Voyage (Powerless Nation #2) (17 page)

S
ENA
LOOKED
FROM
THE
number on the house back down to the letter her mom had sent and then turned over her shoulder to the rest of her group. “All right, this is it. You guys can go. I’ll be fine.”

“First I want a hug,” said Danny. He and Lydia were heading to Seattle after they dropped Sena off.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Sena said into his shoulder. “You’ve been like a brother to me.”

“I’ll come check on you after we’re done in Seattle,” said Danny, releasing her.

Sena hugged Lydia too. “I hope your dogs are okay.”

“I know I’m crazy,” said Lydia. “They’re like my kids though.”

Sena moved to hug Claire, but she said, “Before we say goodbye, I’d kind of like to meet your foster family.”

Sena hadn’t told anyone she was taking them to her real mom’s house.

Ted added in a firm tone, “We aren’t leaving until we know everything’s okay and you’ll be safe.”

Apart from a few visits to the prison, it had been over four years since Sena had seen her mom, and she wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having an audience for their reunion. It didn’t look like she had much of a choice though. Reluctantly, she raised her fist and knocked.

The door opened a crack and a bloodshot eye peered out at her.

“Mom?”

“Sena?” said the woman, opening the door wider. “Sena!” She flew from the house and embraced Sena in a tight hug before stepping back to hold her at arm’s length. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”

The woman was small, thinner than her malnourished daughter. Her black hair hung in dull tangles around her face, which was marred by acne and scars. She smiled at Sena, revealing black and yellow nubs of teeth. 

Sena took in her appearance and her heart sank into the depths of her soul. She wondered how much the others had seen and understood. She turned to tell them to go and saw shock and surprise on almost every face. Claire's eyes were filled with an emotion Sena couldn’t read. 

“Is this your real mom, then?” she asked gently. She stepped up onto the patio and introduced herself.

“I’m Songyee,” said Sena’s mother. “Thank you for bringing my daughter to me. When she didn’t come home from the cruise I thought she must be dead.”

“Who’s out there, Song?” slurred a male voice from inside the house. “Tell ‘em we ain’t got nothin.”

Sena’s heart skipped a beat. “Who else is here, Mama?”

“I met him down at the pharmacy a few weeks ago, his name is Conley. I invited him to come by, and he’s been here ever since.”

Moments later a shirtless man pushed Songyee to one side and blinked in the bright afternoon light. He was taller than Ted, but the skin on his shrunken chest clung to his ribs, and his pants hung from bony hips. His head was shaved and he had a tattoo of an angry black skull on the side of his neck.

“What’s goin’ on out here?” he asked.

“It’s my daughter,” said Songyee. “She’s come home to me.”

“Is that the brat you’re always crying about? Well good, maybe now you’ll stop being such a buzz kill and we can have a little fun around here.”

He looked hungrily at Sena and she forced herself not to wither under his oily gaze. She turned back to her mom. “You said it would be the two of us.”

“I told you, I didn’t think you were coming back. You have no idea how lonely I was. Conley’s been helping me, and I help him. He needs me.”

“But Mama,
I
need you.”

Sena hated the neediness in her voice and the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. 

“I’m right here, baby.” Songyee reached a hand out to Sena. “Come on in and we’ll all get to know each other.”

Conley licked his lips. “That sounds like a real good idea.”

Something touched Sena’s hand. It was Claire. She pulled Sena to one side and told her in a low voice, “I can’t leave you here like this. Come and live with us in Lookout Falls. Ted and I already love you like a daughter. Please come with me.”

The warmth of Claire's arms around her strengthened Sena. She wanted to believe her, but after four years in the system she knew that foster families didn’t work out. What if Dee didn’t like her? Claire would choose her real daughter over Sena, and then Sena would be left to fend for herself.

She glanced over at Songyee, who was studying the pair carefully. Maybe she had changed after all. She’d called her “baby,” and Conley had said she cried over Sena. 

“I’m sorry,” she told Claire. “Even though you’ve been great, I have to stay here with my mom.”

Claire's face fell, and Sena knew she wanted to argue, but she didn’t want a scene. She stood next to her mom and waved at her friends. “Good luck on your trip, guys. Thanks for getting me home.”

