Read Online The Girl Death Left Behind by Lurlene McDaniel - Free Book Online

Believe it.”
    “What were you thinking?”
    “I was thinking that she didn’t need to be spending Thanksgiving hiding out in some school bathroom. I was thinking that I would be nice to her and offer her a place to stay. Sorry if you don’t agree.”
    Terri crossed her arms. “Well, don’t expect me to entertain her. Me and my friends are going to the mall first thing Friday morning. We were planning on taking you, but now you can just stay here with your new buddy.”
    “No problem. I don’t like being with you and your geeky friends anyway.”
    “My friends aren’t geeks! And tonight, plus every minute
she’s
here, I’m locking my bedroom door. In case she decides to murder us all in our sleep.”
    “Get a grip.”
    “Oh, drop dead!”
    Beth counted to ten, and once she’d calmed down, she returned to her room balancing a tray heaped with crackers, peanut butter, grapes, and a bag of cookies. The bathroom door was open, and steam from Sloane’s shower blanketed the hallway. With both hands full, Beth poked the door of her bedroom open with her toe. It swung inward silently. She saw Sloane, wrapped in a towel with her back turned, sorting through Beth’s closet as if she were in a department store instead of somebody’s private room.
    All Terri’s dire warnings bombarded Beth. With her heart hammering, she asked, “Need some help, Sloane?”

14
 
    W ithout a hint of embarrassment at being caught pawing through Beth’s clothes, Sloane said, “I was looking for something to wear.”
    Beth set down the tray. “What’s the matter with your clothes?”
    Sloane eyed the duffel bag sitting on the floor. “I didn’t have time to do the laundry before I left home. Besides, the machines in my apartment building are all busted anyway.”
    With her hair slicked back and wet from the shower, her thin, jutting shoulders showing above the towel, and her face freeof makeup, she looked childlike and vulnerable. Beth could more plainly see the dark smudge of a bruise beneath her eye and the puffiness of her lip. She saw another bruise on her arm and yet another on her leg. “Why
did
you leave home?”
    “Are you writing a book?”
    “No. But I sort of made up a fib to my aunt, and now I’d like to know. Just for me.”
    Sloane shrugged, saw the tray of food, and went for it. She spread peanut butter on several crackers and talked between bites. “My old man and me don’t get along. He thinks I’m a slut.”
    “He calls you that?” The word shocked Beth.
    “He calls me a lot of things. Especially when he’s boozing. Mostly I try and stay out of his way, but sometimes we get into it.”
    “What about your mom?”
    “She drinks right along with him. And he hits her. So sometimes I can’t stand to hear him beating on her and I get between them to try and make him stop. Which really makes him mad. So I get a few licks too.”
    “You’ve had it rough.”
    “Who hasn’t? It’s just luck of the draw—I got the family I got, you got the one you got. Terri gets to live like some princess. Life ain’t fair.”
    Beth couldn’t imagine living the way Sloane did. She thought of her own father, quiet and gentle. He’d never so much as spanked her, Allison, or Doug. A pang of longing stabbed her. Fighting tears, she went to her closet and began shoving aside hangers. “I didn’t see your boyfriend today. Doesn’t he usually pick you up?”
    “Carl’s out of town. He’s got this uncle up in Alabama who owns this garage. Anyway, his uncle is helping him trade in his cycle for a car. I’m going to miss that cycle.”
    Beth pulled out some jeans and a clean T-shirt. “These should probably fit.” She was taller than Sloane and not as slim, but the jeans were a pair she’d outgrown. “You can keep them.”
    “I don’t want charity. I’ll get them back to you after I wash.”
    “Would you like to do some laundry now? You can use our machine.”
    “I could throw in some stuff. Sure, that’llbe