CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"I will miss being next door to you," Eva said

It was a nice sentiment, but Allison thought it wasn’t completely truthful. Things hadn't been the same between them in the past few weeks. The casual camaraderie and the shared meals in the kitchen had turned stilted and uncomfortable, then come to an end. Allison couldn't shake the feeling that Eva kept waiting for the moment when someone else would break into the apartment with a gun.

"Me, too," Allison said. "Without you right next door, I'm going to have to learn how to cook."

"No," Eva said. "You will have a fine cook. Perhaps you will learn something."

"And you'll still have Hector to mooch meals off of you. I'm glad he's going to live here. I'll miss the place, and it feels better knowing someone I like is moving in."

Hector had tried moving back home after the oldest living Cesare brother had gotten out of jail. He'd thought that Juan the Rattlesnake would be able to handle their drunken, abusive stepfather. As it turned out, Juan had handled him so thoroughly that the stepfather was dead. Juan was back in jail, having done one of the quickest turnarounds in parole history.

"Thank you for talking Teddi into it," Eva said. "And for helping him get the job at the bowling alley."

"That was Uncle Bob more than me. Uncle Bob's got connections." Allison looked around the room. It had a vacant, cavernous feel although she had left most of the furniture for Hector. Without her books, trinket boxes, clothes and other assorted personal effects, the place no longer felt homey or familiar.

She and Eva hugged, though it was the stiff and awkward hug of distant relations or old friends who had subsequently fallen far out of touch.

Allison picked up her trusty old duffel bag in one hand and her skateboard in the other. She headed out of the Dunley Apartments and onto the street.

Outside, the day was hot and sunny and the Dog Haus was giving off fragrant clouds of barbecue-smelling goodness. She saw Martha coming back from another successful Dumpster dive behind the craft store, Jake Oberdorfer and his friends throwing a football in the street, the Beekers on their way to the diner, Tina Wendmeyer headed for work up at the 7-Eleven. All well and good and as it should be.

No one even looked at her like she was the neighborhood pariah. Though Jon Wharton had eventually caved in under pressure from his mother and the detectives, the story he had spun was so bizarre that no one had given it any credence. They all thought that he was trying to muddy the waters, cover his tracks, pick-your-metaphor.

Allison hopped onto her board. She wasn't wearing the baggy jeans, the hat, and the windbreaker. She sped down 6th Street in white denim cut-offs and a snug cotton-candy-pink tee shirt, ponytail flying.

Her bruises had faded, her voice was back to normal, and she felt wonderfully alive and free. No more purses since Jade's, and no urge for them either. As for Jade, she was evidently keeping her end of the bargain.

She jumped off the curb, veered across the street, and flipped the board up into her hand as she made a running stop in front of the Greenview Apartments.

Jamie Tremayne, in his chair, met her at the door. She leaned down and kissed him, not caring that the people on the sidewalks had stopped to grin bemusedly at them.

"This is it, then?" he asked when she straightened up.

"This is it. I'm officially moved out. Too late to change your mind."

"Wasn't planning on it." He gave her a once-over as he backed into the apartment. "I like the new look."

"New look?"

"Without the disguise."

"Ah. Yep, I'm off the hook," Allison said. "I don't have to be Scoot anymore."

"That's kind of a shame. You were pretty cute dressed as a boy."

"Is there something you're not telling me? You prefer boys, is that it?"

"I prefer girls, thank you very much. Didn't I just tell you that I liked the new look?"

"You keep saying that, but I'm not seeing the proof."

"And what would you consider adequate proof?" he asked.

"Come here and I'll show you," she said, yanking the rubber band out of her hair and letting it spill over her shoulders.

**

THE END