Page 2 of Apple of His Eye

My mother was sickly her entire life. But it didn’t stop her from dreaming about becoming a mother. Despite doctor’s telling her caring a child to term would likely kill her, she convinced my father to make her one. Even though he was determined to adopt, my mother wanted the total experience.

He could never deny her anything.

“How about when I get home, we take some flowers to her and stop for ice cream?”

“Really?”

“Yes, little apple, but I need you to be on your best behavior while I’m gone. Show Franny what a special girl you are.” All I want to do is make my father happy, even if that means I have to lie to make it happen. It doesn’t matter how I behave. I could be in my room for the entirety of his trip, and she would still say I misbehaved.

“I’ll behave.”

“Wonderful.” He smiles, and I watch the way his eyes crinkle in the corner from the muscle movement. “Now, I’ve got to get going. I love you, my sweet girl.” He pulls me into a tight embrace.

“I love you, too,” I whisper, and bury my face against his shoulder. My nose fills with the scent of clean laundry and his cologne, and I hold it in my lungs, trying hard to focus only on the warmth it spreads through me.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” When he releases me, it’s all I can do not to hold even tighter, but I don’t. Instead, I watched him turn away and climb into the car. The engine starts, and he looks at me once more before driving away.

Little did I know it would be the last time I ever saw my father.

ONE

EVERLEIGH WHITE

NINE YEARS LATER

The sound of thunder fills my quiet bedroom, or maybe it was the roar of my neighbor’s motorcycle pulling into his driveway.

Regardless, my nerves are on edge.

Not because of the storm. But because of the conversation happening outside my locked bedroom door.

“I’m telling you,” Francesca half whispers with desperation in her voice. “The girl hasn’t been touched. She’s a virgin, worth far more than what I owe you.”

“You expect me to believe you a junkie?” Raymond asks. His voice moves closer to the hallway leading to my bedroom. I look around the bare room and shake my head. There is nothing special about it. If it weren’t for the mattress tucked away in the corner and the rickety table next to it, you wouldn’t be able to tell someone lived here. Even the lamp I found on the side of the road has seen better days. “You’ll say anything to get your next fix.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you, Raymond. Not about this.” I can hear the desperation in my stepmother’s voice. Raymond is Francesca’s dealer, and he showed up tonight demanding payment.

Unfortunately, the money Fran inherited after my father’s death was long gone. She spent the majority on lavish lifestyle and drug addiction. She lost her seat on the board of directors for my dad’s company. I think they pushed her out, not that I blame them for making that move. She probably would have destroyed that, too. She sold off the house, the furniture, and the cars to keep going still. Then she got in trouble with taxes. Instead of throwing her in prison, like I hoped they would, they took the rest, leaving us destitute and broke.

Fran moved us into this two-bedroom dump two years later. It was the only place she could afford on the stipend she got from the government. The money was just enough to keep a roof over our head and not much else.

Fran refused to work. Instead, she hooked herself to whatever loser would take her and earn the money he’d give her on her back. Thankfully, I’d become an expert at fading away into the background by then. I kept my head down and my nose clean. The less attention I drew to myself, the easier it was to be forgotten by her… and them.

Until my teacher started noticing the signs of abuse.

The one and only time CPS knocked on our door, I was hopeful. Maybe someone would finally rescue me from the hell I’d been living in. Only no one saved me, and their meddling pissed Fran off. She learned from that point on where to leave her marks—out of sight and made sure I could walk into school without noticeable discomfort.

I made it to the end of the year, drawing no more attention, but a new nightmare started for me that summer. Fran decided I was “done” with school and enrolled me in a home study program.

She alienated me from everything and everyone. If it wasn’t for the weekly trips to the library, I convinced her to let me take I probably wouldn’t have to graduate at all. Not that it’s done me any good. She’ll never let me out of the house,andI’ve offered to go out and get a job to support both of us.

“And how you going to explain her disappearance when someone comes looking for her?” Raymond’s voice penetrates the fog my mind had briefly slipped into, causing me to lose my breath.

I hear Fran chuckle, and picture the calculated grin likely slapped across her lips. “That’s not going to be a problem at all. She’s an orphan. No one’s going to notice she’s gone, and if they do, well, she’s eighteen tomorrow. Maybe she struck out on her own.”

My stomach sinks.

I realize she’s thought this out and planned it for some time.

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