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I got up and went back to the bedroom. I heard her bring Cory a cup of coffee.

“She’s just a spoiled brat,” I heard him tell her.

Yes, I’m a spoiled brat, I thought. I’m spoiled because I don’t have any real parents or a real home or a real family. I’m spoiled because my mother sees me as a burden, and always did. I’m spoiled because my grandpa thought I had inherited sin. I’m so spoiled the angels close their eyes when they fly near me.

Later that afternoon, Keefer called.

“How are things?” he asked.

“Status quo. I’m as unwanted as ever, maybe a little more than ever.”

“You won’t believe it, but this guy I hit is my new best friend. I told him I would take out all of his dents and nicks and make his car look new. Izzy wasn’t happy, but I can fix that too, and since it didn’t cost him anything, he’s just a little upset. He knows he’s getting a day and a half and sometimes two days’ work out of me a day, and for what he pays me, he’s not about to throw me out. I’ll be leaving under my own steam,” Keefer vowed.

“Take me with you,” I said half jokingly. He was silent.

“Maybe I will. I have a plan, and one of these days, I’ll talk about it with you. If you’re still interested in me after this, that is.”

“I’m more interested, not less,” I said, and he laughed.

“Okay. Tell you what. Tonight, I’ll come to you. I have this extra work, but figure me for about ten. What time does your mother and Cory get home?”

“Sometime after two, I guess. I gather they calm down by having a few drinks and hanging around or going somewhere else.”

“I’ll be there.”

“In Izzy’s truck?”

“No. I’m layin‘ off it for a while. I have another customer’s car at my disposal.”

“Does he know?”

Keefer just laughed.

“What he doesn’t know…”

“Won’t hurt him. I know, I know,” I said.

Knowing he was coming took the shadowy cobwebs of gloom out of my mind. Mother darling watched me with suspicion as I went about straightening up the apartment and doing some cleaning.

“What are you up to, Robin?” she asked finally.

“Nothing. I’m bored, that’s all.”

“Then you should get a job. If they don’t send you to jail, that is. Cory and I will talk to some people tonight. He knows the manager of a supermarket. Maybe you can get a job as a packer.”

“Right. That’s sure to cure boredom.”

She glared at me a moment, and then she shook her head and went off to fix her hair and prepare herself for another night of performing. She and Cory were going to eat out tonight. I told her not to worry about me. I had found some pasta that was less than a year old.

“You’re always so smart, Robin, so quick to be sarcastic. Why don’t you put that to good use and do somethin‘ constructive with yourself.”

“I am. I’m writing a song for you,” I told her.

“You are? What’s it about?”

“About a girl like me who finds out her sister is her mother.”

“Very funny.”