AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“…and what?” Alanna hissed.
Layla’s eyes slid to her socked feet. “Someone might have elbowed me in the face and my nose may have gushed blood all over your jacket.” Her voice was a whisper.
“I looked everywhere for that jacket,” Alanna accused. “You helped me search for it!”
“I couldn’t tell you,” Layla whined. “I knew how much you loved that jacket. You would have murdered me in my sleep.”
“You’re damn right I would’ve!” Alanna hollered. And then, suddenly, she was laughing. Her wine glass shook in her hand. “Oh my god, I totally would have ended you,” she said between gasps.
“I know.” Layla joined in the giggles. “I tried to wash the jacket like six times,” she wheezed. “But the stain didn’t come out. I tossed it in the dumpster behind the school, so you’d never find it.”
“You… owe… me a bright… pink Juicy Couture velour hoodie,” Alanna gasped. “I demand full compensation!”
“Only…” Layla brushed tears from her eyes, “if I get to stick your toothbrush in the toilet.”
“Don’t you dare!” Alanna howled, barely managing to keep her wine in the glass. “I’m still capable of murdering you in your sleep. I’m silent like a ninja. Cal wouldn’t hear a thing.”
“Girls!” their mother pleaded, but she was giggling, too.
In the dim light beneath the blankets, the women dissolved into laughter. Alanna felt her dread and worry slip away, replaced by a deep, endless love for the two women with her in the ridiculous blanket fort.
It took a while for them to settle down but finally, they sipped their wine, dragging in deep breaths to recover.
“Mom, we still need to hear a secret from you,” Layla said.
Dede’s smile dropped from her lips as she swirled the pale pink liquid in her glass. Finally, she looked up at her daughters. “I used to clean this house.”
“What?” Alanna frowned at her mother.
“You mean, like for money?” Layla’s voice was quiet.
Their mother nodded. “When we first made it to Yucca Hills, I didn’t have any skills. Your father wanted me to be a stay-at-home mom, so I never went to school. I couldn’t do anything, except work at restaurants and clean houses.”
Alanna’s stomach tightened. Money had been the cruelest of teases during her childhood. It took so much sweat and effort to earn and yet as soon as it appeared, it was gone, already promised to a landlord, a utility company, or a payday lender.
“This house was one of the first cleaning clients I picked up.” Their mother glanced around as if she could see the home through the blankets. “I always loved this house so much. The couple who owned it were good people. They’d give me a $50 Walmart gift card every Christmas. Sometimes, while I was cleaning, I’d imagine this house was mine. I prayed that one day I would be worthy of a house like this.”
Their mother laughed, though Alanna found nothing funny about the story. “It was a selfish thing to pray for,” Dede continued, “especially when so many others had less than us. But then it came on the market.” She looked to Alanna, “And you were so insistent about buying me a place. I didn’t want to take your money. I didn’t think I deserved it…”
“I wanted to do this for you,” Alanna insisted immediately.
“I know,” her mother said. “And when I saw this house was available, I… it felt like maybe my prayers were answered.”
“They were,” Layla insisted and squeezed their mother’s hand. “After all your hard work, after everything you went through, you did deserve this.”
“I didn’t,” Dede said softly. “I tried to be a good mother, but I couldn’t support you both, not the way you deserved.” She looked to her eldest daughter. “I know you were… embarrassed by what I did. By our situation.”
“No,” Alanna said forcefully. “Not embarrassed of you, or of our family. Never. But I was… angry.”
“You always saw what we didn’t have,” Layla said softly to her older sister, “instead of everything we did. We were rich in love. That was a blessing so many other families don’t have.”
Alanna’s heart constricted in her chest as shame rose in her throat. Love had been enough for her mother and for Layla. Why hadn’t it ever been enough for her? Why had she always wanted the nice clothes, the gourmet food, the trappings of wealth?
“I love you both,” she said.
“I love you, too, my Queen of Sheba,” her mother answered.
“I love our family,” Layla proclaimed. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Not one single thing.”
