Rewind

He paused. Kylee held her breath for countless seconds while he stood there, his back to her, not saying a word. Then he turned, squinting at her against the sunlight.“Why are you talking to me?”

Kylee shrugged.“Why not? It’s the nice thing to do. We’re nice around here, you know.”

He gestured at her head.“And why are you wearing a hat? It’s like a hundred degrees out here.”

“Oh, that.” She felt her face redden. “I, uh, got a bad haircut.”

“Really?”

“I know, right?” Kylee kept talking, hoping he wouldn’t notice how embarrassed she was. “I mean, what kind of person cuts their own hair?” Stupid, stupid. She shouldn’t have revealed that.

“Yeah.” He blinked, a long slow movement of his light brown eyes. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“What?” She shook her head. “I get you didn’t want me on your land. But this is my home. I can be here if I want.”

He stared at her, scrutinizing her every feature.“Yeah, I guess.” He turned without another word and walked away.

Kylee realized her mouth was hanging open, and she snapped it shut. Would every conversation with him be so cryptic?

Then she cheered up a bit. At least they’d had a conversation.

---

Kylee woke to the sound of Bill’s rusty car disappearing down the road.

She threw her covers off.“Let’s get this day over with,” she breathed.

The winter cap slid off the blankets, landing on the carpet. Oh, lordy, her hair! Kylee’s hand shot toward her head, and she winced in anticipation of finding the short, uneven strands. Closing her eyes, she ran her fingers down from the roots, dreading the moment when she reached the jagged ends of the bob she’d given herself.

The moment never came. Her hair kept going. Her eyes popped open, and she dragged a fistful of hair in front of her face.

Still there. All of it.

“What the heck?” Kylee murmured. Her fingers closed around the strands of hair, and she gave them a good tug before letting go. She shoved open her door and ran into the bathroom.

Her boring, ordinary reflection stared back at her. The limp blond hair lay against her shoulder blades and continued halfway down her back, just like yesterday before she cut it.

“This makes no sense,” Kylee whispered. Had she imagined it? Was she going crazy? But no, the beanie had been on her bed. Proof she slept with it.

Which didn’t mean she wasn’t crazy. Perhaps she’d imagined cutting her hair and put the hat on to hide something that hadn’t happened.

The idea was alarming. Kylee put her hair into a long braid and tried to be grateful she still had it.

She planned her outside errands carefully. She gathered the chicken eggs at the same time the bus arrived to pick up kids for school. She hovered near the edge of the yard, the basket of eggs in the crook of her elbow. Standing on tiptoes, she tried to catch Price’s eye. If he saw her standing there waving, he didn’t let on.

Kylee pretended it didn’t bother her. She went inside and sat at the kitchen table, unread history book open in front of her.

Her mom came out of the laundry room with the wet clothes piled high in the basket. She pushed a hand through the wad of twisted blond hair on top of her head and sighed.

She looked so tired. Dark shadows outlined her bloodshot eyes, and blue veins were visible on her pasty white skin. “I’ll help with the laundry,” Kylee said. She shut her pencil inside the history book.

“I can’t do this anymore,” her mom said with another sigh.

Kylee felt a moment of panic, seeing her mother so desperate. “It’s laundry, Mom. We got this.”

Her mom stepped out the front door without a word.

The morning wash was dry, so Kylee pulled off the clothes and folded them while her mom put up new ones.

“We better hurry,” her mom said, pinning up a pair of pants. “I heard on the radio we’ll be getting rain this afternoon.”

“It never rains. Just says it’s going to.”

“Yes, well. It won’t be a good enough excuse to your stepfather.”

Kylee didn’t want to talk about her stepfather. She took her loaded basket around to the front of the house.

She wasn’t too surprised to hear the laughter and talking from the kids as they walked toward their houses from the bus. Kylee slowed her walk but didn’t look toward them. She hoped Price would notice her not noticing him.

She reached the front door and pulled the screen, glad it creaked so loudly. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to see if Price was watching.

---

Kylee knew when Bill hollered for her mom that the evening argument was about to start. She stayed in the kitchen and counted to ten. The voices started out quiet, with her mom murmuring responses to Bill’s increasingly louder accusations.

“Kylee!” he shouted.

“Leave her alone,” her mom said.

A smack followed by a muted cry came from the other room, and Kylee abandoned the dishes.

“What do you want, Bill?”

He shoved Theresa out of the way and glowered at Kylee. He was trying to get on his feet, swaying in the chair and holding a bottle of beer. “Always sticking your nose where it don’t belong.”

“Kylee, go back to the kitchen,” her mom said.

“Worthless, just like your mom.”

“She’s not worthless. Neither am I,” Kylee said.

He’d made it to his feet now. “You got something to say, girl?”

“I already said it.”

The backhand that smacked across her cheek wasn’t unexpected. “Don’t you dare talk to me that way!” Bill roared.

Her mom blocked the next swing with a shaky hand. “Go to your room, Kylee.”

“Yeah, Kylee,” Bill sneered. He came at her again, shoving Theresa when she tried to latch onto his arm.

Kylee wasn’t fast enough to escape the punch, but she turned her head so she only got part of it. Still, her cheek stung. She stumbled out of the living room, tripping over the raised lip leading to the kitchen floor.

Bill wasn’t done. She heard him coming after her. She paused at the kitchen table, indecisive for a heartbeat. Her bedroom, or outside?

Outside.