Free The Queen of Cool by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

What did he come up with?”
Lisa asked.
    “ The Queen of Cool,” Jaden
said.
    Q

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Tuesday, early morning—3:25 a.m.
    Fairmount Historic District, Fort Worth
     
    Days: 17
     
    “ NO!” Mandy screamed and
writhed in her bed. “I want my MOM! You’re not my MOM!”
    “ Mandy, you’re very sick,
honey.” Trying to soothe Mandy, Lo sat down on her bed. She put her
hand on Mandy’s forehead and cheeks. “You’re burning
up.”
    “ I want my MOM! You’re not
my MOM!”
    “ Mom’s in Italy with
Leonardo, doofus,” Alisha yelled at Mandy. “She doesn’t give a shit
about you.”
    “ I want my MOM! I want my
MOM! I want my MOM! I want my MOM! I want my MOM!” Mandy began to
chant.
    Lo looked back
to see Don standing in the doorway. His face was slack, and sweat
appeared on his brow and upper lip. His eyes flicked from Mandy to
Alisha. Seeing their father, the girls let loose. Alisha screamed,
“ You’re a doofus,” while Mandy chanted “I want my MOM!”
like a Hare Krishna on methamphetamines. The noise level grew to an
ear-splitting volume. Lisa came into the hallway to see what was
going on.
    “ Don?” Lo said.
    “ He always checks out when
things get bad,” Alisha said.
    Lo walked over to Don. His eyes flicked to
her but Alisha was right. Her husband of eight months was nowhere
to be found. She took his hand and led him back to their bedroom.
She sat him on their bed and climbed onto his lap. With her knees
on either side of his legs, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
She held on for a few moments before he seemed to click in. His
hands moved along her thighs to cup her behind.
    “ Don, I really need your
help,” Lo said in his ear. “Can you come back here for
me?”
    She held on for another moment before he
said:
    “ Lo?”
    “ Don, Mandy’s
sick,” Lo said. “I think she has appendicitis. She had some tummy
pain this afternoon, but we thought it was from eating too many Pop
Rocks. Now she has a really high fever. I need to get her fever
down. But I can’t take care of her and call the doctor.
Will you call the doctor for me?”
    She pulled back to look into his face. His
face flushed with shame. His eyes were glazed with moisture.
    “ Lo, I’m so sorry,” he
said. “I…”
    “ There’s no reason to be
sorry,” Lo said. “A sick child is very overwhelming.”
    “ I…”
    “ We can talk later,” Lo
said. “Right now, we’ve got to help Mandy.”
    Don blinked at her. His mouth screwed to the
side as he worked out the puzzle.
    “ Mandy’s sick,” Don said.
“I’m going to call the doctor.”
    “ Right.”
    Lo got up to open their bedroom door. Alisha
and Mandy were pressed against the door listening. Lisa was
standing in the hallway pretending she didn’t care.
    “ Mandy, back to bed,” Don
said. “Alisha, get the phone. Lisa, help your sister.”
    The girls were slack-jawed with shock at
their father’s changed demeanor. Lisa popped to attention at his
voice.
    “ Do it,” Don said.
“Now.”
    The girls jumped into action. Alisha ran
down the hallway to get the phone and Mandy scooted back into her
bed. Lo followed Mandy and sat down beside her. Lisa stood in the
wings to help.
    “ I want my Mom,” Mandy
whimpered.
    “ I know how bad you want
your Mom,” Lo said. “But she’s not here, right now.”
    “ She’s busy with some
Italian guy,” Alisha said as she came into the room.
    They heard Don’s voice on the phone in the
hallway.
    “ It doesn’t matter what
she’s doing,” Lo said. “She’s just not here, and that
sucks.”
    “ I want my Mom,” Mandy
said.
    “ I want my Mom sometimes
too,” Lo said. “But she’s never coming back. You’re Mom will be
home from Italy soon.”
    “ You’re not my
Mom.”
    “ Remember when the star
forward on your soccer team hurt her knee?” Lo asked.
    “ I bet her mom
wasn’t in Italy with some guy when it happened,”
Alisha said.
    Lo turned around to glare at Alisha.