The trailer park she had moved us to this time was worse than the last apartment we had left. I honestly hadn’t believed a place could be worse, but it was.
I took the last box of our things from the car and closed the door with more force than necessary. The car was ancient, but it was sturdy. Mom had said it was the car her father had given her when she turned sixteen. I didn’t know the man all that well, but he had chosen a good car for her. I was convinced nothing could stop the thing from running. Mom’s neglect and abuse to the car should have put us on the side of the road a million times. Yet it just kept going.
“Get the box inside and unpack things. I’ll be back later,” Mom said as the door to the trailer slammed behind her when she came outside.
She had put on some of the red lipstick she only wore when she was heading out to a bar. We didn’t have enough money for her to go to a bar.
“You going to find a job?” I asked her hopefully.
She shot me a glare. “Ain’t yer business what I’m doin’. Now, go on in and unpack. I’ll get some groceries tomorrow.” Then, she flashed me a smile to soften her words.
I didn’t say anything more. There was no reason to. She was done talking to me. I watched as she backed up and drove away in the faded blue Ford too fast, considering kids were out playing in front of their trailers. She was a mom, and you’d think she would think about that. Not my mom though.
I started to turn and head inside when long dark-blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail and blowing in the breeze caught my attention. The girl had just turned from the main road, and she began walking down the center path between the trailers. The closer she got, the more I could make out, and she looked to be my age. Possibly younger by a year or two. The jeans she was wearing were too big, and the shirt she had on was too thin for the cool breeze. Her arms were wrapped around her to fight off the chill.
I lifted my gaze back up to her face, and now, she was close enough that I could see her clearly. I set the box down on the step beside me but didn’t take my eyes off her, afraid she’d disappear. The sun made the bright blue of her eyes stand out, even from this distance. Long, dark lashes framed them perfectly. Pink lips, which were full and appeared to be puckered into a frown, were accented by one dark freckle just to the left of her nose. It reminded me of the beauty marks that actresses a long time ago had put on their faces.
Those blue eyes locked with mine, and she stopped walking. Her frown vanished, but she didn’t smile. She appeared unsure. As if she was trying to decide if she should turn and run.
I lifted my hand in a wave.
For a moment, I didn’t think she would respond, but then she returned the wave just barely. Then, she hurried toward the trailer she had stopped beside.
Girls didn’t normally run from me. This was a first.
“Hey!” I called out to get her attention before she was gone.
She stopped but didn’t turn to look at me. I knew she had heard me. I waited to see if she would turn back around. When she didn’t, I started walking in her direction. I didn’t know why I was so damn determined to get her attention. Maybe it was her odd behavior, or I just needed to get a close-up view of the rest of her face.
“I’m Rio. I just moved in two trailers over,” I said when I was close enough to her.
She stiffened when she realized I had walked over and then slowly turned to look at me.
Yeah, I was glad I had forced her to wait. That face was something else even if she did appear terrified of me. When had I become so damn scary-looking? Last I’d checked, my dimple was popular with girls.
She was too perfect. Everything from her nose to her damn feet. Something had to be wrong. When she said nothing, I wondered if she could speak, or maybe she was deaf.
“I’m nice,” I assured her, laughing at my own words.
A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, and I felt an odd sense of accomplishment. I wanted to see her full smile. I tried to think of something funny to say.
“Hello,” she said in a soft voice.
I was going to need her to talk more. That wasn’t enough.
“You live here?” I asked, nodding my head at the trailer that looked to be in even worse condition than ours.