Odd Stuff Read Free

would be better if we left. Apparently, starting a new family was complicated if the old one hung around like stale leftovers. He had mentioned, as if he was being a pal by offering, that I couldn’t take care of Vickie, then he and the happy foot doctor would be happy to let her use the spare room. 
    I was not giving up my daughter to be raised by Fluffy. Or Susie. Or whatever the hell her name was. My daughter didn’t need to ‘use’ a room in her father’s home like a lingering house guest. We were going to make it on our own if it killed me.
    With all of that in mind, I bit back any sarcasm I might normally have replied with, instead reaching to touch her hair. “Look, could you try to like it here? Give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, then, fine, we will go back to Pennsylvania, but try while we are here. Make the best of it, for me, okay?” 
    Rolling her eyes, she pushed past me and opened the pink door that led to Mia’s apartment.
    Well, at least she isn’t near tears anymore. 
    Mia’s apartment was…eclectic. Jewel tone paints of ruby and sapphire coated her walls, dotted with varied works of art leaning, of course, toward Gothic. Oversized furniture made the room comfortable while candles and statues of mythical creatures decorated her tables. Thick, soft carpet muffled our steps as we invaded.  
    Slate tile floors drew my eye to notice that, in the kitchen, Mia had all the modern conveniences. True to her Gothic taste, though, she’d painted the walls black, dotting them with star-like white specks—even on the ceilings. I think they may have actually represented constellations, but I didn’t know any constellations well enough, other than the Big Dipper, to tell for sure. The dark wood finished the room off making it all warm and inviting somehow. I opened the black refrigerator to peer inside curiously. 
    I found milk, granola, fruit, vegetables and an array of other healthy foods. Blech. But Vickie would not go hungry. This was, like, Vickie heaven .
    One of the drawers, of course in black, was locked and I looked on my key ring for an appropriate key. Ah-ha, fridge.  
    Hospital bags of blood lay in the locked drawer, looking horribly out of place in the pretty kitchen. I poked one with my finger and it sloshed like you might expect a bag of blood to slosh while being stored in a refrigerator drawer. Why did Mia have blood bags in her fridge? Oh, please . Let me guess. For her vampire friend. The freak couldn’t actually drink human blood? I stuck my tounge out at it in distaste, as if the bag of blood could see my derision. I was tempted to pitch the bags in the garbage, when Vickie called, “Mom!” and I changed my mind.  
    I did not want her to know we were staying with someone who kept blood in their refrigerator. If I threw it away, she might see it . Okay, so I lock it back up and get rid of it tomorrow , I told myself. I also made a mental note to have a conversation with Mia about the keeping of blood in one’s refrigerator…
    Satisfied I would not have to shop until tomorrow, since I could just order a pizza for me and Vickie would eat most anything that Mia had, I followed Vickie’s voice down a hall done in big prints of Greek goddesses.
    The room on the end was Mia’s, which meant that the other three doors were the bathroom and the two bedrooms. I opened one and found a huge black sunken tub. Nice . Candles were plentiful in here, too, near bowls full of potpourri and I remembered Mia was a scent freak. She loved anything smelly. I smiled again at being back in her world, even if she wasn’t here to share it with me. Her towels hung neatly, all maroon, fluffy and looking like they had never been used. There must be good money in the freakishly weird market.  
    Next was the guest room and I could see Mia had cleaned and redecorated just for me. She painted the small space in blues, the color of my eyes, and had placed fresh flowers in a creamy white vase on the