Brittany was Michelle’s older sister, who lived in Phoenix with her boyfriend, two year old son, and newborn daughter. Michelle rarely discussed Brittany, and always shuddered in distaste whenever her name was mentioned.

“When was the last time you saw your father?” inquired Tessa.

The question evidently made Michelle uncomfortable, because she fidgeted a bit before replying. “Almost three years ago,” she admitted reluctantly. “But that’s only because he’s had to move around a lot for his job. He works on oil rigs, has to go where the work is. But I can call him whenever I want to, and we email a lot. He’s working in South Dakota right now but he wants to move back down to the southwest as soon as he’s able. And he promised me that I could move in with him when he does.”

Tessa felt guilty to admit that this news came as something of a relief. It certainly didn’t sound to her as though Michelle’s father would be returning to Arizona anytime soon, and therefore Michelle wouldn’t be able to move in with him. Which meant that she’d likely have to remain right where she was, and that Tessa would be able to stay as well. It would buy her some much needed time to figure out what it was she wanted to do with her future, and, more importantly, to sock away as much of her hard-earned money as possible so that she could support herself when the time came.

She would just have to learn how to block out the frequent screaming matches that the three Wallace women seemed to engage in on an almost daily basis. Tessa considered it a small price to pay for having a roof over her head, or from having to live in even less tolerable conditions. As the old saying went, better the devil you knew than the one you didn’t.

It wouldn’t be long, however, before a far more menacing demon would arrive to throw her life into turmoil once again.

Chapter Three

Early January

Tessa looked anxiously at Michelle and then at Kimmie to gauge their reactions to the news their mother had rather casually just dropped on them. Debbie glared back at both of her daughters defiantly, as though daring them to challenge her, and puffed on yet another cigarette, not seeming to care that she blew a stream of smoke directly into Tessa’s face. Tessa struggled valiantly to suppress the urge to cough or fan away the second hand smoke, and thought yet again how much she hated the very sight of a cigarette.

Michelle was the first to respond to her mother’s announcement. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she replied in disbelief. “Why in the world are you letting Brittany, her scummy boyfriend, and their two brats move in here? And where the hell are all of them supposed to sleep, not to mention dump all of their stuff?”

Debbie scowled at her daughter from across the kitchen table. “Brit’s my daughter every bit as much as you and Kimmie are, and she’s got every right to live here. Especially since she and Sean don’t have anywhere else to go. I’m not going to let my daughter and grandchildren be homeless, for Christ’s sake. Try to have a little compassion for once, would you?”

Debbie had just returned a couple of hours ago from a week long trip to Phoenix to visit her oldest daughter. Brittany and her family were supposed to have spent Christmas here in Tucson, but had had to cancel the trip at the last minute when both of the children developed ear infections. Now Debbie had just delivered a huge bombshell on all of them – both Brittany and her boyfriend Sean had lost their jobs, were months behind on their rent, and were about to get kicked out of their apartment. And they would be arriving here along with their toddler son and infant daughter – bag and baggage – within the next few days to move into a house that was already barely big enough for its four current occupants.

“Well, they’re not getting my room,” declared Kimmie staunchly. “Michelle’s room is bigger so they should stay in there.”

Michelle gave her sister the evil eye. “Oh, yeah? And where are Tessa and I supposed to sleep, dimwit? I’m the oldest, therefore I should still get to keep my room. You can sleep on the sofa, Kimmie.”

That set Kimmie off on one of her tantrums, and between her whining, Michelle’s screaming, and Debbie’s yelling, the decibel level in the kitchen rose to never before heard levels. Tessa kept quiet, wisely not getting involved in the increasingly heated argument. The small amount of food that she’d eaten had already turned to bitter acid in her stomach, and she wished rather desperately that she could just disappear right now.

Debbie pounded her fist on the kitchen table, causing the dishes and glasses to rattle violently. “Both of you shut the hell up!” she bellowed. “Stop all of this fucking whining right now, you hear me? I’ve already decided where everyone is going to sleep so there’s no use arguing about it. Since Michelle’s room is bigger, that’s where Brittany and Sean and the kids will have to stay. They’re bringing some of their furniture with them so we’ll move their bed into that room. Cooper is old enough now to sleep in his own bed, so we’ll leave one of the twins in there and move the other one into Kimmie’s room.”

Michelle shook her head mutinously. “This is so unfair,” she muttered. “What about all of my other stuff – my clothes, computer, TV? How is all of that going to fit into Kimmie’s room?”

Debbie shrugged carelessly and lit another cigarette, at least the fourth one since she’d arrived home. “You’ll have to make it work somehow. Don’t bother me with those sort of petty details, all right? I’m worn out from the drive and from helping them pack these past few days, and I’ve got to go to work in the morning. So stop bitching about it and figure out how to share what space you will have.”

“But, Mom,” whined Kimmie. “Michelle hogs everything, you know that. She’s going to take over my room, and my closet is already full. Can’t she - “

“I said to stop your bitching. Both of you,” Debbie warned. “And that means I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

Michelle somewhat belatedly glanced across the table at Tessa, who was very intentionally staring down at the table. “Oh, crap!” she exclaimed in dismay. “What about Tessa? If you leave one of the beds for Brit’s little brat, what’s Tessa supposed to sleep on?”

Debbie heaved a tired sigh. “Jesus, it’s just one issue after another with you, isn’t it, Michelle? Always ragging about one thing or another. Frankly, I sort of forgot about the fact that Tessa was staying with us, so I’m not sure what to do. I guess she’ll have to take the sofa. There sure as hell won’t be space to move a third bed into Kimmie’s room, that’s for sure.”