The Mall Read Online Free Page A

trouble?”
    “The owners defaulted on their loan and kicked us out, which as you might know is illegal under state law,” Lara replied, her voice gathering momentum as she gained courage.   “I have a friend, a lawyer.   He said he would talk to the owner and try and get him to forego legal action by letting us stay through the end of our lease.”
    Charlene said nothing.   The embers of her cigarette glowed brightly as she drew on it in the darkness.   “I know that you would never have turned to me unless you had exhausted all your other options.   What about friends?”
    “I had something lined up with a coworker.”   Tabitha, a data entry technician from the accounting firm where she worked, usually reliable in a pinch, had a family emergency and left town suddenly, abandoning Lara to her own fate with a series of sincere, and ultimately ineffective, apologies.    “But her mother had a stroke early this morning and…”
    “So you’ve known you were homeless since this morning?”
    Lara attempted to remain quiet, but her frustration spurred her on.   “You know that I’m an only child.   Both my parents died when I was eight and my only surviving aunt is in a state hospital.   I have no cousins…”
    “My brother has several children,” Charlene stated bluntly.    To anyone else, this might have seemed like a non-sequitur, but Lara knew the way Charlene Myers-Cartwright’s mind worked.   She was simply pointing out her inherit superiority, in case Lara might have forgotten.
    “It might surprise you to hear, that not one of them returned my phone calls,” Lara replied, attempting to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
    When Tabitha had fallen through, Lara’s first instinct was to try and find a way to get back into the office building where she worked.   She soon remembered from past experiences, having forgotten some prescription medication in her desk drawer several months ago, that on the weekends the card readers did not allow her access.
    “And before you ask, I’ve been meticulously going through the list of everyone I’ve ever known from high school until the day I started work a year ago as a secretary, hoping for just one other option, but I came up with zip.”
    The figure continued smoking in the darkness, adding nothing to the interrogation.
    Taking this as a sign of encouragement, Lara added, “Charlene, I do not want to expose my children to a homeless shelter.”   She had planned on playing the guilt card only if she’d had no other options, but it was starting to look grim.   “Please.   Just a few days.”
    “Lara, I would be happy to take my grandchildren in.”   One dark appendage trailed off from the main body of the silhouette and turned a green shade lamp on atop the desk.   As Lara blinked back the stars from her eyes, the other swept what appeared to be piece of paper to the edge of the desk.   “But I’m going to need you to sign this document first.”
    Something cold and fluttery awakened inside Lara’s stomach.
    “What is that?” she said with dull dread.
    “It’s a letter of guardianship.”
    Her chest stiffened.   “Perhaps you m-misunderstood me…”
    “No, I think we understand each other perfectly, Lara,” Charlene replied.   “We always have.”
    Lara stared at the single sheet of paper beneath her mother-in-law’s long-nailed fingers.
    “Let’s be perfectly frank,” the other continued.   “You never wanted those children.   They’ve always been something of an inconvenience to you.   You’ve as much as told my son that on several separate occasions.”
    It took a few moments for Lara to realize that her mouth had drifted open.   She snapped her jaw shut and tried to formulate the words coursing through her jumbled head.   “The words that passed between me and my husband—my deceased husband--in the heat of past arguments have no bearing whatsoever to what’s happening here today and I would appreciate it if