Questing for a Dream, page 23
The waiter reluctantly backed off. He looked at Nadie and Graham, who were following the couple back to the private function room. His eyes were worried.
“We’ll check and make sure she’s okay,” Graham assured the man and pressed something into his hand.
The waiter hesitated, giving Graham a long look, then he nodded and moved on. Nadie clutched at Graham’s arm as they followed Dev back to the room.
“I told you. She’s had too much!”
“Shh. You’ll get people upset.”
“But—”
He shook his head at her, his lips pressed together. Back at the party, Dev laid Charlotte down on a couch. Nadie went over to check on her friend. The unconscious girl was breathing evenly. Her color was good. Dev squeezed himself to sit beside her on the couch and shook Charlotte’s arm a couple of times. Too tentative; Charlotte didn’t stir. Nadie tried to move in closer to check Charlotte’s pulse and to make a better attempt at waking her up, but Graham held her back.
Dev pulled a strip of stretchy rubber or latex out of his pocket and tied it around Charlotte’s arm. Nadie watched in confusion. Was that supposed to wake Charlotte up? It wasn’t until Dev also pulled out a syringe that Nadie remembered the nurses at the clinic tying a tourniquet around Nadie’s arm before giving her vaccinations. They said it made the vein pop up so it was easier to find.
“What’s that?” Nadie demanded. “What are you giving her? You can’t do that!”
Dev looked back at Nadie with a scowl of irritation. “Why don’t you just butt out?”
“What is that? Are you a doctor?”
He smirked. “Yeah. A doctor.” He turned back to Charlotte.
Nadie tried to pull out of Graham’s grasp to stop Dev, but Graham tightened his grip and pulled her against him so she couldn’t escape. Dev slid the needle smoothly into Charlotte’s arm. He released the tourniquet, then drew the plunger on the syringe back, pulling blood into it. He pressed it down again slowly.
“You can’t do that!” Nadie shouted, struggling to get over to him to stop him, even though it was already too late.
The buzz of conversation around her had ceased, and everybody was looking to see what was going on. Dev continued to push the plunger until the syringe was empty, then withdrew it. He put the safety cap back on the needle and slid it out of sight in a pocket. He rubbed the injection site, watching Charlotte’s face.
Graham released Nadie and she elbowed him in the stomach, angry at his interference. She heard the thump and the whoosh of his exhaled breath, but he didn’t hit back. Nadie hurried over to Charlotte’s side and tried to shove Dev back out of the way. He resisted and pushed her away. Nadie was so skinny and so woozy from the alcohol that it wasn’t hard for him to push her off balance. Nadie stumbled and fell ungracefully. The cocktail dress was not a good fit, and rode up on her, showing a lot more than she intended. Nadie pulled it down quickly and got up to her knees, where she could see Charlotte better and had more stability.
Charlotte was waking up. She stared at Nadie glassily for a few moments, then smiled. “Hey, cutie.”
She pushed herself up onto her elbows, looking around. There was still very little conversation, everyone watching the drama unfold instead.
“Did I pass out?” Charlotte asked. She grabbed Dev’s arm and used it to help pull herself up to a seated position. She let go of him and rubbed the injection site on her arm. “Mmm, good stuff,” she murmured to Dev. “Got me feelin’ good.”
He reached out to embrace her. Nadie shoved him. She put a lot more force into it this time, angry at him for pushing her down. “Stay away from her!” Nadie growled.
She shoved him off the couch, forcing him to jump to his feet. He towered over her, face flushing red.
“You little—” He looked at Charlotte and choked back the rest of his attack. “You put your hands on me again and I’m gonna call the cops on you. Got it?”
She wasn’t sure Dev would like the story she had to tell the police if he did. But she also didn’t want to take the chance of being apprehended by the police or Child Services.
Nadie got clumsily to her feet, putting out a hand to steady herself. Dev was the closest one to her, and he reached out to her in a reflex. His hand lingered on her shoulder while they both looked at each other, unsure of how to react. Nadie pulled back slowly, compelling her legs to stay straight and strong, and keeping her head absolutely still and straight to prevent any further loss of balance.
