Page 96 of Spy With Me
“I didn’t think about that at the time. I was freaking nine,and all I knew was my sister talked about how pretty your hair was, how muchshe liked the color. Do you think I haven’t thought about what could havehappened?” Lucy breathed deeply, as though she needed some strength to getthrough this conversation. “My mom talked about how lucky you were. And thenshe protested the shampoo company because you never told her you thought it wasme. Why?”
“Snitches get stitches, baby.” Kala sent her a peace signthat felt more like war. “I knew that even at fourteen. Besides, I didn’t getit in my eyes. I only had it on part of my hair when I realized something waswrong.”
Devi frowned her way. There were a few things off with thisscenario. It wasn’t like the shampoo would cover the scent. Not even Lucy’sevil genius would have manifested so clearly at the age of nine. “Lucy mightnot have really known what could happen, but you did know what bleach would do.You would have smelled it. You at fourteen were practically a PI. You hadalready started hacking, and Kenzie was excellent at manipulating…” She pointeda finger her cousin’s way because she did remember a couple of things thathappened before that summer. “You said you were going to find a way to not waittwo years. You complete sneaky bitch. You smelled it and put it on anyway.”
Kala’s lips curled up. “Kenz and I flipped for who had to doit. I lost, but Mom came through. I bravely offered to cut my hair and Kenzcried because then she would have to cut her hair, too. Mom was so upset withKenzie’s tears that we got to go pink. So…suck it.”
Her cousin was so immature sometimes. Only sometimes. Orthis was all part of Kala who often didn’t get the nuances or know how to letgo of a grudge. “So she’s a kid who you left out and she’s kind of mean likeyou and she tries to get some revenge. Again, she’s nine. And her revenge leadsto you getting something you’ve always wanted and you call her Lucifer.”
“Only because her mom didn’t properly name her,” Kalaquipped.
“I’m sorry. I was sorry when I did it,” Lucy said, her tonerigid. “I felt bad and I tried to stop you, but you already figured it out. Iloved my sister. I didn’t want to lose her, and I never found a Lou. So there.Call me whatever you want. I’ll be in the study waiting for word.”
Kala turned Devi’s way. “Seriously? You suck.”
Devi’s hands came up. “I suck? You bullied a kid.”
“I didn’t bully her.” Kala groaned. “I didn’t. Poppy wantedto hang with kids her age and not have to deal with her little sister. Thatdoesn’t mean she didn’t love Lucy. It meant that during the summers she wantedsome space, but she didn’t know how to ask for it. So I did it for her.”
“You told a kid her sister didn’t want to be around her?”
“Of course I didn’t. I told her to hit the road and go playwith kids her own age,” Kala replied. “We were teens and we wanted to hang outand not worry about baby sister getting in trouble. And now I can maybe see howshe would have taken it wrong, but she was mean as shit.”
“I’m trying to imagine you without your sisters,” Devipointed out because she thought Kala was being short sighted here. “You withoutKenz to balance you. You have always been excellent at finding people who seeyou. What if Lucy didn’t have that? What if Lucy’s only real friend was hersister and you tried to take her away?”
“I didn’t try to take her,” Kala insisted. “Poppy is aperson. I can’t take her away.”
“And how did you feel about it at nine? This is Kala aftertherapy. What did nine-year-old Kala do when someone threatened her family?”
Kala’s head fell back and she groaned. “Do not do this tome, Dev.” She brought her head back up, a stubborn look in her eyes. “We have agood thing going, Lucifer and I. We hate each other and we’re good with that.The universe accepts it. Why would we change things now?”
“Because you’re very, very similar but you’re older and haveseen more and could potentially help her. She’s right. She doesn’t have a Louor a Kenz. She doesn’t have a Tash or your brothers and cousins. Was she theweirdo in the weirdest town in the world?”
A long-suffering sigh came from her cousin’s chest. “She wasthe kid who liked to play with matches and take things apart to see how theyworked except sometimes she broke important things and maybe accidently blew upa shed or two. It was funny. She was always possessive. Not with things, butdefinitely with people and animals. She had this cat that she didn’t wantanyone else to pet.”
“So smart, awkward socially, curious in a way most peoplewould find annoying. Weirdly possessive.” She was going to have to lead hercousin to the truth. By force. “Sound like anyone we know?”
“You think she’s like Tash?” Kala asked.
Devi stared her stariest stare.
Kala growled a little. “Fine. There are some similarities,and I will admit when it comes to the job she’s not entirely useless. But she’smean to me now. She named a cranky donkey after me.”
“You call her Lucifer. I think The Fabulous Miss K is a waybetter nickname. Also, you would have liked the donkey. She would have beenyour spirit animal after you got over the name and you would have called heryour best animal friend.” She knew her cousin so well. Kala would love to hangaround an animal sanctuary. It would calm and soothe her and give her purpose.
“What do you want me to do, Dev?” Kala asked. “We’re nevergoing to be besties.”
“Just be nicer. Maybe don’t hiss when she walks in a room,”Devi suggested.
“It’s a conditioned response to the addition of awfulness tomy space,” Kala replied.
“Maybe don’t refer to her as awfulness.” They had so muchwork to do.
“But she is,” Kala insisted.
“Only when you’re around,” Devi shot back.
“Because I see through her…” Kala’s face went a nice shadeof pink. “I fucking hate therapy. It sucks and it sucks that I’m so good at it.Fine. Just fine. I’ll refrain from calling out the terrible shit she does. Iwill try to be nice.”
