I brushed Kevin’s hair back off his forehead, grimacing at how pale and clammy his complexion was.
“What’s tar and feather mean?” he asked weakly, keeping his eyes shut.
“It’s just a phrase from a long time ago,” I said, skirting around its real origin.
Mr. Wither joined us, shaking snow from his head.
“Is it snowing?” I asked.
“Nah, the wind is just blowin’ the snowdrifts around something fierce,” he said, reaching out a hand to help Kevin up.
Old Man Wither dropped us off at our trailer steps after making me promise to call him the next time we needed the bathroom in the middle of the night, so he could pick us up. I agreed, though I knew I would never take him up on it. He had already gone above and beyond for us.
Chapter 12
Lucinda fell into a complete funk the days leading up to Christmas. She locked herself in her room, only emerging every once in a great while to shuffle across the street to use the bathroom. I left food outside her door and several hours later the used utensils would appear outside her door again. This was new territory for us since we were used to her dumping someone when she was ready to move on. We were stuck in limbo since Lucinda was obviously not ready to trade Jim in for a newer model, but she also wasn’t capable of functioning on her own. She left the house only once to visit Jim and didn’t return until late that night, and as Christmas approached, her mood only worsened as she cut off Kevin and me completely.
Kevin and I took advantage of her reclusiveness, spending hours reading, playing games and watching the TV that I had moved back to the living room. Kevin recovered quickly from his stomach bug and soon began to out-eat me as he was finally able to enjoy his meals without the normal stresses. Our food supply had shrunk to nothing by the time the storm began to dissipate outside.
The day before Christmas Eve, I knew it was time to hit up Lucinda for her food stamp card so I could replenish our pantry and get something special to make for Christmas day.
I knocked on her door tentatively, not sure what to expect.
“What?” she demanded through the door.
“I need to ask you something,” I said, sliding the door open.
“What?” she said, not bothering to look up from her computer where she was furiously typing.
“I need your food stamp card,” I said, aggravated with her tone.
“There’s no money on it,” she said, still not looking at me.
“What?” I asked incredulously. “They put more money on it on the tenth,” I said, knowing for a fact there should still be well over three hundred dollars on it.
“I traded in the balance for cash so I could buy cigarettes for Jim and me,” she said, taking a long draw on her cigarette to emphasize the point.
“What do you mean you traded for cash?”
“I mean, I found some guy Jim recommended in Bozeman that would give me cash for the credit on my card, Miss I-Need-To-Know-Everything.”
“And there’s nothing left?” I asked, letting her derogatory comment slide. I did the quick math in my head and my mouth dried up when I realized we wouldn’t get it replenished again for seventeen days. “What about the cash? Did he give you the whole three hundred?” I asked as hope flared up inside me.
She laughed at my question like I was a foolish child. “He pays twenty-five cents on the dollar.”
“You traded three hundred dollars we had for food for seventy-five bucks, so you could buy cigarettes?” I asked, feeling the urge to puke.
She nodded and resumed typing on the computer as if I wasn’t there.
I left the room before I said anything that would turn into a battle and upset Kevin.
I hate her. I hate her. I hate her! The words ran through my head as I sunk onto my bed, searching for a solution. I couldn’t take the car and drive to a food bank since Lucinda had never bothered to take me in to get my license. I could ask Old Man Wither to take me, but I hated to impose on him more than we already had. I left my room so I could survey the cupboards more thoroughly to see if I had missed anything.
My disappointment and panic rose as I saw that the contents of the cabinets were as dire as I originally thought. Only the one box of mac and cheese that I planned on us eating for lunch remained. I had used the last of the bread and peanut butter for our breakfast that morning and mentally kicked myself for fixing Lucinda any.
“Katelyn, are we going to the store?” Kevin asked, bundled up in his outside garb.
“Um, not right now bud,” I said, sinking down on the kitchen chair.