Chapter 8 - THE HOUSE WITH TWO BEDROOMS
Jenna lived in a two-bedroom townhouse outside Monroeville.
For years, the second bedroom had been an office.
Three days after Lila arrived, it became pink by accident.
Not bright pink.
Jenna had asked what color Lila liked.
Lila shrugged.
Jenna brought home three paint cards.
Lila chose the palest one.
Then changed her mind.
Then apologized.
“You’re allowed to change your mind,” Jenna said.
“Dad says changing your mind means you lied.”
“Sometimes it means you learned something.”
Lila stared at her as if the concept required translation.
They kept the walls white.
Instead, they bought a pale-yellow blanket.
A small bookshelf.
A lamp shaped like a cloud.
Nothing expensive.
Jenna discovered that Lila disliked closed bedroom doors.
She also hated sleeping with money in the room.
The first time Jenna left her purse on a chair, Lila carried it into the hallway.
“Why did you move this?”
“I don’t want it in here.”
“Okay.”
Jenna put the purse downstairs.
She did not ask why.
Two weeks passed before Lila explained.
“Dad used to hide money in my closet.”
Jenna stopped folding laundry.
“When?”
“When people came to the house.”
“What people?”
“Men.”
“What did they want?”
“They yelled about his truck sometimes.”
Creditors.
Maybe collectors.
Maybe business partners.
Lila had spent more than a year learning that money meant shouting.
Money meant secrets.
Money meant Dad opening drawers after midnight.
Money meant being told not to answer the door.
Jenna began keeping receipts in a kitchen basket rather than leaving bills on the table.
She did not want Lila to see an electricity statement and assume disaster was coming.
One Saturday morning, Jenna offered five dollars for Lila to choose breakfast at the farmers market.
Lila refused to take it.
“You can hold it.”
“No.”
“It’s yours.”
Lila’s expression changed.
“Then you might say I stole it.”
Jenna crouched until they were eye level.
“I will never accuse you of stealing something I gave you.”
Lila looked unconvinced.
So Jenna did something strange.
She wrote on an index card:
FIVE DOLLARS FOR LILA’S BREAKFAST.
Then signed her name.
“Keep this too.”
Lila studied the card.
“You mean it?”
“Yes.”
She finally accepted the money.
Ten minutes later, she bought one cinnamon roll.
May you like
Then carefully handed Jenna the change.
Jenna did not cry until they reached the car.
