Goodbye, Good Girl Read online

What the hell happened?

  Oh no. Her medicine bottle spilled on the bedside table, the cordless phone had been sitting next to them. Did she get into them again, or was she reaching for the phone and knocked them over?

  Tires squealed from the Tutor’s front yard. A dark smoke plume was all that remained of the Volvo.

  Earl stood in his yard near the curb, both hands on a formidable shotgun.

  Kandace yelled indecipherable words into the phone. No, she couldn’t tell the operator what happened. Or how. No, her mother didn’t fall, she’s on her back, on a bed. Yes, she takes prescriptions. Yes, she was alone.

  The operator tried to calm her. Paramedics were on their way.

  2

  Kandace sat on the living room carpet, biting her nails. She couldn’t stop shaking.

  The paramedics took three minutes to arrive, which felt like three hours. Neighbors gathered on Earl’s yard. Two men in fierce blue uniforms pushed a gurney through the front door as police and fire departments arrived at the curb. A medic kept asking Kandace questions, but she couldn’t think with all the commotion.

  How could she be so unprepared? The alarm was off. The Kahr CW9 carbon fiber 9mm locked away in the safe, inaccessible.

  The EMT asked for medical records. Filing cabinet, top drawer. The EMT’s eyes widened, leafing through the thick folder.

  They carted her mother out, strapped down on her side, a transparent mask on her face, fogging. The ambulance doors slammed and the siren wailed down the quiet street. Kandace forced herself to her feet when her sister emerged in the hallway in her pajamas.

  “Where’s Mom?” Amelia said, her eyes slits against daylight, her blonde hair an animal of its own, going all directions.

  “She’s gone to the hospital. Get dressed.”

  “What about the egg and cheese soufflé you promised?”

  “It has to wait.”

  “That’s what you said last time,” Amelia said.

  “Excuse me, is an adult in the house?” a police officer asked and Amelia darted to her room.

  “You’re looking at her,” Kandace said.

  He stared for a moment, then returned his attention to a pad of paper with his pen.

  “Fine. I’ll need your name, date of birth and your social.”

  Kandace gave him what he wanted.

  He stopped for a beat when he finished writing. “Ginger Santellan. Is she your mother?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you explain what happened?”

  Kandace rehashed Volvo Man’s visit, then finding her mother.

  “Your 911 call was for a medical emergency,” the officer said. “Are you saying there was also a disturbance out front?”

  Kandace nodded.

  “Around what time did that happen?”

  “9:15, while I was at work. My class ran a little long.”

  The officer made no reaction. “Was the man in question ever in the house?”

  “I don’t know for sure. I’ve got his license plate number.”

  He stopped a beat and studied Kandace. Then he wrote the plate number she recited. “Okay, someone will look into it.” He explained that an officer would follow up only if more information were required. “When will your father be available?”

  “He works out of state, and I have no idea when he’ll be home.”

  The officer left his card, telling Kandace to call if she remembered anything else.

  Without a crime aside from harassment, she had little reason to believe that the police would do anything about Volvo Man.

  “Where are we going?” Amelia asked, emerging from the bedroom. She’d undoubtedly been waiting around the corner for the officer to leave. Brushed hair, comfy in pink sweats and a T-shirt easily one size too large.

  “The hospital, of course,” Kandace said and bit her tongue. Amelia’s lack of attention or caring grated on her.

  Kandace’s phone played the assigned tone for Coral’s text messages. Though Coral could hold her own—at thirteen years old she was already more mature than some boys Kandace graduated with—Kandace had her younger sister report in while out of town with her soccer team.

  R u awake?

  Kandace replied, yep. talk later, k?

  She longed to ask about her tournament soccer games, figuring her sister’s first game tipped off soon. Telling Coral about Ginger’s condition wouldn’t help anyone.

  Amelia watched as she set the alarm and locked the door.

  Kandace stopped Harriet and lowered her window as Earl crossed the street, his attention fixed her way.

  The old man leaned in and spoke quietly. “Whoever that was, he’s not supposed to be here.”

