Sisters in the Wind(75)

“Nah,” I countered. “Hand-washing was fine for just the three of us.”

“Remember it the way you want, Clancy. We were seriously lacking modern conveniences on that island.”

“I liked it,” I said.

“I know you did.” She retrieved a stack of dinner plates, which I rinsed before arranging on the bottom level of the dishwasher. “Where did you go after that? Is that when you started with the tats and piercings and going Goth with the black eyeliner?”

“Mackinaw City. Horrible family. Didn’t last long there.” I paused my work and spoke quietly. “I’ll tell you when we have more time.” I forced a smile. “You met Joy, my tattoo and piercing specialist. She got me started with one. Then I went back for more. I liked her eye makeup too. When people meet her, they’re kind of scared. I like that.”

“So you’re still dorky, but now you look like a dangerous dork.”

“I guess,” I said. “But what about you? Did they make you go somewhere else for your last few months?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think they would bother with another placement, but the state detention facility had an opening.” She scoffs. “Lucky me.”

“Oh wow, Devery—I mean, Beth. You always said those were the worst.”

She wouldn’t look me in the eye. I had consoled myself at the Sterlings that maybe Devery had landed somewhere better than I had. It was a disturbing thought that I had been the luckier foster sibling.

I told her the best thing I could think of.

“You will never go hungry at Hoppy Farm.”



* * *



A week later, Devery returned with Bruce after a date. The more I saw them together, the more they made sense. My dad might have seen her bluntness as rudeness, but it worked well with Bruce because he didn’t get nuance or hints. His lack of social cues made him direct to the point of insensitivity to most people, but she wasn’t offended easily.

“If it bothered me, I sure as hell wouldn’t stay,” she assured me. “Imagine if I could only dish it, but not take it!”

While Bruce did one of his chores, I showed Devery the hammock grove. The two newest little trees had been planted for Tonya and Otto.

“So, everyone who leaves gets a tree?” she asked.

“I guess so.” After a beat, I corrected myself. “Wait, not always. I don’t know.”

I couldn’t remember us planting one for Emily or Emma. It seemed like a long time ago instead of a year and two months. I rolled into the double hammock.

“So, tell me about that family at your last place.” Devery heaved her petite self alongside me. We wobbled, which she made worse by overcorrecting her balance. She needed to learn how to roll.

“The Sterlings,” I said with a sigh. “They were horrible. Religious in a bad way. Fire and brimstone. Tattoos were a sin. Oh, and there was Steven.” I shivered. “My foster ‘brother’ was a horndog who stared at my tits and tried to mess with me.”

“Oooh.” She did a drawn-out singsong. “You know I gotta hear how that went down.”

“Thumbs in his eyes.” I held my arms up and demonstrated.

“Told you so,” she chuckled.

“Mm-hmm,” I concurred. “Then I found out he was selling. And…”

It came flooding back. My disgust at what Steven had been doing to Stacy. I didn’t know how much I wanted to tell Devery.

“He was evil. Not just a horndog and a drug dealer.” I took a deep breath. “He was messing with his little sister. When I found out, I tried…”

The tears flowed. Every bad feeling came back. I tried not to think about what life was like for Stacy after I left.

“I tried to help Stacy. She was only nine years old. I think I made everything worse for that girl.” I wiped my nose on my T-shirt. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“They lived in Cheboygan?” Devery asked.

“No. Mackinaw City. Seriously, Devery. Change the subject.”

“Did you ever find Bridget and get your revenge?”

I gave a wry laugh.

“I don’t know where she is,” I admitted. “I don’t want revenge. Just peace and quiet.”

“That bitch is living on your inheritance after she dumped you.”

“She didn’t dump me; I ran away.”

“Oh, Clancy,” she sighed, like she wanted to cover up the severity in her voice, the darkening of her eyes. “You think she didn’t hold the door wide open for you to leave? I thought about what you told me back on the island. She goes from acting like the Mother Superior to encouraging you to be the social butterfly of northern Michigan. Sports. Dates. Country club. Bikinis. No supervision.

“You don’t think she was hoping you’d run wild? Then she could say, ‘Oh, look at what I had to endure. My dear husband died, and his teen daughter is too much to handle.’ I think she was always planning to regift you and blow through your inheritance. Then start looking for her next grift.”

“It wasn’t an ‘inheritance’ like ponies and diamonds,” I countered. “My dad wanted me to get a college education. A bachelor’s and a master’s degree. So I’d always be able to take care of myself.”