He Let Our Baby Die Over a Hospital Bill novel · Chapter 13 of 32

Chapter 13: Marla's Check

Gina's hall light buzzed over us.

Marla held the check out between two fingers.

"Fifty thousand dollars," she said. "From my own account, not Holden's. For your trouble."

I didn't take it.

"My trouble."

"Everything you've been through, dear. It's a terrible thing. Nobody's saying it isn't."

Behind me the door opened.

Gina stood there in a T-shirt and pajama pants, holding a wooden spoon.

Across the hall, the neighbor's door opened too, on the chain.

"Do you know what time it is?" Gina said.

"I do," Marla said. "I've been standing here since eleven. Your stairwell smells like onions."

"That's my neighbor's dinner. She's right there. Say hi."

The neighbor took the chain off and came out in her robe.

Marla gave her the church smile and turned back to me.

"Here's all I ask. Stop talking to the newspaper. Stop the meetings in that laundromat. Holden has the listing in October. After that, he can be generous."

"Generous."

"You'll have a fresh start, dear. You could go home to Pueblo. Your mother could use you."

"Don't talk about my mother."

"I'm being kind."

"You were kind in the nursery too."

Her smile thinned out, then came back.

"I raised that boy alone after his father left," she said. "I taught him to count every penny, because nobody was going to count them for us. I won't apologize for that."

"Nobody asked you to."

"And I'll tell you something else, since we're being honest at midnight. That girl isn't going anywhere. Kaylin. I've known about her for a year. Since the Aspen trip."

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