out my last question. But no, she pulls her eyes away but she does answer me after.
“You’re so naïve, pet,” her words are a little harsh but they are said with a loving tone. “What kind of boy wants a whore for a mum?”
“Don’t call yourself that!” I stop walking abruptly and grab at Emme’s arm sharply. “You know that’s never mattered to me and it wouldn’t matter to Joe. I can’t believe you never told me.”
“Oh, Sonnet, of course it would matter.” Her eyes look flat and expressionless now as she looks at me. “It’s better this way. And I don’t have to stop loving him any less, or be around him any less. It really is better. Come on, there’s that lovely toy shop, let’s go in!”
In an instant, the fire in her eyes is back and she is like a little girl as she pulls my elbow and practically drags me across the street to Ramone’s Toys and Trinkets. She claps in glee at the train set that decorates their front window and pushes open the door merrily. A bell tinkles from over our heads and like magic; a man appears at our side as though he has been conjured by eager shoppers. And Emme certainly is eager; she spends an almost obscene amount of money as she picks out huge lollipops, a stuffed bear, a set of blocks, a walkie-talkie that she says will give Joe and Bea endless entertainment, books and board games, and finally the train set in the window. At one point, I open my mouth to remind her that if he gets attached to all of this and then they leave what then? But I cannot say it; I cannot remind Emme of the realities of her little Lost boy. It isn’t as though she doesn’t know the unfairness of it all… is it?
Chapter Fifteen
We walk back from our shopping exhibition laden down with bags and boxes and boxes in bags. Emme is fresh faced and excited for her purchases as we make our way back to the coffee shop and I can’t help but cheer up a bit; Emme’s childlike exuberance is contagious. The wind has whipped itself up into a bit of frenzy however and my fingertips feel frozen to the plastic handles of the shopping bags in no time. We still have a couple of blocks to go.
“Let’s play Best and Worst in order to keep my lips from frostbite,” I suggest, heaving my bags up and over my shoulders like Saint Nicholas. Best and Worst is a game just about every Lost child has played at one time or another: the best places and eras you can imagine waking up in and the worst.
“Mmm,” Emme wrinkles her button nose the way she always does when she’s thinking. “Best: Cancun, right now. Worst: the Black Death.”
“Best: discovering America. Worst: Marie Antoinette’s court.”
“Best: the abolition of slavery. Worst: on board the Titanic.”
“Best: the nativity in Bethlehem. Worst: the Trail of Tears.”
“Best: the Wright brother’s airplane. Worst: Vietnam in the sixties.”
“Best: you know that scene in every Robin Hood movie? Where they’re gnawing on gigantic turkey legs? That. Worst: the depression.”
“Yeah, I’ve had those turkey legs and they weren’t that great,” Emme answers. “It was like gnawing on shoe leather not poultry.”
“Please tell me you didn’t actually meet Robin Hood!” I stop in my tracks.
Emme laughs. “Pretty sure he’s a fictional character, genius. Did meet a lot of friars back then though and maidens in long frocks. And castles aren’t nearly as romantic as they look, let me tell you. Bloody cold and full of rats.”
“Alright then. Best: Elvis Presley’s tour bus. Worst: Marilyn Manson’s tour bus.”
Emme laughs again. “We’re here. Ugh. What are the odds of you taking all this stuff back to your place to hide?” She manages to balance a box beneath her chin and free her left hand to open the door to the coffee shop. Wedging my knee in the opening, we both somehow get inside without dropping anything.
“Pretty good as long as Israel comes to get me. I’m not going to walk it all home, that’s for sure.” I wonder if he’ll be up for picking me up. I spent most of my shift shopping but it is still daylight. Sometimes he abandons me to walk the sunlit streets and fend for myself when it isn’t an evening shift I’ve worked. Plus, I don’t think he’s completely forgiven me for stealing the Blue Beast.
“Can I