Shadows and Lies Read Free Page A

me. I didn’t want Nancy to accuse me of stealing from her, which I honestly wouldn’t put past her, especially since she’d done it to me before.
    I carried all my clothes upstairs first, set my suitcases down along one wall of my empty studio and looked around. The carpet was brown and cheap, the walls had been painted so many times you could hardly see the texture anymore, and the kitchen appliances looked like they were on their last legs. It was clean though, and there was a decent sized back patio where I immediately planned to start a potted vegetable garden. I knew that to most people it didn’t look like much, but to me, the apartment was perfect and it was mine, and it contained no bitter memories.
    I went downstairs, planning to unload my car and then go on a shopping spree to Target for a few necessities, but a sight in the parking lot stopped me in my tracks. There was Judy, her silver Buick parked next to my Chevy, and there was her son Greg backing his truck up to the curb, his wife Tiffany sitting next to him in the cab. Judy came up to me with a big grin on her face as I stared in confusion.
    “What’s going on?” I asked as Judy hugged me hello.
    I hugged her back. There was a time not so long ago that I had hated hugging and other types of physical contact. Judy had helped break my aversion to affectionate gestures with a little bit of kindness and a lot of love.
    “I went shopping,” Judy said brightly as Greg and Tiffany got out and let the tailgate of the truck down. In its bed was a brand new twin mattress and box spring, along with a simple bed frame. There were a few boxes stacked up next to it.
    “What do you mean you went shopping?” I asked suspiciously. When I had first moved out of my parent’s home, Judy had offered to help me buy the things I would need to get started, like a bed and dishes, but I had refused her. She was on a fixed income, I told her, and I didn’t want her spending money on me. Truthfully, though, the real reason I didn’t want her help was because I had something to prove. Nancy was convinced that I would fail and come crawling back in need of shelter and money.
    I was going to prove her wrong. I was going to do it on my own, I was going to make it work, and I was never going back, on my knees or otherwise.
    Judy beamed happily as Greg and Tiffany, after saying hello to me, began carrying the twin mattress and box spring upstairs. “There was a sale down at Mattress World, so I bought you a bed – they threw in a pair of sheets for free – and the boxes are full of some dishes and other kitchen things. It’s mostly all used things, donated by Tiffany and some of your other friends. We got you new pots though and even some towels so you can take a proper shower tonight and not worry about a thing. Oh, and I’ve got a few bags of groceries in my car too.”
    I watched Greg and Tiffany enter my apartment and come back out empty handed. I shook my head in disbelief. “But-”
    Judy cut off my protestations. “Now, don’t even think about sending us packing, Carrie. And shame on you for sneaking out of the house and not letting us help you at all. You need these things, and you deserve them.”
    “But-”
    She touched my arm, which shut me up. “You’re like a daughter to me, Carrie, and right now you need some family to make sure you have what you need to get started.”
    I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was tight with emotion. “I’ll pay you back,” I whispered.
    Judy shook her head. “Not necessary, Carrie, and you know it. This is a gift.”
    “You shouldn’t have done this,” I said forcefully, trying to hold back tears of gratitude. I hated crying in front of people. “Nancy’s going to find out and-”
    “And I don’t give a damn, Carrie,” Judy said just as forcefully. “Whether you believe it or not, you are not on your own. Everybody needs help once and a while. Let me do this for you, and then I promise I’ll let you sink