Chapter 10 - The Pink Bow on the Pillow
The bedroom smelled like clean laundry and Lily's strawberry shampoo. I sat on the edge of her bed and didn't know where to put my hands.
Lily's room was bigger than our whole apartment had been. The walls were light gray and there were white curtains and a rug that was soft under my bare feet. Lily had already changed into pajamas with little stars on them. The caseworker, Mrs. Alvarez, had said it was okay for me to have a sleepover here if I stayed in Lily's room and Marcus kept the door open. She'd brought me a bag from the shelter with pajamas that were light blue and too big in the sleeves.
I put my teddy bear on the pillow. I always did. I set him so his face was toward me and his worn ear wasn't folded under.
Lily brushed her hair in front of her mirror. Her high ponytail was out and her hair fell around her shoulders. She looked at me in the mirror and smiled.
"You can sleep on that side," she said, pointing to the left side of the bed. "I don't roll over much."
I nodded. I pulled the sleeve down over my hand. My cheek didn't hurt anymore but I kept touching it anyway.
Lily came over to the bed and sat cross-legged across from me. She reached up and took the large light pink bow out of her hair. She'd worn it every time I'd seen her. She held it out to me with both hands.
"Do you want to wear it?" she asked. "For tomorrow."
I stared at it. It was soft and the color was the same as her dress from the park. I wanted to touch it. My hand moved a little and then stopped.
"I don't know how," I said quietly.
"I can put it on for you," she said.
I shook my head just a little. I looked down at my teddy bear. "What if I get it dirty?"
Lily didn't pull it back. She just set it gently on the pillow next to my bear, right between us. "Then we'll wash it," she said. "It doesn't matter."
I didn't put it on. I left it there by his head and kept my hands on the blanket. Lily didn't make me. She just lay down and tucked the blanket up and left the bow where it was.
Out in the hallway, I heard Marcus's voice low. The door was open a crack and the hall light made a thin line on the rug. I could see his shadow on the floor.
I heard him slide down and sit. The floor creaked a little.
"You can go home, Jay," Marcus said. I knew he meant the bodyguard. I had heard Lily call him Jay once.
"I'll stay till morning," the bodyguard said. His voice was even quieter.
There was a pause and then Marcus spoke again. His voice was rough, like he was trying to keep it steady.
"The lab calls at eight," he said. "Whatever that envelope says. I wanted you to know. I'm filing for guardianship in the morning. Even if it's negative."
The bodyguard didn't answer right away. I held my breath so I could hear.
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah," Marcus said. "I sat in that hallway at the county building and watched her eat crackers like she hadn't eaten all day. She waited on a bench from sunup because her aunt told her to. I don't care what the test says. I'm not sending her back to that."
I felt my chest get tight. I pressed my hand against my teddy bear's back.
"She's scared," Marcus said, even softer now. "I don't want her to hear us talk about maybe and if."
The light in the hallway stayed on. Their shadows didn't move.
I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew the room was dark except for the nightlight Lily had that looked like a little moon. The clock on her desk said 2:07. It was quiet and I could hear Lily breathing next to me.
My heart was beating fast for no reason. I stared at the ceiling and then at the doorway where the hall light was still on. I rolled onto my side and my teddy bear was still right against my pillow, right where I'd left him. The pink bow was still there too.
"Lily?" I whispered.
She stirred. "Hmm?"
I didn't want to wake her up all the way. My voice came out smaller than I meant it to.
"I'm scared to be sent back to the sidewalk," I whispered.
Lily opened her eyes. She didn't look sleepy and confused. She just looked at me. She reached over and put her hand very lightly on my arm, not pulling, just there.
"You won't," she whispered back. "My dad said you can stay. He told Jay."
I swallowed. My throat hurt.
"What if the paper says I'm not your sister?" I asked.
Lily glanced toward the doorway, then back at me. "Then you'll still be my sister," she said. She said it like it was simple. Like she had already decided.
I held my teddy bear tighter against my chest. I was breathing a little too fast and I tried to be quiet about it.
May you like
From the hallway, I heard a small shift, like someone moving on the floor. Marcus hadn't left. He was still sitting there, just outside the door, awake.
Lily squeezed my arm once and then let go and settled back down. I lay there with my bear and the bow on the pillow between us, listening to the house be quiet, waiting for morning and the envelope that was supposed to tell us what we already were.