  “Don’t I know that. Did you see when the Volvo pulled up?”

  He paused, scratched at this stubble, thoughtful. “Yeah. He was here awhile, staking out the place. Rang your doorbell a bunch, stood there a long time. Got annoyed. He walked around the yard. I come over to ask him his business, and he got real crass.” Earl had a coughing fit and paused to cover his mouth with a hankie. “So, I went back to my porch. When I saw him in the house, through your window, I fetched my shotgun. I told a cop what happened.”

  Kandace’s hands squeezed on the wheel. “He was in the house?”

  “Few minutes, I’d guess.”

  “Shit. Why? He knows my dad’s not here.”

  Earl shook his head. “Hard saying. Sorry, girl. If he hadn’t run when he did, I’d have sent him packing… to see his maker, that is. It’s a shame John ain’t here when he come around.” Kandace trembled, spotting the shotgun he held against his shoulder. What might have happened? It would have helped her out immensely if Volvo Man were dead. But it felt horrible, just thinking like that.

  “I hope I don’t ever see him again. And right now, I need to get to the hospital. Thanks, Mr. Rutger.”

  A quick nod. “I understand. You take good care, Kandace. Be careful.”

  “Thank you and I will.” As she pulled away, she glanced at Earl, waving in her rearview mirror. It felt as if she was leaving for war. Kandace called the officer about Volvo Man entering the house, leaving a voicemail, just in case.

  What had happened to her mother? Lately, a flare-up might have pushed her to take too many opioid painkillers. Memory challenges caused other issues. But could Volvo Man have harmed her? And why? Hurting Ginger didn’t help him find John Santellan.

  Amelia. Had she seen him in the house?

  Her younger sister sat in the front seat as though they were out for groceries.

  “Seatbelt,” Kandace said.

  “It doesn’t work right. I hate it.”

  “It’s better than nothing,” Kandace said, pushing the shifter into second like she wasn’t afraid of breaking it.

  “We’re dead if we get hit anyway.”

  “You’re right. Better to go flying through the windshield at oncoming traffic. Forget it.”

  “Fine, Mom. I’ll put it on. Geez. Can we at least get food?”

  “I can’t remember what’s on the way.”

  Amelia shrugged. “There’s a Carl’s Jr.”

  “That’s the opposite direction.”

  “Well, turn around then.”

  “Why not eat at the hospital? I’ll find you a vending machine.”

  “I don’t want food from a vending machine.”

  Kandace glanced at her sister. “I’m way more concerned about Mom in the hospital and the man that broke into our house.”

  Amelia scrunched her face. “If Dad would come home, then we wouldn’t be in this mess. Aunt V won’t be happy to get us again.”

  “Maybe Dad will come home, finally.” Kandace didn’t want to say anything more, feeling like it was pointless. She wanted to ask Amelia about the man being in the house, but she hesitated. Her sister didn’t respond well to confrontation.

  The lengthy drive racked every nerve in her mind. Her radio played a favorite song, but she couldn’t get into it. Watching her rearview mirror
made Kandace even more paranoid. And twitchy.

  On entering the emergency room, a nurse directed the girls to the waiting area. Kandace dialed Vivian and winced when she answered.

  “Kandace, everything okay?” Vivian asked. “I’m in the middle of making a pie, could you call later on?”

  “Mom’s in the hospital. She’d had a pain flare-up, went a little over on her meds.”

  I think that’s right.

  Loud sounds of metal hitting tile on V’s end of the line. “Oh, honey. Shit. That spilled. When did this happen?”

  “Maybe an hour ago. We just got here. Amelia is with me. Coral’s with her team in Allentown.”

  V sighed. “How bad is it this time?”

  “She had a weak pulse and was pasty white. I couldn’t get a response.”

  “Dammit. I’m so sorry, Kandace. I’ll leave as soon as I’m ready.”

  “Thanks, V.”

  Kandace hung up with Ginger’s older sister. While she had her good qualities, Vivian tended to become a smothering and controlling passive aggressive nightmare, akin to Annie Wilkes from Misery.

