Cause for Alarm

Julia

They didn't understand, these rough-hewn, classless girls, that she wasn't meant to have to work this way, to have to be on her feet for hours, to be tired all the time, to be serving people. She had been raised for better things. To be taken care of, to be pampered and adored. Her entire life it had been so; all she'd had to do was smile, cajole or even pout prettily and whatever she had wanted had been given to her. Indeed, if she hadn't been ru

She had been on the run for just over three months and in that time, had lived briefly in Louisville, Memphis and Atlanta. Until New Orleans, she had stayed in moderate hotels, eating her meals out, spending her time going to movies and wandering through shopping malls. Until New Orleans, she hadn't noticed the frightening rate at which her money was disappearing. She hadn't thought ahead to what being without money would mean or what she would have to do to get more of it. When she had finally realized it wouldn't last forever, she had been down to her last fifteen hundred dollars.

Wretched and demeaning as it was, Buster's was a necessity, at least for now.

Julia

If only she could call her, Julia

John, standing above her while she retched, his face pinched, white and terrible with fury. John warning her not to defy him again, telling her he would punish her if she did. Julia

John was capable of anything. Her mother had said so. So had Clark.

She couldn't go home, maybe never again.

"Miss? Excuse me, Miss?"

Startled, Julia

"We need ketchup."

Julia

She relieved herself, flushed the toilet, let herself out of the stall and stopped dead. A woman stood at the mirror, applying lipstick. She had hair the color of ci

Julia

Her mother sat at her vanity, dressed only in her bra, panties and garter belt. Julia

Admiration and awe filled Julia

Her mother turned. And smiled. "Thank you, honey. Remember, though, when it comes to your mama, we say ‘beautiful.' You're pretty. Mama's beautiful."

Julia

"That's okay, sweetie, just remember next time."

Julia

She straightened her white pinafore and inspected her black patent shoes, looking for scuffs and finding none. Her mother had many rules she expected Julia

But Julia

"Who's visiting tonight, Mama?" she asked, resisting the urge to rub her toes together, though she liked the squeaky sound the shiny leather made when she did. "Uncle Paxton?"

"No." Her mother took a stocking from the box on the vanity top. "Someone special." She eased the shimmery, silky fabric up her leg, then clipped a garter to it. "Someone very special."

"What's his name?"

"John Powers," her mother murmured, her expression growing faraway and soft looking. "I met him at that party at the Capital last week. The one I told you about."

"Where they had sandwiches shaped like swans."

"Canapés. That's right."

Julia

"I expect you to be on your best behavior."

"Yes, Mama."

"If you're a really good girl, I might buy you that doll you've been wanting. The one with the long brown curls, just like yours."

Julia

And then her mother sent her to her room.

Julia

"I will, Mama. I promise."

"Run along now and let me finish dressing, John will be here any moment."

"Miss? You okay?"

Julia

"You okay?" The woman at the mirror dropped her lipstick back into her purse. "You were starin' fu

Julia

How had she ever thought this woman looked anything like her mother?

"I'm fine," Julia

The woman smiled and patted her arm. "Had six kids of my own. Nothin' plays havoc with the mind like them hormones. It'll get better. Then it'll be them kids playin' havoc with your mind."

The woman cackled, patted her arm again and left the bathroom.

Julia

She missed her mother, she thought, tears pricking her eyes. She missed Washington and her comfortable apartment. She missed feeling pretty and special. And safe.

The bathroom door swung open and Lorena stuck her head in, her expression a

Though the other woman was already gone, Julia

The remainder of Julia