I promise to make the most of it if you promise to cut the crap and stop being such a stupid-ass Goody Two-shoes! Gawd!”
Tanyalee gasped. Mercifully, she kept her eyes on the road and remained silent for the five minutes it took to arrive at the downtown location. Fern glanced at her mentor, who sat with posture so perfect it looked like her spine was made out of a steel rod. Tanyalee pulled into the back parking lot of an old brick building that had recently received a makeover.
Fern started to get out of the car, when a hand grabbed her forearm.
“Fern.”
Tanyalee’s voice was soft, but even without turning around, it was obvious the lady was pissed but good. Fern pasted on a smile and whipped her head around. What she saw shocked the hell out of her—Tanyalee was about to freakin’ cry!
“I want to be your friend,” Tanyalee said, her hand softening on Fern’s arm. “I don’t want to boss you around or make your life harder than it is. This is supposed to be fun.”
Fern sure as hell didn’t want Tanyalee to start crying, so she softened. “Sure. Fun is cool.”
“I’ve had my share of loss and disappointment, too. It can make you hard and mean if you let it. Please don’t let it.”
Fern snatched her arm away and laughed. “Seriously? You’ve been disappointed? Like the Christmas you got rubies instead of diamonds? Is that what you’re talking about?”
Tanyalee went perfectly still. Fern couldn’t even tell if she was still breathing, but it was clear she was alive because the veins of her neck were sticking out behind her little pearl necklace. Tanyalee’s shirt might have been pink, but her face was red as a stoplight. Right then, Fern worried she might have gone too far with her new mentor.
“I expect you to apologize to me immediately.” Tanyalee’s words came out in a whisper, like she was so mad she was half out of breath and about ready to reach over and smack the shit out of her.
“Okay. Sorry, I guess.”
Tanyalee leaned in toward Fern and stared at her. Up close like this, Fern could see that Miss Goofberry had done something to make her eyes look bigger than they really were. She’d drawn a thick black line along her upper eyelid, and put on so much mascara that her lashes looked like woolly worms. Then she’d used several different colors of eye shadow, all of them kind of soft-looking grays and pinks. It was like an art project. She wondered if Tanyalee had taken classes to learn how to do that shit to her eyes, because, seriously, Fern would probably give it a try and end up poking herself and be blind for the rest of her life, and what good is having fancy, made-up eyes if you couldn’t see shit with them?
“I get it, Fern. You don’t like me. You think I’m a spoiled rich girl and that we don’t have a single thing in common.”
Fern leaned away. “Maybe.”
Tanyalee smiled a little, and her face got softer looking. Even up close like this, she was TV-star beautiful. Fern had never known anyone as pretty as Tanyalee Newberry.
“Well, I’ve got news for you, missy. You are dead wrong.”
“I already told you—don’t call me ‘missy.’ It ain’t my name.”
“Isn’t your name, you mean.”
“That’s what I said. It ain’t my name.”
Tanyalee laughed. “I’ll make a deal with you then, Miss Fern. I won’t call you ‘missy’ if you promise to speak to me respectfully. You don’t have to love me. You don’t even have to like me all that much. But what I do require is that you be respectful, and I will do the same for you. How does that sound?”
Fern shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”
“Wonder-flippin-ful, then.” Tanyalee turned off the Cadillac’s ignition, tossed the keys in her purse, and opened her door. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
In silence, Fern followed Tanyalee up a set of back steps leading into the building. She wasn’t sure what to make of the conversation she’d just had with her mentor. In a way, Fern felt pissed that this snooty chick just put her in her place. In another way, it felt kind of good to know where Tanyalee’s limits were and what she expected. The only other time Fern had experienced that was with Gladys, and, as strange as it sounded, it sort of made her feel safe.
Life with her daddy had always been loose and floppylike. They went day to day,