Bitch Factor – Chapter 10
“Why can’t we go to the same camp?” Ellie persisted, sorting forks and spoons into separate plastic bins.
Courtney noticed her sister’s yellow sundress had puckered in front where she’d spilled lemonade. Ellie was still a baby, too young to pay attention to spills and such.
Smoothing out wrinkles as she worked, Courtney folded a green napkin into a neat triangle, then folded it in thirds. On Sundays, they worked with Mama at the restaurant. The smell of tomatoes and spices drifted from the kitchen, where Mama was cooking spaghetti sauce. The restaurant’s air conditioner hummed, pumping cool air on the back of Courtney’s neck.
“We can’t go together because I’m nine and you’re barely six,” Courtney explained for the zillionth time, even though she didn’t totally understand it herself. She’d volunteered to go to the younger camp. Going alone her first year, Ellie would be frightened.
Actually, Courtney wasn’t too keen on trying out a new camp alone, either. She’d never been away from home without Betsy. But Mama just shrugged when Daddy Travis INSISTED.
“lt’s time you two girls spent some time apart. Ellie acts more like your shadow then your sister.”
That had been on Friday, Courtney’s day to work with Daddy Travis at the hardware store. She had watched him choose a blue pencil from a collection in the breast pocket of his orange overalls, and note something on an order form, his short fingers pressing hard to write through all the carbons.
“Ellie and I like doing things together,” Courtney explained in her most persuasive voice, the one that usually got them fifteen extra minutes before bedtime.
“I know you do.” He tapped the pencil’s eraser on her nose. “And you might be lonely at first. But then you’ll meet new friends, and before long you’ll be having a great time. A great time, you’ll see.”
She waited until he looked back at the order form before rubbing the tickle off her nose.
“What if something happens to Ellie and no one’s there to care of her?” Taking care of Ellie was Courtney’s job, now that Betsy was gone.
“There’ll be a whole camp full of people to make sure nothing happens to Ellie.” His pale blue eyes twinkled in the morning sunlight. “A whole camp full. Now, stop being such a worrywart, and ask Mr Collins if he wants a basket for those tools he’s carrying.”
Nobody EVER won an argument with Daddy Travis. A few weeks earlier, the whole family had gone to the courthouse to see the man who ran over Betsy. Mama hadn’t wanted her and Ellie to go, but Daddy Travis said it would be good for them. “They need to see for themselves that the bastard who killed their sister won’t get away with it. Won’t be out driving drunk to run down some other kid.”
Courtney was glad the bastard had been caught – if he were driving around, she’d worry even more about Ellie – but she was surprised to see that it was Mr. Parker Dann. Mr. Dann seemed like a nice person when he came into the hardware store and cafe, always smiling and usually with a new joke to tell the other customers. He always told Mama how good her cooking was. On Sundays, when Betsy served him coffee at the counter, Mr. Dann sometimes gave her a dollar.
Courtney tried to imagine Mr. Dann running his car over Betsy
She pictured his big smiling face over the windshield like Betsy would have seen it. Couldn’t he TELL he was about to hit her?
“No skid marks,” Daddy Travis had said. “The bastard didn’t even slow down.”
Maybe Betsy had run in front of the car, like when Mama hit the dog. Maybe it was an accident.
Courtney remembered seeing the brown and black dog dart across the street, then feeling a thud when it hit the wheel. Mama had stopped the car and jumped out to see if the dog was all right.
Mr. Dann hadn’t stopped to see if Betsy was all right.
That Friday, at the hardware store, Courtney had seen him walking along the sidewalk.
“They let the bastard out on bail,” Daddy Travis explained.
Now, Courtney dropped the hopelessly messed-up napkin and hugged herself. Goose bumps pimpled her arms. She would try one more time to convince Mama that she and Ellie should go to the same camp, but Mama would probably only shrug again and listen to Daddy Travis.
Check back here next week to read the next chapter of Bitch Factor.
Meanwhile, check out Slice of Life, another Dixie Flannigan thriller.
