Page 174 of The Sun Sister

‘You don’t know her. She’s a witch! If I’da known Ida was coming, I’da stayed right back in the hospital,’ Vanessa joked morosely. ‘I ain’t gettin’ out, and you can’t make me.’

I watched her as she fumbled in her hoodie pocket and drew out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, and lit up.

‘I know this is going to be so hard for you, but...’ I struggled to find the right thing to say to her. ‘You know what, Vanessa? I’m here for you, and so are MilesandIda, who fought so hard to get you into the best place she knew. We all care. So, you gotta go in and get well, and I’ll come and visit the first moment I’m allowed to, okay? Once you’re better, you and I are gonna start having some fun!’

‘You jus’ sayin’ that. You’ll forget all about me while I’m shut up in there and you’re gettin’ on with bein’ rich ‘n’ famous.’

‘I haven’t forgotten about you up to now, have I? Here.’ I dug in my bag and brought out a Burberry baseball cap a stylist had sent me a few months back. I wouldn’t be seen dead or alive in it, but I’d thought Vanessa would like it.

She looked at it, feeling the fabric.

‘Is this real?’

‘Course it is.’

‘Cool.’ She stuck it on her head backwards, and just for a few seconds, I saw a flash of childlike pleasure in her eyes. ‘It’s mine?’

‘Yup.’

‘No one’ll believe it’s real anyway – and if they do, they’ll think I stole it,’ she shrugged as she stubbed out her cigarette.

‘Well,youknow it is and that’s all that matters. Now, time to go.’

‘I...’ She looked up at me and I could see there were tears in her eyes. ‘’Kay.’

‘I’ll be with you every step of the way, promise.’ Then I opened my arms and gave her the biggest hug I could.

She opened the door and I watched as she joined Miles and Ida, who immediately embraced her too, which made me feel a little better. Miles caught my attention and put an imaginary phone to his ear.

‘I’ll call you,’ he mouthed, as the three of them walked away and up the steps towards the front door.

‘Ready to go, ma’am?’ the driver asked me.

‘Yeah,’ I nodded. As the limo reversed, I opened the window to let out the fug of cigarette smoke. At that moment, Vanessa turned back towards me, a look of pure fear on her pinched features.

‘Love you,’ I mimed to her as the car sped down the drive. As I gulped back tears, feeling like a mom leaving her child on the first day of school, I realised I truly did.

I was thankful I had a photoshoot the following day because the whole Dix Hills experience last night had given me déjà vu and freaked me out. But in every report I’d read on the internet, it came out with flying colours, rated by all the professionals as the best in New York state for ‘young, under-privileged addicts’, as theNew York Timeshad termed them. Miles had called to say that Vanessa had seemed calm when she’d been introduced to the other young women in her ward.

‘The good news is,’ he’d added, ‘the hospital in Tucson had stabilised her, so she got to go into the mid-term facility straight away.’

In layman’s terms that meant she’d missed out on the detox unit, which I’d read online included padded rooms.

Ironically, I enjoyed the day’s shoot, even though it was a good year since I’d done one without taking some form of mood-enhancer first.

Xavier, known as ‘XX’, a designer I’d worked with a number of times – including when we’d designed a capsule range of sportswear with a gold electric lightning bolt down the front of the hoodie, which had sold out within a week – was present at the shoot.

‘Are you up for another collaboration sometime soon?’ he asked me.

‘Maybe,’ I said as I walked onto the set.

As I automatically went through the usual series of poses, my thoughts flew back to my sketchbook. I’d loved working on the designs in rehab, and it was way more fulfilling than spending my life pulling faces...

‘Wow, Electra, that vacation’s sure done you good! You were on fire in front of the lens today.’ Miguel, the photographer (who I was positive had been born a simple ‘Mike’), waxed lyrical at me.

‘That was amazing, Electra,’ said Mariam as she sought me out in the dressing room afterwards. ‘I’ve never seen you look more radiant.’

‘Aw, shucks, Mariam,’ I smiled at her. ‘Miguel and XX have asked me if I want to get some lunch at Dell’anima as we finished so early—’