She never went home?”

  “Not that I know of. I don’t think she even knew who her birth parents were.”

  “Maybe she lied. Wouldn’t be the first time.” Allie’s face lit up. “Maybe we have grandparents out there somewhere!”

  “I wouldn’t count on it, Al. Even if we did, if they didn’t want her, why would they want us?” Her sister’s face fell. Brit quickly changed her focus. “But let’s look at the letters and see if they hold a clue. Maybe the mystery woman is an aunt or some other relative Momma met up with in her teens.”

  Allie perked back up. She leaned close against Britney’s arm as Brit carefully slipped the ribbon from the packet of notes. The top letter was addressed to their mother at an unfamiliar address in Atlanta.

  They scanned the note, and Brit heard Allie’s intake of breath as they registered the signature. The note was signed, “Momma.” The rest of the letters were unopened, and Britney decided to leave them that way, at least for the moment.

  “She did lie. We do have a grandmother.”