  In the accident’s aftermath, short term living arrangements for the girls were all V would commit to. Her teenagers, Byron and Jess, left her without schedule flexibility.

  Next, Kandace called Rachelle.

  “What’s up? Are you all right?” her best friend since the sixth grade asked. “I’m so confused. Arrahh, it’s too early for Saturday. I can’t think!”

  “Oh, stop. Are you hungover again? I want to be you,” Kandace said.

  “I can’t do Friday night without at least a buzz,” she laughed. “Went overboard. So, are you on your way over? Oh, wait… Why do you get up so early on weekends? No one in this dorm is up before eleven, I swear.”

  “Actually, I’m driving to the hospital.”

  “Oh. Suck. Sorry, K. It’s about your mom?”

  Rachelle knew about Ginger’s car accident and her surgeries and pills, but not the full extent. Kandace couldn’t have friends knowing her mother was secretly dependent on the pills that killed rock stars.

  “Yeah. Had to call an ambulance.”

  “Damn. You want me to come over?”

  “My aunt is on her way, so not yet.”

  “Mmm, kay… Call me later.”

  When Kandace hung up, Amelia asked, “K? Who was that man at the house?”

  Kandace twitched. “Did you see him?”

  “No. Well, maybe. I just saw him for a second, out front. I’d been sleeping and wasn’t all… awake. The ambulance woke me up.”

  “He rang the doorbell, right?”

  Amelia looked confused. “I must not have heard it. I don’t remember the doorbell.”

  “Mr. Rutger said the man was inside the house. Did you hear him?”

  “I thought that was you, so I just kept sleeping because I really didn’t want to get up and—”

  “Amelia, c’mon! Focus. Tell me what you did, what you saw.”

  “Okay, uh, I didn’t know anything was wrong, so I didn’t come out until the ambulance made all that noise. That’s it.”

  “Could you hear anyone in the house? Creaking stairs maybe? Doors opening and closing?”

  “Yeah, I think… I think he went upstairs.”

  Kandace bit her tongue. “Why do you think that?”

  “The stairs make all that creaking noise. And that top spot right after the last stair…”

  “The landing.”

  “Yeah, that. It makes so much noise.”

  Kandace forced herself to swallow.

  “Why did he break in the house?” Amelia said. “We have nothing to steal!”

  “He wants Dad. Thank God he’s not home, and I can’t believe I’m saying that,” Kandace said.

  “I would rather have him home.”

  Kandace drove silently a moment. “Yeah, me too.”

  The girls sat in the hospital waiting room, talking about what happened with their morning visitor, over and over.

  Forty minutes later Vivian walked in, the clacking heels from her statement leather boots announcing her arrival. Fitted jeans, fashionista blouse and accessories, capped off with a matching designer handbag. “My God, my God.” Kandace hardly got to her feet before she was wrapped in V’s arms and squeezed. “When did this happen?”

  “I checked on her right before I went to work this morning,” Kandace said. “She was asleep and seemed fine.”

  “That’s my good girl,” V said.

  Kandace realized she had forgotten to call her father’s cell in all the chaos since her mother’s medical emergency. Her call went straight to voicemail. After counting off five seconds she tried again, same results. She texted him: Call me when you get this, it’s urgent.

  Amelia yawned like a volcanic eruption. “Kandy, I’m too tired. I’m gonna sleep.”

  “Okay,” Kandace said to her sister. “I think we’ll be waiting awhile.”

  Vivian studied her oldest niece. “And so?”

  Kandace relived the events leading to the 911 call, leaving out Volvo Man’s visit.

  “I feel so badly for Ginger,” V said. “She’s killing herself over him.”

  “She didn’t try to kill herself, V. She’s in pain.”

  V sighed. “Kandace, it’s time you embraced reality. I'm sure you know that your mother has been taking way too many pills and God knows where she gets them all. You know how she struggles just to get up each morning. And your father is to blame.”

  “What’s this got to do with Dad?”

  Ever think about how we feel when you’re ripping on him?

  “Kandace, honey. He should have come home after the accident.”

  “He’s working to support us.”

