Page 36 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

THIRTY-FIVE

Briar Ridge Mobile Homes

Although Kat hated that damn graveyard where Hetty worked and the other kids talked about the ghosts roaming the cemetery, she was intrigued by the mischievous games her mother played with Hetty. It was hard to imagine the two of them as humans much less kids.

They were old and such a drag now. Hetty’s fingernails were always covered in dirt and she smelled like fertilizer or chicken shit.

Her mama’s skin was dry and wrinkled and in the summer she smelled of the tomatoes she soaked in hot water to can. When winter came, she coated her chapped face and lips in Vaseline so she looked like a greased pig.

Her daddy ruled the roost, as the old biddies in town whispered.

Yeah, he thought he was king of the house, but he was a bully. She had no idea why her mama stayed with him except she didn’t have a job and Mama claimed she stayed because of Kat.

That was just an excuse because she was too afraid to leave.

Kat lifted her chin, her stubborn streak kicking in. She refused to ever let a man run her life like that.

Downstairs, she heard her mama talking on the phone. “Oh, my word, Hetty, I can’t believe this is happening. It feels like before.”

Kat knew she was talking about Ruth Higgins and the gossip in town.

Her mother’s voice grew more hushed and worried, as if she didn’t want anyone to hear what she was saying.

Curious, Kat decided to check out her mama’s journal again.

Everybody at school thinks Ruth is all there is. She acts sweet to the teachers and must be a genius because she gets good grades but I’ve never seen her study. In class, she’s too busy passing notes to Clint.

Today this happened:

Someone passed a note to me to give to Clint and I snuck a peek.

“Meet me at the DQ.” Ruth’s pink lipstick painted lips formed a kiss on the paper.

I wanted to gag.

Instead, I folded the note in my hand and stuffed it inside my book.

The bell rang and Clint walked out with his buddies. Ruth tossed me a gloating smile as she followed.

I rolled my eyes, then hurried to meet Hetty in the hall and tell her what I did. She giggled and we decided to go to the DQ and watch Ruth’s reaction when Clint didn’t show.

We got there first and I ordered a hot fudge sundae and Hetty got her usual Dilly Bar. We settled in a booth and stared at the door. Several kids from school piled in, laughing and talking and placing orders.

Ruth pranced in with her cheerleader friends, scanning the room for Clint. The cheerleaders ordered ice cream cones and Ruth a milkshake. They gathered at a table and Ruth kept her eyes glued on the door.

Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen.

Then Clint loped in with the flyer on the cheerleading squad, Mindy Winterbottom, and the two of them ordered chocolate cones. Ruth gaped at him, eyes darkening with fury.

When they settled into a booth, Ruth walked over to them. “What the hell are you doing, Clint? I thought you were meeting me.”

Her sharp tone brought the chatter in the room to a halt as everyone turned to watch the drama.

Clint wrinkled his nose in confusion. “Huh? Why did you think that?”

Ruth folded her arms below her boobs. “Because of the note I sent.”

“What note?” Clint asked, obviously dumbfounded.

“The one I passed to you in class,” Ruth said shrilly.

“I didn’t get a note,” he stammered.

Ruth went so still you could hear a pin drop in the room. Then she slowly turned around and stared at me.

I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to rub it in that I’d outsmarted her, so I gave her the same kind of snarky smile she’d given me in class. Rage flared in her eyes, and she suddenly charged toward me and Hetty.

“You did this. You took the note,” she snarled. “You and your cousin are just stupid, white trash, Ida.”

Some of the other kids laughed.

Shame ate at me. I couldn’t help myself. Even if it was true, I didn’t like her saying it in front of everyone. Steaming mad, I picked up my sundae and threw it at her. She shrieked, then opened her milkshake and dumped it on my head.

Some of the kids stood and circled us, egging us on. I grabbed her hair and pulled it and Hetty smashed her Dilly Bar in Ruth’s face.

Suddenly a food fight erupted and ice cream and whipped cream and cones were flying all over the place.

Kat sat back and couldn’t help but smile. Her mama had been feisty back then. And Ruth deserved ice cream in her face.

But she went missing not long after.

Did her mama have something to do with Ruth’s disappearance?