Chapter 11 - The Door With the Wreath Still On It
The cruiser heater blew hot against my knees the whole way back. Lily sat between me and the door, her bunny squished under her chin, half asleep again. The sheriff kept both hands on the wheel and didn't run the siren. Snow stuck to the windshield and melted as fast as it landed.
I recognized the street before he said the address out loud. The brick houses all looked the same, but ours — hers — had the wreath. I felt my stomach drop when I saw it.
"Stay in the car a second," the sheriff said. He got out and came around to my side and opened the door. Cold air cut right through the heat. "You want to come up with me? Might be easier hearing it straight."
I nodded. I unbuckled Lily and lifted her down. Her boots slipped on the curb and he caught her elbow.
We walked up the same walk we'd walked down that morning. The snow we'd stepped in had been shoveled. The wreath with the gold balls was still on the door, and the light was on inside. My gloves felt too tight.
The sheriff knocked. We waited. I heard the TV go quiet inside.
Grandma opened the door just enough to see out. Same beige cardigan. Same short gray hair. Her eyes went to me first, then to Lily, then to the badge on his jacket.
"Ma'am," he said. "County sheriff. I'm doing a welfare check. These your granddaughters?"
Grandma's mouth tightened. She opened the door wider but didn't step back to let us in. Warm air came out and hit my face.
"Emma," she said. She didn't say Lily's name. "What did your mother do now?"
"Nothing," I said. "Dad's in the hospital."
Grandma looked at the sheriff. "She left them on my step Christmas Eve morning without a call. No bag. No note. Just knocked and walked off toward the bus stop."
My hands went cold inside my gloves. "She didn't walk off. She said she'd be right back."
"She told me she had to get to the hospital," Grandma said. "Your daddy collapsed at work, she said. She needed a ride and money for parking. I told her she should have called last night when it happened instead of showing up like that."
The sheriff took out his little notebook. "What time was this?"
"Ten, ten-thirty. She was crying. We fought." Grandma crossed her arms over her cardigan. "I told her I'm done covering for her. She hangs up on me for a month, then she wants gas money."
Lily pressed her face into my coat. Her bunny's ear rubbed my zipper. I put my arm around her.
"She didn't leave us," I whispered. "She told us to wait inside the storm door."
Grandma shook her head. "I told her I couldn't watch you girls all day. I have my heart pills, I have church. I told her to call the hospital social worker. She got mad and took off down the steps. Then you two were still standing there."
The sheriff wrote something down. "Ma'am, I'm not here to decide who's right. I need a safe placement tonight and a way to reach their mother."
"I can't take them," Grandma said fast. Too fast. "Ask anyone. My doctor said no lifting, no overnight stress. Lily still wakes up at night."
I felt Lily go heavier against me. I crouched a little so she could lean more. The wreath moved when the wind hit the door. One of the gold balls clicked against the brick.
"Please," I said. "Do you know where Mommy went?"
Grandma looked at me then, really looked. Her eyes weren't mean like I'd remembered that morning. They were tired.
"She still has the key to the old apartment over on Maple," she said. "She never turned it in when they moved. If she didn't stay at the hospital, she might've gone back there to get clothes or money. I don't know the number, but it's the brick building by the laundromat."
The sheriff flipped a page. "Street address? Apartment?"
"Maple Court Apartments. Building B. I don't remember the number. Her name's still on the mailbox, probably."
He wrote it down and tore off a copy from a card and handed it to me, like I was the one who needed to keep it. I folded it and put it in my coat pocket with my gloves still on.
Grandma didn't touch us. She stayed in the doorway with the warm light behind her.
"Emma," she said. "I didn't send you out to freeze. I thought she'd come right back up those steps."
May you like
I didn't answer. Lily lifted her bunny a little, and Grandma glanced at it and looked away.
We walked back to the cruiser through the slush. I helped Lily climb in and buckled her. The door shut, and the heat was still running.