Charlotte looked at Nadie and Dev, her eyes narrowing. “This one’s mine, Tonya. Go find your own,” she warned.
Nadie raised her brows, not daring to shake her head. “I don’t want him,” she declared. “He’s just a big, fat jerk!”
“I see the look in your eyes.” Charlotte got to her feet. In spite of having passed out only minutes before, she seemed steadier than Nadie. “You need to just back off. I didn’t bring you along so you could steal my man.”
“Charlotte! I swear I’m not interested. He’s all yours!”
Charlotte didn’t seem to be hearing anything Nadie said. She was stuck on the thought that Nadie was trying to steal Dev and wasn’t going to be derailed. If anything, Nadie’s words seemed to make her even more angry.
“Get the hell away from him!” Charlotte yelled. She shoved Nadie hard with both arms, throwing her to the floor for the second time in five minutes.
Before Nadie could straighten her dress or get to her feet, Charlotte was on top of her. Fists swinging, she went right for Nadie’s face, landing punch after punch. It took Dev and Graham and another one of the men to pull Charlotte back. She clawed at Nadie’s face, leaving burning hot stripes of pain on top of the aching bruises where Charlotte had hit her.
“Cool it, Char,” Dev said in her ear. “You’ll get us thrown out.”
“Little slut is after my date!” Charlotte insisted as if she didn’t even know who she was talking to. “I’m not letting her get her claws in him!”
“Nobody’s got their claws in him,” Dev soothed. “Come on. Let’s dance some more. Work some of that energy off.”
“Dance?” Charlotte echoed, distracted.
“Yeah. Come on. We’ll go dance some more.”
With another look at Nadie lying on the floor, Dev pulled Charlotte out of the room.
Graham tried to help Nadie up. “Are you okay? Oh, man, she got you good, didn’t she? Let me ask the bartender for some ice and we’ll try to keep those bruises from swelling up.”
Nadie didn’t object, too dazed by the sudden turn of events to take it all in. Graham again tried to pull her up. He couldn’t get her on her feet, but settled for getting her onto the couch Charlotte had vacated.
“There. Just relax there. Wait until I get back.”
Wait to do what? Nadie lay there, her head spinning and face throbbing. One of the other party guests, a young woman, came over and sat on the edge of the couch.
“Are you okay? I’m so sorry that happened! There’s not usually any trouble at our parties.” She dabbed at Nadie’s face with a tissue.
“What’s she hitting me for?” Nadie asked. She heard the whine in her own voice. She sounded like a little kid. “I was trying to help her. I wasn’t after her… boyfriend. I just wanted to help her!”
“It’s not anything you did. It’s just the drink and the drugs. Some people… turn mean when they’re drunk.”
Nadie remembered the encounter with Holly and nodded. Holly had acted like nothing had even happened the next day. Like she didn’t even remember it. Would Charlotte be the same way? Nadie swallowed.
“Is Charlotte always like that when she drinks?”
The girl averted her eyes, shrugging. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen a lot of her. Maybe once or twice. She gets… twitchy… but I haven’t seen her hit anyone before.”
Nadie moaned and brought a hand up to her head. The whole world was not only spinning, but rocking back and forth like a boat on the ocean. One of the bruises gave a big throb and the world dimmed. She wasn’t aware of any passage of time, but then Graham was sitting there instead of the girl, gently pressing a cold cloth and an icepack over the side of her face. Nadie flinched at the contact and he gave a sympathetic wince.
“I’m sorry. It will help. Just give it a minute.”
Nadie groaned again. She was starting to feel nauseated as well as dizzy and in pain. “I gotta get up.”
“What? You can’t get up, you need to rest and put some ice over that…”
“I’m gonna be sick, Graham.”
He took a swift glance around and grabbed a wastepaper basket. “Okay. Here. Hang onto this, and we’ll get you to the ladies.” He helped her to get up and looked around to see who else could help. “Mary…?”
