AllFreeNovel
Share Us
First thing she notices as she pushes through the swing door, is that aroma. Coffee pot is still on. Vodka is always better in the morning—according to Billie—but one can never go wrong with a fresh mug of coffee.
But—
There’s no sign of either Gigi or Tonya.
She expected them to be down here.
“T?” she calls out. “Gigi?”
She turns the corner to the downstairs powder room, expecting to find one of them inside. But the door is open and the light off. It’s empty.
She only sees herself in the reflection of the mirror on the wall opposite. It’s a punch to the gut. No amount of sleep rids the red from her eyes, always lookin’ like she’s just woken up from the deepest sleep. But it’s the booze that does that. Tired eyes, she can overlook (or even cover with her Ray Bans), but her hair’s all scraggly from the drying bleach last night, and while the shade is a perfect white-blonde, it’s in need of some toning shampoo to get rid of those small little strands of yellow. Her lips, thin and cracked, tell her how much her body needs some actual water in that water bottle of hers.
She looks in that mirror and sees what Preston’s family sees.
Trailer trash.
Without the trailer, just plain old trash.
With a huff, she pushes away from the doorframe and stomps over to the kitchen’s landline stuck to the wall.
Since it’s early—and she’s not long awake—it takes Billie a moment to focus, to remember Tonya’s cell from memory. But she gets it and smacks the numbers until the purr of the ring comes from the phone.
It rings once, twice, three times when—
“Hello?” It’s Tonya’s familiar snappy tone.
“Where are you?” Billie gets straight to the point. “Are you outside?” The background noise sounds like it. It’s just got that different sound of air, you know?
“Yeah, I’m just getting into the car—”
“Why?”
“Gigi didn’t come by last night. She’s not answering her cell.”
“Yes, she did.” Billie frowns at the numbers on the landline. “I saw her come in.”
“No,” Tonya retorts without hesitation. “She didn’t.”
“Girl, I’m tellin’ you. I woke up when she came in.”
A pause. Then, “Did you see her face?”
“No,” Billie says with a beat of hesitation. “I just fell back asleep.”
Tonya’s tone hardens, but it’s like violin strings pulled too tight, as if ready to break. “You must’ve dreamt it, or it was one of the girls coming back from the bathroom. Gigi isn’t here. Her car isn’t here, her bag, her cell—nothing. I… Billie, I need to make sure she’s safe with all that’s…”
“Ok, wait.” Billie leans back and switches off the coffee pot. “Wait for me. I just need to grab my bag, I’ll come with you.”
Another pause. “You got one minute.”
That’s all Tonya says before she hangs up.
Billie races through the house to snatch up her clothes, bag, bottle, then stumbles out the front door to the already idling car.
She clambers into the passenger seat. “She probably left this morning,” she says, still convinced she saw her in the night. “Maybe she got a shift at Mo’s—”
Tonya is reversing out of the driveway before Billie can finish her sentence or even get her seatbelt on.
