Page 67 of The Change
“Then Venus’s daddy left me when she was a baby. Said I’d gotten fat. Everything went to hell from there. And now this—”
Back in her nursing days, Nessa had seen far too many parents lose children. Some wailed in anguish, while death struck others silent. Nessa knew grief came in countless varieties. But in her experience, this wasn’t one of them. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
Laverne’s gaze only intensified. Nessa returned to her work, but she could still feel it.
“I just wish I could have taken better care of her. When she ran away three months ago, it wasn’t exactly a surprise. Venus had been making her own money and I told her she needed to start paying rent, but she wanted to spend it on drugs. After that, she just picked up and left.”
“How was she making her own money?” Nessa asked.
Laverne stared down at the butter rolls on the counter. “Men,” she said, leaving it at that. “I told her how dangerous it was. I told her she’d end up dead. But you know girls. I was the same way.”
It was time. Nessa had loaded a tray with the coffee cups and dishes. “Would you mind carrying that plate of butter rolls for me?” she asked.
They took everything to the living room, where Franklin was waiting in a chair.
“Have a seat on the sofa,” Nessa told her guest. She chose the chair next to Franklin’s for herself.
Nessa watched as the woman sat down beside the girl in blue, whose name, Nessa was almost positive, was not Venus Green. The ghost’s head slowly swiveled to get a look at the woman. Then it turned back to face Nessa. Nothing had changed.
An hour later, when her guests had gone, Nessa used a pencil to pick up the coffee cup that Laverne Green had used. She carefully placed it inside a plastic bag.
“That wasn’t her mother,” Nessa told Franklin when he phoned later that evening.
“She brought a birth certificate and photos and a folder full of documents,” Franklin said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Nessa insisted. “I kept the woman’s coffee cup. You need to test her DNA against the girl’s.”
“Nessa.” Franklin sounded like he was going to talk sense to her.“There is no way I can justify that. Laverne Green had all the right paperwork. What makes you think she’s not the girl’s mother?”
“The whole time that woman was in my living room, she was sitting right next to the girl she claimed was her daughter. The girl didn’t recognize her.”
“Hold on a second,” Franklin said. “Are you telling me that girl’s ghost is inside your house?”
“Do I sound like I’m messing with you?”
Franklin took a moment to absorb the news. “Nessa, there is no way I can justify doing a DNA test. I believe what you’re saying, but as far as the department is concerned, the girl is Venus Green.”
“Fine,” Nessa huffed. “I’ll do my own test. She left her DNA all over my cup.”
“You’ll need the girl’s DNA, too,” Franklin said. “How are you going to get that?”
“I’ll ask for a few strands of her hair when I have her buried.”
“Whenyouhave her buried?” Franklin sounded confused.
“Now that the girl’s body has been identified, it will be released from the morgue. Is Laverne Green planning to take it?”
Franklin pulled in a deep breath. “She said she doesn’t have the money for a funeral. The county will have to bury the body.”
“Mmmhmmm.” Nessa’s hunch had been confirmed. “I knew there was no way in hell that woman was going to pay for a funeral for a girl she doesn’t know. Tell the county they can save the taxpayer dollars. I will take care of that baby.”
Laverne Douglass Gets What She’s Owed
Anthony walked in at one in the morning, smelling like another woman. She wasn’t asleep. Sleep wasn’t an option. She hadn’t made it to the grocery store and there was no food left in the house. It made her suffer if she didn’t feed it every few hours.
She was sick when he opened the door. Still, she didn’t yell. She’d learned better. Those powers didn’t work on him anymore.
“The baby’s hungry,” she told him.
