‘Yeah, right,’ she snorts. She turns on the TV and throws the remote on the coffee table. It’s a kid’s show, something withpuppets and fake flowers. She doesn’t even attempt to change the channel. She just sits there glowering at the screen.
I pick up the remote and turn it off. Now she glowers at me.
‘You don’t want to draw attention to yourself, do you understand?’
‘Why?’
I raise my arms in disbelief. ‘For Christ’s sake! You know why! We have to stay cool, all right?’ Did I just saycool? ‘We don’t want people to ask questions about your dad.’
She throws me a look of disgust. ‘And whose fault is that?’
I snort. ‘It’s not mine, Holly.’
‘You said you’d take care of it!’ she shouts. ‘You’ve been saying you would take care of it for, like, two weeks!’
‘It hasn’t been that long,’ I say, as if that’s remotely relevant. I take a breath. ‘Just a few more days. I’ll take care of it on Saturday. We’ve discussed this.’
‘But you said that before! You should’ve done it before!’
‘I couldn’t! Did you not notice we had someone staying here? What did you expect me to do?’
‘I don’t know, Kate! Keep your promise?’
‘I am doing my very best,’ I hiss.
‘Yeah, well, your very best sucks.’
‘Holly, that’s enough.’
‘You keep coming up with excuses. You were quite happy Teri was here. I saw how you were with her. So don’t tell me it’s her fault that you didn’t keep your promise, because it’s not. It’s yours!’
‘It’s not my fault you killed your dad and then drove a car into a pedestrian!’
Holly gasps. She turns pale.
‘Oh, God, Holly. I’m sorry.’
Her face falls, her mouth trembles and tears roll down her cheeks.
I sit next to her. ‘Holly. I didn’t mean it.’
‘Yes you did.’ She stands, wiping her tears roughly with the back of her hands. ‘Screw you, Kate.’
‘Hey, come on, stop. I’m sorry.’
She turns around. ‘No! She’s right. You’re mean. And you’re horrible. And I hate you! And this is all your fault.’
‘Who’s right?’ I ask, even though I already know the answer.
‘I’m going to Teri’s.’
‘No! Do not go to Teri’s house.’
‘Why? What are you going to do about it?’
‘She’s not your friend.’
‘Yeah, actually, she is. It’s you who’s not my friend.’
