“Fuck if I know. She seemed weird, though.”
“No shit.” I fall back far enough that I can see her, letting a car get between us so she won’t be able to spot us by looking behind her. “I’ve gotta say, seeing everything go down like that…”
“It makes me wonder how she put up with it all that time,” Odis mutters. “I guess I never thought much about it. What it must’ve been like. No wonder she hates us.”
No wonder. My hands tighten around the steering wheel when I think about it.
Turns out, she was headed for the mall, after all. “I thought maybe she was lying,” I admit, turning into the parking lot after she does.
“What’s so important that she had to run out right away?”
“She probably wanted an excuse to get away from us.”
“So, she could’ve gone someplace else.” He has a point.
“I guess it was a shopping emergency.” Though I can’t imagine what could be that urgent. Girls have their own world we don’t know much about.
We decide to wait in the car a few spots down from where she parked. Either she’s oblivious to the world, or she genuinely doesn’t recognize my car as I pulled in a few seconds after she did. “I hope she doesn’t take all night. I’m hungry.”
She doesn’t take all night, but she does take over an hour. “There she is.” I nod my head toward the door Gemma just emerged from.
“Finally.” Odis cranes his neck to see her. “What’s she got in her hand? Not shopping bags.”
“Paper? Why the hell did she come all the way over here and wait an hour for paper?” Something doesn’t add up. I’m out of the car before I know what I’m doing, and Odis is right behind me.
Gemma’s mouth falls open when she recognizes us marching over to her, and she falls back a few steps. “Leave me alone. Why are you even here?”
“To see what you were doing that you had to be so weird about it.” I look around. “Why were you in there for so long?”
“Why did you follow me?” Her hands are behind her back now, so I can’t see what she’s obviously trying to hide.
The thing about the situation is, there are two of us and one of her. Odis manages to sneak around behind her while she’s busy being evasive with me, and she lets out a shriek when he snatches the paper away. “Give it back!” When she shoves him hard with both hands, I know how important this must be to her. I just don’t understand why.
“What is it?” I ask as I stand between Gemma and my brother.
He looks up at me and holds the paper out for me to see. “Job applications.”
We both swing our heads in her direction. Her face reminds me of the bright red Kool-Aid she was wearing earlier, and her eyes are watery. “Happy? One more thing you can use to humiliate me.”
“Who said anything about humiliating you?” I can’t make this add up in my head. “I’m more confused than anything.”
“Me, too.” Odis looks as disgusted as I feel. “Why do you want to work here? Why do you want to work at all? You don’t have to.”
That was the wrong thing to say. Sometimes I wish he’d keep his mouth shut unless he’s asked to speak. Now Gemma’s turning purple, and her hands are tightening into fists. “So that’s what you think of me? The same way she did? Like I’m a gold digger?”
Odis flinches. “No. Nobody thinks that.” Well, I sort of thought that, at least at first. Things moved fast between Dad and Linda, and it’s obvious she’s not exactly from our world. She’s nice enough, sure, but still.
Now I know differently. Gemma has too much pride to be a gold digger. That doesn’t explain why she’d stoop this low. “I’m sure our dad would give you a job if you’re that determined to work.”
“No. I don’t want that, either.” She runs her hands over her head, groaning. “I want to get away from you, okay? From both of you. I can’t stand the thought of being in the same house as you all day, all summer. All right? Now, are you satisfied?”
She’s maybe the worst liar I’ve ever seen. From the way Odis snorts, I know he sees it, too. “No, I’m not because you’re lying.”
Her eyes widen. Her nostrils flare as she sucks in a surprised breath. “I hate you both.” She spins on her heel like she’s about to storm off.
I catch her by the arm before she can get away. “Not so fast. We’re both starving, and you should eat something—you haven’t eaten since breakfast, have you?”
“What do you care?”
“Let us take you to dinner, and we can work all of this out before we get back to the house,” Odis suggests.
“Right. More like you want to convince me not to tell our parents about how you almost drowned me today.” She raises her voice at the end so the people walking around us can hear. She’s loud enough for the security guard inside the door to hear her, too. Much more of this, and he’s going to come out to see what’s happening.
“Come on. We’re going for dinner, and you’re coming with us.” I lean in with a smile. “And if you don’t think I’ll tell that security guard you were shoplifting, you’re wrong. So don’t even think about screaming harassment.”
That’s what convinces her. I almost hate to see the defeated look in her eyes.
Almost.