Page 23 of Cry Madness

Stepping forward, I draw another line and smear it to blur it a bit. Make it less… harsh on the canvas as I struggle to turn off my mind, tune out the noise, and listen to the muse. Listen to the distant whisper speak to me. Tell me who this nightmarish cat is…

But Candlebox’s “Far Behind” drowns the whisper out.

“This motherfucker.” I slam the chalk on the easel’s shelf and march from the room.

I stride down to the front door and yank it open, prepared to do violence, but the street is empty, quiet…

…until Maddox comes driving past my house—again.

He has the nerve to wink at meas he passes.

I flip him the finger and keep it up until he makes the turn at the end of the block. Dropping my arm, I wait. Wait for him to do another pass. Two minutes turn into three. Three to five. Five turns to eight, and that’s when resentment sets in because he got exactly what he wanted. A reaction from me, and I curse myself for playing into his hands.

Yep, he definitely deserves sugar in his gas tank.

The kicker is that Maddox doesn’t even have a valid reason for driving down Liddell Avenue. Perhaps if it were a weekday, okay, fine. Carroll Street—his block—lacks a straight shot to Briar Rose. I expect him to drive by on days when he has class. But it’s Saturday, and he has absolutely no business being a nuisance.

With my mind racing with inventive ways to eliminate him from this planet, I spin and stride back inside the house. Unfortunately, I stride back to my easel and walk right into more aggravation.

Theclackof heels striking marble is the warning that comes right before, “Is he going to be a problem, Alice?”

I stop dead and inhale hard before slowly turning to face my mother. “No.”

“You’d better be right,” Katherine retorts. She spent the morning at the spa, getting her gray roots touched up with brown dye and the few wrinkles around her eyes and forehead shot with so much Botox, she can’t form a proper frown. No matter. Her tone speaks volumes. “This is a respectable neighborhood. I will not have us known as a house of controversy again. Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” I drawl, the ‘again’ part of her warning a barb that strikes its target. I jab my thumb over my shoulder. “Done? Because I’m busy.”

Her attempt at a sneer is sad, really. Good thing she puts enough disdain in her voice so that I don’t miss her contempt. “Your monsters. Of course. You’re throwing away your talent.”

“That’s your opinion.”

“It’s a fact,” she spits.

“Fine,” I agree with a sigh. “Whatever. I’m not going to argue with you.”

I can’t summon the energy.

“I expect you at the table for dinner.”

With a shrug, I tell her, “Only if we eat early. I’m going out with Ivory tonight.”

Katherine slaps her hands together in mock prayer. “Thank God. Finally. It’s unhealthy, Alice, how you keep yourself locked away.”

She couldn’t give a shit less about my health. “Totally unhealthy,” I mutter.

“Always with the sarcasm,” she shoots back. “You know, one day, I’ll be gone, too, and you’ll regret these little spats of ours.”

“Will you regret treating me like a burden instead of a daughter?”Shit. I didn’t mean for that to fly out of my mouth, and now that it’s hanging between us like a brewing storm, I shake my head, wishing I could pull that thunder back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“Yes, you did,” Katherine counters.

I sigh long and loudly. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

Katherine’s crisp and critical blue gaze travels over me, and I feel…small…and I hate it. “Just because your father left most of the money to you doesn’t mean you have the upper hand. Remember that.”

I snort out a laugh. “It always rounds right back to that with you. You want the money? Fine. I swear to God, I’ll give youit all. Every last penny.” When she goes to speak, I cut her off with, “But only if you can look me in the face and tell me one thing—one—you love about me.”

Her silence roars.