  “I think you mean he’s adopted another life. He’s been gone two years and the accident was twenty months ago. Let’s get real.”

  And this is why I’m not telling you a man came looking for Dad this morning.

  A teenager had been texting and didn’t see a traffic light turn red. Doctors had told Kandace it was a miracle her mother survived.

  Kandace sat tall. “He calls. He talks to Mom all the time. And last time he was home he drove us to school every day. He did homework with us. We went places.”

  “Your mother can’t live with this,” Vivian said. “And frankly, neither can I.”

  You’re a bitch.

  “I’m sorry we’re an inconvenience to you.”

  “I don’t need lip, Kandace. I’m saying your father—”

  “There’s nothing we can do, so leave me alone!”

  V was abnormally calm. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and cursed to herself. “Have you explained to the doctor what happened?”

  Can’t say no. “Yeah.”

  “And?” V asked.

  “We wait.”

  “You should be respectful, Kandace.”

  “You should quit making me feel like my life is shit because of my father!”

  Vivian made a face, an attempt to look offended. “You have a great deal to learn, young lady.”

  Amelia hopped to her feet and ran down the hallway. Wandering the hospital alone sounded great.V didn’t seem fazed. “Has anyone told you your mother’s condition? I mean, where the hell is she?”

  Kandace shook her head, staring out the far window, hoping V would shut up.

  “This is so odd.” V shook her head. “I know the ER chief personally. I’ll give her a call right away.”

  “She’s in treatment, V.”

  Moments passed in silence before Amelia returned and stood in the hallway, holding a water bottle. “Why is V still here?”

  Kandace looked at her aunt for an answer.

  “I’m concerned about my sister and I plan to stay until I know what’s going on, thank you very much,” V said as she stood. “I’ll find somewhere else to occupy myself if you don’t want me around.”

  3

  Waiting for the results felt like how K
andace imagined life in captivity was, staring at a wall with nothing to do but drive oneself crazy with thoughts.

  Pacing didn’t help. Silly videos online made by friends weren’t funny. Kandace’s heart raced. Crazy ideas set in. She tried watching TV.

  Amelia sat beside her, uninterested in wandering the hospital anymore. “So, what are we doing?” her sister asked as she pushed wispy blonde hair off her face.

  Kandace sighed, then checked the clock again. “I can’t go while Mom’s in the hospital, so I want just to stay put. I’m hoping a nurse will at least tell me where she is.”

  “How long have we been here?”

  “Maybe an hour and a half. But hey, V went away. That helped.”

  Amelia groaned. “She’s so lame. She doesn’t want us anyway. We don’t need her. She kicked us out last time.”

  “I forget what happened to cause Mom and V to loathe each other.”

  “Still doesn’t make sense. I’m not gonna go see people I can’t stand,” Amelia said.

  “We’d never see our cousins if we didn’t go to their house.”

  Amelia perked a little. “Yeah, solid point. Maybe we could join up with them and kick V out. We’d need her surgeon husband to keep making money, though.”

  “Shhh. Don’t say that so loud,” Kandace said.

  A nurse approached and Kandace came to her feet.

  “Your mother isstable, in recovery room 8C, past the water fountain. She is unconscious and on ventilation for now,” the nurse said. “You could view her through her room’s window if you want. Dr. Scogin will see you momentarily.”

  Kandace nodded. “Thank you.” To Amelia, she said, “Are you coming?”

  Her sister shrugged. “I don’t want to do anything.”

  “I’ll come find you later.” Kandace wandered the hall. When she found Dr. Scogin and explained her mother’s pill supply at home, he seemed concerned. He explained that Ginger’s vitals pointed to opioid intoxication.

  He left Kandace standing in the hallway. Ten paces down, with no place to be, Kandace stopped outside room 8C and watched her mother through glass, in bed at an incline, gently misting a clear breathing mask every few seconds.

  What if I’m seeing Mom for the last time? Kandace stood outside her room, watching her. Wanting to hold onto good times. Good memories. If her mother were to pass, she wanted happy events with her to come to mind. Not any of this.