Everyone looked unhappy and reluctant to leave her there. Even Kade, who she’d thought would be the first to head for his own house, stood his ground and glared at Conley.

“Maybe we could come in for a few minutes and Sena could show us her room,” suggested Claire.

“You think I’m stupid?” Conley growled, brows drawn low and eyes hard with suspicion. “I work my butt off for what we have and I ain’t gonna let no one take it.”

Ted scowled. “Are you implying that my wife would try to rob you?”

“It looks like she wants to take the girl. You folks need to get on your way.”

“Thanks for bringing my daughter to me,” said Songyee. “Maybe you can come back another time.”

No one moved until Conley reached behind his back and pulled a handgun from the waist of his jeans.

“I said you should leave. Now.”

Claire looked pleadingly at Sena but Ted grabbed her hand and led her away. She turned to look over her shoulder for one last try. “Bring your mom, she can come with us. My dad has plenty of rooms in his house, you can be with your mom and we can help her.”

“That’s enough!” roared Conley. “She don’t need your help.” He waved the gun wildly and Sena’s friends hurried to get on their bikes. Sena turned back to her mother and didn’t watch as they rode away.

The first thing that hit Sena as she walked into the house was the smell of cat pee and chemicals. The second was Conley. He slapped her bottom when she walked through the door behind her mom.

“Your mom never told me you were so pretty or I would have helped her look for you.”

“Leave her alone,” said Songyee in a tired voice.

“You looked for me?” said Sena, moving away from Conley.

“I tried. I went to the school, but no one was there. Your foster family wasn’t home, and I didn’t know any of your friends.”

“She was real sad when she couldn’t find you,” Conley said. “Real sad. Lucky for her she met me. I helped take her mind off her troubles.”

Sena looked around the room and had a pretty good idea how her mom had been distracting herself from her troubles. 

The small house had an open floor plan, so she could see into the kitchen from the living room. It was cluttered with glassware and aerosol cans, jugs of household cleaners, batteries, and buckets of murky liquid. 

It was a meth lab, practically straight out of her childhood, with one notable difference: a full-sized gas barbecue grill.

“Why’s that in the house?” she asked her mom. “That’s dangerous.”

Songyee shrugged. “Not any more dangerous than having a stove in the house.”

“How else are we gonna cook our food without electricity?” said Conley.

“Mama, it’s way more dangerous. Do you want to burn this house down too?”

“Don’t you use that tone with me. I’m doing the best I can, and I don’t need you judging me.”

Sena clamped her mouth shut. She wanted to help her mom, not fight with her. “Can I see my room?” She imagined the book lined room her mom had promised her.

Songyee shifted from one foot to the other. “I was thinking you could sleep in here.”

Sena looked around the living room. Trash covered every surface. Plastic bags, stained cardboard boxes, and torn or crumpled paper lay scattered across the floor. 

It appeared they’d just tossed empty jugs and jars out of the kitchen when they were through with them, not bothering to put the lids back on. Some were broken and others spilled foul contents on the carpet, leaving stains and shards of glass in the old shag.

Songyee went to a sagging couch in the corner and pushed a mountain of dirty clothes onto the floor. “Give this a try, it’s real comfortable.”

Sena noticed a musty, damp smell when she sat down, and moved quickly to perch on the edge of the cushions. Her mom looked at her hopefully, so Sena said, “Thanks, I’m sure this will work.”

Conley and Songyee stared at her in silence until Sena said, “Do you have any plans today?”

“I’m heading out to pick up a few things and do some trading. You stay out of the kitchen while I’m gone, you got that?” Conley said. “I’ve got everything set up how I want it.” Without saying anything else, he went out the front door and slammed it shut behind him.

“Where’s he going?” asked Sena.

“Oh… out. I don’t know where he goes exactly. He usually brings back stuff we can cook.”

Sena was pretty sure Songyee wasn’t talking about food.

The thought of food made her stomach rumble, even in this foul-smelling room. She hadn’t had anything to eat since the apple the previous day, and she was thirsty too.

“I know I just got here,” began Sena, feeling awkward. “But do you have anything I could eat?”

