Free ONE SMALL VICTORY by Maryann Miller

enough that he could
see her clearly, she flashed the money just like Steve had taught
her. “For it to ring true,” he’d said. “It has to look like you’ve
done this a million times.”

    They’d decided on this approach after
realizing that she had no hope of connecting to local parties. The
kids wouldn’t accept her at theirs, and there was too much risk at
the adult parties. Someone there might recognize her.

    The man eyed her carefully. “Lookin’ for
something?”

    “About a nickel’s worth.”

    “What you talking about?”

    The question caught her off guard. This
wasn’t going the way they’d rehearsed. She quickly sifted through a
variety of responses, knowing only one thing; she couldn’t say the
word drugs.

    She decided on bravado, despite the fact that
she didn’t feel very brave. “Listen. The longer we stand out here
jawing the more we both risk.”

    The Hispanic man in the passenger seat leaned
out his window and scrutinized her for a moment. “Buzz off
lady.”

    Then he motioned to the driver who started
the engine. The black man jumped in the back seat, and Jenny
smelled their exhaust before her mind accepted the fact that she’d
failed.

    Great. Now what am I supposed to do?

    The one thing she knew she couldn’t do was
stand out here and be conspicuous. She pulled her jacket closed
against the chill wind and headed back to her car. Maybe it
wouldn’t feel so much like a complete fiasco after a hot bath and a
call to Steve.

    Alicia was already asleep when Jenny got
home, so she slipped quietly went into the girl’s room to kiss her
goodnight and remind herself again why she was doing this. Then she
went back out to the living room where Scott was watching TV. He’d
barely acknowledged that she’d come home early and still kept his
attention on the program.

    “Everything okay, Scott?”

    “Sure.”

    “Did you finish your homework?”

    “Didn’t have any.”

    Jenny fought the urge to question the
veracity of that, but things were so rocky between them, maybe she
should show some trust. One of his major beefs was always that she
didn’t trust him.

    “I’m going to take a shower. Then we could do
something if you want.”

    “No thanks. I’m on my way to bed as soon as
this is over.”

    His indifference created a pain deep inside
and she longed for one those rare moments of closeness that had
become even rarer of late. But you can’t force it. You know
that.

    Letting out her frustration in a deep sigh,
she turned and headed for her bedroom. After a quick shower, she
wrapped a towel around her head, slipped into her fluffy robe and
called Steve on his cell phone.

    “Problem?” he asked.

    “You could say that.” Jenny sat on the edge
of her bed.

    “Wait. I’ll go to a landline phone and call
you right back.”

    A few minutes later, her phone rang. She
picked up on the first ring, hoping that Scott hadn’t picked up in
the kitchen.

    “What happened,” Steve asked without any
preliminary small talk.

    “The dealers drove off.”

    “Don’t worry. We told you it was going to
take a while for them to accept you.”

    There was a pause and a rustle of movement,
and Jenny wondered where he was and what he was doing. Then she had
this sudden awareness of being naked beneath her robe, sitting on
her bed, and talking to this man who was starting to make her feel
things she hadn’t in years.

    She stood up.

    “Was there something else?” he asked.

    “Uh, no. I just wanted you to know.”

    “Listen, just keep going back until they let
you make a buy. Trust me. They won’t put you off for long.”

    Jenny felt marginally better after they hung
up. She dried her hair, put on some sweats and a t-shirt and
crawled into bed, even though she wasn’t particularly sleepy. A new
Laura Castoro novel was on her nightstand and she picked it up.

    After reading a few pages, Jenny realized
that she kept losing track of the story, which wasn’t fair to