joint was located well outside the township of Wachobe but still a pimple on our image.
I pressed my hand against my temple, fearing what tomorrow would bring. “Erica stopped taking her medicine. If you bring her back here for the night, I’ll call Dr. Albert and schedule an emergency visit for tomorrow. Do you have to work tomorrow?”
Ray grabbed his car keys and headed for the door. “I do.”
I looked at Danny, who’d been swinging his gaze between us. “Then Danny is going to have to go with us to the appointment.”
His eyes widened.
I hated to expose him to Erica at her worst, not to mention the rest of Dr. Albert’s patients. But then, on the other hand, it might be good for Danny to get a look at the state mental facility. After all, it was a lot like a prison.
And if he didn’t stop following in his father’s footsteps pretty quick, that just might be his next home.
By the time Ray dragged Erica into the house, all the song had left her. In fact, she ran to the bathroom and all the drink left her, too. I scraped her off the bathroom floor and tucked her into our bed. Ray would have to take the couch tonight, and the kid would have to make do with a sleeping bag on the floor.
Ray lit a fire and toasted marshmallows with Danny, for whom it seemed a new experience. He torched several before he got the hang of it. Then Ray told him a few ghost stories. The kid didn’t scare easily. I left them around ten o’clock to lie down beside my sister, who snored louder than Ray. I wrapped my pillow around my head and tried to get enough sleep to face the next day.
At seven a.m. Ray left for work with a crick in his neck, shoulders hunched from sleeping on the too-short couch, a grim look on his face. He didn’t even kiss me good-bye. Danny and Erica arrived at breakfast around ten, both with sour expressions and moans.
“Coffee. Water. Aspirin.” Erica rested her head on the table. “Did you get another kid last night?”
I set a cup of coffee in front of her. I’d made it especially for her, knowing that she would want it. I never drank coffee, although I did enjoy the aroma of it. It reminded me of Ray, who could never go more than a couple hours without a cup.
I set juice and pancakes in front of Danny. “What are you talking about, Erica?”
She pointed to Danny. “There’s two of him.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “You’re a drunk.”
Erica whipped her head off the table, then put her hands to her temples, blinking rapidly. “I am not.”
“You puked last night. You’re gross.”
“You’re a thief.”
He shot her the finger.
I banged on the table. Erica moaned.
“Erica, you’re thirty-three years old. Stop arguing with the twelve-year-old. Danny, more rules. No swear fingers and no name-calling.” I set the aspirin and water in front of Erica. “Drink up. We have a noon appointment with Dr. Albert.”
“I don’t want to see him.”
“Well, he wants to see you. He’s skipping lunch just for you. So get it together, because we’re going.”
The forty-five-minute ride to Dr. Albert’s office passed in silence. I couldn’t even play the radio, because Erica said it made her head ache.
Danny muttered “boo hoo” in the back seat after she complained. I shot him “the look” via the rearview mirror. He got the message and shut up.
Dr. Albert rented office space in a building conveniently located next to the state psychiatric center, where Erica had spent many months after her multiple suicide attempts. As we pulled into the parking lot, the shadow of “the tower,” the nickname for the fourth floor where she’d resided, fell over the car. She slumped in her seat. “I’m not going in.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Danny got his word out first. “Chicken.”
Erica whirled to face him. “I am not chicken. I hate chicken.”
“Chicken.”
As their battle raged on, I got out of the car, walked around to Erica’s door, and whipped it open. I grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the car.
“Ow.”
I kept hold of her arm and marched her toward Dr. Albert’s office. “You’re arguing with the twelve-year-old again.”
“I don’t like him. Can’t you give him back to foster care?”
The thought had crossed my mind more than once, but at the moment, I didn’t like my sister all that much either. I kept walking.