Songyee nodded. “What’s mine is yours. I’m afraid you won’t like it very much though.”

“I’ll take whatever you have. I’m not picky.”

Songyee’s laugh was a bark. “That’s what you say now. You haven’t seen what I’ve got.” She dug under the pile of clothes until she uncovered a threadbare backpack, and pulled out several things that looked like cans of tuna. “It looks like we’re down to Tender Turkey Feast, Chicken Frick ‘a Zee, and my personal favorite: Puka Puka Luau.”

Sena’s mouth fell open when she got a better look at the cans her mother was holding. Was she kidding? Sena glanced at her face; no, she was serious. 

Songyee continued as if there was nothing unusual about suggesting her daughter eat canned cat food. “The Puka Puka is the best by far. It’s made from real chicken.”

Sena thought about the heyday Danny would have if he ever found out she’d eaten something called Puka Puka. “I’d be fine with an apple or a carrot or something.”

“You are a stupid girl. No one has fresh food, and if they did, they wouldn’t trade it for crank.”

Sena felt the sting of her mother’s insult. She’d forgotten that about her. In her surprise, it took Sena a moment to understand what she meant. When she did she was shocked. “You mean you trade drugs for food?”

“How else would we get food? Do you want us to starve?”

“Isn’t there some other way? What if you get caught? You could end up back…” Sena trailed off.

“Back in prison? Not likely. People need something to make them forget about their problems. They need the drugs.”

“What will happen when they run out of food?”

“They are already out.” said Songyee, indicating the cat food. “Lucky for them, the drugs make them forget their hunger. Forget their pain.”

Sena saw her mother’s eyes glaze over as she thought about the drugs.

“We should leave, Mama. We could go right now.”

Songyee snapped out of her daydream. “Without Conley?”

“Yeah, just you and me.”

“No, we can’t. Conley makes the crystal. He makes the trades. Without Conley we’d starve.”

“No we wouldn’t,” said Sena, an idea forming. “We need to catch up with my friends. Claire said there’s room for us on her father’s farm.”

“Claire is the woman that brought you? You want to go back to her?” asked Songyee, with a sideways glance.

Sena looked at her hands. “I want both of us to go, Mama. You wouldn’t have to live like this anymore. They can help us.”

“You think I want to live like this? You think I want my daughter to see me like this? If you would rather be with her than me just say so,” Songyee snapped harshly. “Look at what kind of mother I am. You’d be better off with her.”

Sena shifted miserably. “That’s not what I meant. I think our chances would be better if we went with them.”

Songyee rose to her feet, anger in the stiff lines of her body. “This is the life I can offer you. I know I haven’t always been the best mother, but this is all I have.”

“You don’t understand,” said Sena. “I don’t care about the rest of this. You’re my mom. I want to be with you.”

Songyee’s anger drained out of her, leaving her hunched and small. She reached a hand to Sena. “You’re a good girl. We will leave in the morning and find your friends.”

“Why don’t we go now?” asked Sena. “Pack a bag and we can be on the road in a few minutes.”

“I have things I must take care of first,” said Songyee, turning away to shuffle down the hallway to her room. She stopped and looked back. “We will go tomorrow. I’m glad you are here. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Mama.”

That night, Sena awoke suddenly from a bad dream and tried to remember where she was. One whiff of the foul stench in the house reminded her. What had awakened her? The house was quiet and Conley hadn’t returned from his scavenging. Sena wore the tiny nightlight from her life vest on a thong around her neck, and she put it in her mouth to activate it. The light glowed in the darkness of the house.

Sena curled on her side on the lumpy sofa and tried to go back to sleep, but something felt… wrong to her. Was someone there?

She listened carefully. There was no sound, not even the sound of her mother’s soft snores. “Mama?” she called. There was no answer.

Sena got up and gingerly picked her way across the trash-filled room. She was glad she’d slept fully dressed, including keeping her shoes on. She wouldn’t have wanted to cross this floor with bare feet.

“Mama,” she whispered again, pushing the bedroom door open.

In the glow of the tiny light she saw a small bedroom, cluttered with clothing and garbage. She moved carefully to the bed. 

Songyee was perfectly silent and didn’t stir when Sena sat down next to her.