Dawn wanted to wrap her arm around her mom’s slender shoulders, but on opposite sides of the table, it would have to wait until they said goodbye. She could see her mother trembling, the emotion overtaking her.
“Has the drug counseling helped you?”
Lissie’s eyes filled with tears. “Yes. It’s helped me now that I’m taking it seriously. I doubt I’d have lived much longer going the way I was… I’m so glad you’re here, punkin.”
Punkin was what Lissie had called Dawn for as long as Dawn could remember. Lissie said she’d started calling her that after they went to a pumpkin patch when Dawn was five years old and Dawn kept saying she wanted the biggest punkin they could find—even though they couldn’t put it on their doorstep. It would have been smashed in minutes.
“What about the other stuff? Are you doing okay with that?”
Lissie nodded. “Better than I thought I would. It’s hard, don’t get me wrong. The psychologist has me doing the journaling thing, but I have to keep the notebook in her office. Nobody wants those thoughts shared with the whole cell block if the journal got stolen. It’s helping, I think. Plus they have an AA and NA group here. They call me on my bullshit. It takes one to know one, as they say. I guess I needed that.”
“I’m so glad, Mom.”
“Punkin, I know I’ve said this before, but I really mean it now. When I get out of here, I’m going to make some major changes.”
“I know. Gran believes in you, and I believe in you too.” Dawn surprised herself. She actually did believe her mom this time. Some kind of shift in her mother’s eyes. They used to look like nobody was home. Now, she was present. Also the way she sat, relaxed instead of half listening and fidgeting in place like she was itching for a fix.
“I’m worried about my mother. Is she really okay?”
“Gran told me you’ve been calling her. She’s doing great. She’s the most popular old lady on the rehab floor and is knitting baby booties for one of the pregnant nurses.”
Lissie giggled and shook her head. “That’s my mother for you. Knitting her way into everyone’s heart.”
“She’s—well, just a good person.” Dawn was about to say something about her gran’s good karma but didn’t want to accidentally give away something she shouldn’t.
“And this young man you’re dating? Is he a good guy?”
“Yes. He has Gran’s stamp of approval.”
“Good. I can’t wait to meet him.”
“You will.” Dawn didn’t say any more than that. Despite her mom’s progress, some ghosts continued to linger. Lynda was right. She did need to meditate and concentrate more on her inner self. Changing karma wasn’t just about doing good deeds. She did feel like she’d turned a corner with Lissie, and that was a relief. One that she hadn’t felt in a long time.
* * *
“Hey you!”
Dawn turned toward the voice shouting at her. She’d just parked Luca’s car on a side street and was making her way back to the Fierros’ home.
“I know you. You’re Luca’s girl, right?”
Dawn recognized Jack Richardson, Mandy’s father, walking toward her. “Yeah. Can I help you with something?”
“Uh, yeah. You still have my daughter’s unicorn.”
Dawn worried her lip.
Dressed in wrinkled jeans and jacket, he looked like he’d slept in his clothes, at least what little sleep he did get. The poor man had bags under his eyes the size of craters.
“Yes, I still have it. Would you like it back?”
“You were supposed to find her. That’s why I gave Fierro the unicorn. He said you could help. That was two weeks ago. What happened?” He looked anxious and hurt, his eyes holding the pain of a man who’d lost far too much and couldn’t afford to lose anything more.
Dawn blew out a breath. “Can we go somewhere to talk?”
Mandy’s father ran his hands through his unkempt hair. “Yeah, I live just around the corner.”
Dawn nodded. This is it. I finally get a chance to go inside Mandy’s home.
