Page 86 of Storm in a D Cup

‘Erica?’

‘Yes, Joey?

‘Like, wouldn’t you have told them to take a hike?’

‘Uh, absolutely. Of course.’

‘Just as I thought. Erica?’

‘Yes, sweetie?’

‘What’s for dinner tonight?’

It would’ve been nice to say ‘your favorite, sweetie,’ but all I had was a kilogram of fava beans Renata had given me the day before and they were one thing no one liked.

‘Tell you what. Why don’t we order a pizza? We can have it on trays in front of the TV and just hang out, all of us. What do you think?’

‘Sounds good,’ she chimed and skipped off behind Maddy who’d extricated herself from the conversation as it was in the neighborhood of praise for me. Which was just as well as my eyes were starting to water.

I turned to Julian. ‘So I guess we won’t be having that talk with Genie Stacie tonight, huh?’

Julian shook his head. ‘Doesn’t look like it.’

I heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Tomorrow sounds just as good.’

And, truth be told, the next day was the perfect day, as I began to see the slightest chink in Maddy’s armor.

As I was loading the washing machine, she phoned me.

‘Mom? Can you come pick me up?’

‘Sure, I’ll be there in five minutes. You’re done early.’

Silence.

‘Maddy? Is anything wrong?’

‘I’ll tell you when you get here.’

‘I’m on my way, sweetie.’ I dropped my whites on the floor and almost tripped over the heap in my haste.

When I got there, Maddy was waiting for me on Angelica’s doorstep, which was odd because usually I had to wait several minutes for her to emerge, what with them not being able to separate. But today was different. Maddy’s stony expression told me they had argued.

‘Do you want to tell me what happened?’ I asked as she got in and slammed the car door shut.

‘Not really.’

‘Did you argue with Angelica?’

She shrugged, then whispered, ‘Yes.’

‘Is it serious?’

‘Dunno…’

‘If you want to talk—?’

‘Can’t we just go home?’