Ghosts by Matt Rogers (ap literature book list txt) 📕

to baseline.

The beauty of simplicity.

The execution of a simple task.

Before he could stop himself he slid down the counter and sat on the tiled floor. He drained the last of the espresso from there, enclosed by the cabinets and the kitchen island.

A safe haven.

He closed his eyes.

The hard work was over.

93

Violetta took Elsa’s hand at the bottom of the staircase.

The girl didn’t pull away.

She gripped it tight.

Violetta led her upstairs, opting for quiet over unnecessary conversation. She sensed King behind them, statuesque in the entranceway. They reached the landing and made for one of the two remaining spare bedrooms. There were four in total, but Alexis and Will had one, and Melanie had the other.

Melanie.

Halfway down the corridor, Melanie opened her door, hearing the footsteps. She was already speaking as she stepped out, recognising Violetta’s measured gait.

Violetta saw a mane of frizzy hair and heard, ‘Hey, I’m going to get some—’

She didn’t get the chance to say “water.”

She saw Elsa and froze in the doorway.

Elsa said, ‘Hey.’

Melanie gripped her mouth to mask a sudden sob.

Elsa said, ‘It’s okay. It’s not your fault.’

Violetta understood. The last time Melanie had seen Elsa, she was probably twenty pounds heavier. Elsa must have disappeared from the club one night, never to be heard from again. Melanie would have kept downing the cocktails, forcing away the questions she wanted to ask herself, ignoring what might have been. She’d probably convinced herself Elsa had run away, found a better life. The school corridors must have felt so empty.

Now the answers were right in front of her.

Another victim of the people she thought were her friends and coworkers.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Melanie spluttered. ‘I’m so sorry. I should have…’

She trailed off.

Should have done so many things.

Elsa managed a sad smile. ‘It’s okay. Seriously. We can talk in the morning.’

Melanie nodded. Crept back into her room, overshadowed by guilt, and closed the door.

Violetta reflexively said, ‘I’m sorry about that. I should have realised that might happen. I’d rather you two reunited in different circumstances.’

‘Why is everyone apologising to me?’ Elsa said.

Like she’d forgotten what it felt like for someone to do anything other than order her around.

Violetta took her to the spare room and showed her around — a double bed, freshly made, an en suite bathroom, and a small walk-in wardrobe. Every bedroom in the house had those two features. Elsa gazed around like she’d made it to heaven.

Violetta said, ‘Is there anything you need?’

‘I don’t think so.’

Like, I’m alive, and I have a warm bed, and I’m free. What else would I need?

Then a look came over her face.

She sat down on the bed, scrunched up her face, and stared at the floor.

Violetta hovered in the doorway. ‘What is it?’

Elsa looked up. ‘Was that man telling the truth before? About my mom?’

‘Of course.’

‘It sounded like he was making it up,’ Elsa said. ‘Trying to seem brave because you were there. I think he likes you.’

Violetta smiled, stepped into the room, and closed the door behind her for added privacy.

Right on time.

Out in the hallway, she heard the opposite door creak open and someone pad out, heading for the kitchen.

Alexis.

Violetta sat at the edge of the bed, right next to Elsa.

She said, ‘That man’s my boyfriend.’

‘Oh,’ Elsa said.

‘What do you think?’

‘You’re lucky.’

Violetta might have laughed, but she tasted something sour in her own mouth. Plenty of teenage girls were infatuated with adult singers and movie stars, so it was a normal point to make, but Elsa had come within a hair’s breadth of plunging into the drug-fuelled blur of teenage prostitution. If they hadn’t intervened, she’d either be here in Vegas or overseas in Russia, pleasuring men against her will.

She seemed to notice Violetta’s restraint.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘That wasn’t the right thing to say. I’ve made some bad decisions.’

‘None of what happened to you was your fault.’

Elsa said, ‘Yes it was. Melanie only asked me to come hang out with her. She didn’t coerce me into it. It was my decision.’

‘Try to let it go,’ Violetta said. ‘What’s done is done.’

‘That’s just some bullshit cliche.’

‘At the foundation of every bullshit cliche is the truth,’ Violetta said. ‘That’s how they became bullshit cliches in the first place.’

Elsa thought about it and shrugged.

Violetta said, ‘Get some sleep. It’s been a long day.’

‘It’s been a long few months.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘You never finished backing up your boyfriend. We got distracted…’

Violetta masked a smirk.

Then she wiped it entirely.

She said, ‘Your mother will be fine. She’ll be out before you know it.’

‘And until then?’

‘We’ll take you back to your family tomorrow.’

‘Dad and my sisters?’

‘Yes.’

‘He doesn’t really care about us,’ Elsa said. ‘He just came back because he felt guilty. He knew Mom was going away and he didn’t want us all put into foster care.’

‘We’re not counsellors,’ Violetta said. ‘We can’t help your family situation.’

‘I wish you were. I wish you could handle it all.’

Silence.

Elsa said, ‘Who are you people?’

‘Just a group who lend a helping hand every now and then.’

‘Are you going to charge us for this? My mom … she doesn’t have much money. Especially after the trial. She tried to get the best defence lawyers she could, but … you know.’

You know.

Meaning, The cops set her up in the first place, and they sure weren’t going to lose the case in the courts. Whatever it took.

Violetta said, ‘I know. And no, we don’t charge.’

Elsa looked around. ‘You have money, huh?’

‘We’re doing fine.’

‘You rob bad people?’

Violetta hesitated. Remembered the source of the bulk of their wealth. A decent chunk of it was from King, Slater and Violetta’s career earnings, squirrelled away within anonymous accounts in tax havens to avoid detection by the government, but most of it was funds Slater lifted from a triad in Macau. Four hundred million dollars (and fattening with interest) to be precise.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘That’s what we do.’

‘And you help people who need it.’

‘Yes.’

‘So you’re like Robin Hood.’

Violetta smirked. ‘I guess we are.’

‘Why can’t there be more people like you?’

‘Because it’s no kind of life