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“Next week? Why next week? What’s supposed to be happening?”

“My court appearance, remember?”

“Huh? Well, how did he… you told him you were arrested?”

“There was a question about that on the application. At the bottom of the form it says if you deliberately put in false information, you can be summarily dismissed, which I believe means fired on the spot.”

She stared at me, her eyes small, dark.

“You did that deliberately, Robin. You made sure he wouldn’t hire you, and after Cory had asked him to do us a favor, too.”

“Did you want me to lie, Mother darling? That’s no way to start a career in the supermarket.”

“Oh you… you…” She mumbled under her breath and started the engine. “I half hope they do send you to jail next week,” she said.

I didn’t say anything. She looked like she was wiping away a tear before we returned to the apartment complex. Cory was still asleep.

“I don’t know what you’re going to do with yourself, Robin, except get into more and more trouble,” she told me after we entered the apartment.

“I’ll keep house here,” I offered. “If you like, I’ll make dinner whenever you can eat at home.”

She studied me closely to see if I was serious and then nodded.

“We’ll see,” she said, and went quietly into the bedroom, closing the door softly behind her.

“Thanks for making a fool out of me,” Cory said after he had heard the story and risen. He opened the refrigerator, took out the orange juice, and drank right from the bottle, making it far less appetizing for anyone else to drink from it now.

“That’s something you can do easily yourself,” I said.

He glared at me with such rage, I thought I had stepped over the line and he would lunge at me. I actually braced for it, but he calmed down when I added, “I didn’t think I should lie to a friend of yours. It would make things even worse.”

He frowned.

“If I was hired and I needed time off to go to court, don’t you think he would be slightly suspicious and then annoyed that you never told him about me?”

“You coulda just called in sick.”

“People gossip,” I said.

“That’s it,” he said, raising his hands, palms to me. “I’m finished. You’re not my responsibility.”

“Who ever said I was?” I asked, not to be smart, but to see if Mother darling had somehow convinced him he had to look out for the both of us and not just her.

“Nobody, and I thank my lucky stars for that,” he told me.

I rose and left him in the kitchen. Lucky stars, what do they look like? I wondered.

The following week Keefer offered to go to court with me, but I didn’t think Mother darling would like that, and the truth was, I was a little embarrassed about it and how I would look there. I told him I’d much rather he didn’t.

“Fine,” he said. “If you need me for anything, you just call.”

I thanked him. Despite my brave front, I was trembling inside the moment I awoke on the morning of the court date. Mother darling was complaining from the get-go about how she had to get up early after a hard night of singing.

“It’s not easy looking fresh and young when you don’t get any sleep,” she whined.

“So don’t go. I’ll go myself,” I said.

“Oh, sure. Lucky we were able to get you a public defender. You just dress neat and conservatively, Robin Lyn, and you keep that smart mouth shut, if you know what’s good for you.”