Mary was apparently the one who had been sitting with Nadie earlier. She took a look at Nadie’s face and the wastepaper basket, and her eyes widened. “Uh-oh.” She hurried to Nadie’s other side and together, she and Graham helped Nadie toward the bathrooms. When they got there, Graham looked at Mary, gradually withdrawing his hold on Nadie.
“Have you got her? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Nadie didn’t feel as secure without Graham balancing her on the other side, but with Mary’s help, she managed to make it to the toilet before being sick. She heard Mary’s heels click out of the bathroom, and could hear their low voices on the other side of the door, though she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Eventually, Nadie felt a little more clear-headed. She managed to make it to the sink to rinse her mouth and splash water on her face, then pushed open the bathroom door. Mary and Graham were still standing just down the corridor talking. Mary hurried over to take Nadie’s arm.
“All better?” she inquired. “You’re still pretty pale.”
“She should lie down,” Graham said. “With some ice on her face.”
“Okay,” Mary agreed. “Come on, let’s get you settled.”
Nadie was walking on her own, so they didn’t grab her, but walked close by her side, waiting to dive in if she looked like she needed help. As they walked by the dance floor, Nadie saw Charlotte dancing with Dev. Unfortunately, Charlotte also saw Nadie and made a beeline toward her. Dev was hard pressed to catch up with her and tried to hold her back. Charlotte shook loose from his grip. Graham moved in to block her path, holding out his hands.
“Tonya’s not doing anything to bother anyone,” he told her. “She’s just a bit sick to her stomach.”
“We’ll look after her,” Mary added. “You go dance with Dev. We’ll take care of everything.”
“What’s everyone’s problem?” Charlotte demanded. “I want to see how my best bud is doing.”
They all looked at each other, uncertain. Graham gave a little shrug and stepped back out of her way, but stayed close in case she attacked again.
Charlotte gave Nadie a hug. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. I just freaked out a little.”
Nadie held herself stiff in Charlotte’s grip and didn’t return the hug. She didn’t even look at Dev, worried about triggering another paranoid attack from Charlotte. Charlotte let go of her after a minute.
“I am sorry,” she insisted, tears in her eyes. “It just… I dunno. Something came over me. I know you weren’t after Dev…”
Nadie still didn’t look in Dev’s direction. She wasn’t taking any chances. Charlotte could go from sugar-sweet to dangerous in a second and she wasn’t going to assume Charlotte’s attitude reversal wouldn’t switch tracks again.
She let Charlotte escort her back into the party room, and Charlotte fussed over her, making sure she lay down and put the ice on her face. Nadie closed her eyes and waited for the ice to calm the throbbing of her bruises. Her mind went to Nicole again. I hurt you. I hurt you bad, and they took you away. Charlotte appeared to be truly sorry, just as Nicole had, but she felt sorry too late to change anything.
Being sorry didn’t change Nadie being hurt. It didn’t make Nicole a mother or Charlotte a friend.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nadie hoped to avoid Cammy or any of the supervisors when she got in. She was quiet. She peeked in the window of the door before entering to make sure no one was around. But it was no use. She was halfway to her bedroom when she heard Cammy behind her.
“Tonya?”
Nadie looked back over her shoulder. “Oh, hi.” She kept going, hoping Cammy would just leave her alone and let her go to her room without an inquisition. No such luck. Cammy followed her.
“We missed you at curfew last night,” she said in a measured tone.
Nadie lay down on her bed, facing away from Cammy. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Lost track of time…”
“Turn over and look at me, please.”
Nadie didn’t obey immediately. She just lay there, still, waiting for Cammy to either give up or press her further. Cammy did neither. She stood there silently, waiting for Nadie to do what she had been asked. Eventually, Nadie grew too uncomfortable with the expectant silence and turned over again.
“Well.” Cammy surveyed the cuts and bruises on her face. “What happened to you? And where is your new best friend?”
“Charlotte?”
“Yes. Charlotte. The two of you were together. Now you come home, looking like that. Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know a lot more than you’re telling me. Did you get separated? Is that how you got hurt?”
“No. I mean, we didn’t separate until… this morning.”
“Does ‘this morning’ mean two o’clock or eight o’clock?”
Nadie swallowed. “More like… five o’clock.”
“And where did Charlotte go at five o’clock?”
Nadie rubbed the center of her forehead, wishing she could rub away the headache. But considering the withdrawal, the alcohol she had consumed, and the beating, her headache wasn’t likely to go away any time soon. She was probably lucky it wasn’t worse than it was.
“It’s not my business where Charlotte goes,” she tried.
“Oh, it’s not.” Cammy leaned back against the frame of the door, staring at Nadie. “I assume that means she went off with a boy, or worse.”
Nadie continued to rub her forehead, then looked at Cammy. “What do you mean or worse?”
“Just what I said. There are a lot of things that would be worse. She could be hurt or dead. Dealing drugs. Hooking. In jail, though that’s probably not worse… depending on what she was there for.”
Cammy waited for a few minutes for Nadie to reply, examining her fingernails.
“So does that mean she was with a boy?” Cammy surmised.
“None of my business.”
“Maybe not. But it’s mine.”
Nadie didn’t supply any information. Cammy sighed. “Do you need anything, Tonya? Your face is quite a mess.”
“No. Thanks.”
“Where did you get into a fight?”
“I’m tired,” Nadie said. “Can I just go to sleep?”
“No. Sleeping is for night time. I’m thinking it’s time to start assigning some chores. You’ve pretty much been sleeping since you got here.”
“I don’t feel good,” Nadie protested. Chores? She could barely lift her head from the pillow.
“Up and at ’em, girl. I showed you the house rules, and that includes doing your fair share of chores.”
“No… not really…?”
“Yes, really.”
Scowling, Nadie forced herself to sit up. She held her face in her hands, barely able to hold her head up. Cammy waited, not giving in. Nadie steadied herself and walked toward Cammy.
“Okay… I’m up. What do you want me to do?”
“Let’s start with laundry.”
Nadie sighed. “Okay.” Her hands were sore just thinking about it. Considering the number of people living in the house, there had to be a huge amount of laundry to do, even if people were supposed to do their own clothes themselves. She remembered from her talk with Cammy the first day that everybody was assigned days when they could wash their own clothes.
Cammy led her all the way down to the basement. She gestured at three full laundry baskets sitting waiting. “Sort them. Towels and bedding. You know how to use the machine?”
Nadie looked at the washer. It had a lot of buttons and controls on it. “Uh… no. We didn’t have one like that.”
“I’m sure it’s all pretty much the same.” Cammy ran quickly through the different settings and raised her eyebrows.
Nadie looked at her blankly. “Can you show me how? I… just one load…?”
Cammy cocked her head to the side, brows drawing down. “Are you seriously telling me you’ve never washed laundry before? You act like a girl who knows her way around the house.”
“I’ve done laundry… but not in a machine.”
“Not in a machine? Then how?”
Nadie made a scrubbing motion. “By hand.”
“You did all of your laundry by hand?”
“Uh-huh.” Nadie looked down at her bare feet, waiting for Cammy to laugh or make fun of her.
But Cammy didn’t mock her. “All right, then. Let’s do one together.” She picked up one of the baskets and walked Nadie through the sorting process first. After they had gone through how much to put in the machine, and how much detergent, she showed Nadie the right settings for sheets and closed and started the machine.
“Get the rest sorted and then you’ll need to listen for the machine to buzz, so you know when to put the next load in. Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll show you the dryer. In between loads… you can work on dishes. Our dishwasher is broken. I assume you’re experienced in washing dishes by hand as well?”
Nadie nodded. “Sure.”
“I’ll show you where everything goes.”
Nadie followed Cammy up the stairs and was shown around the kitchen.
It was late afternoon before Charlotte got home. Nadie stayed out of the way while Charlotte was lectured. Once finished with that, Charlotte came and found her. The girl was all smiles, just like always. No indication she was upset about the lecture or remembered their disagreements of the night before. She looked at Nadie scrubbing the tile of the counter backsplashes and laughed.
