Hush-a-Bye by Jody Lee Mott

Author:Jody Lee Mott [Mott, Jody Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2021-08-24T00:00:00+00:00

16

A COUPLE OF years ago, Mom took Antonia and me to a prehistoric exhibit at a science museum. Along with the trilobite fossils and the plaster T. rex jaw, there was a display of tiny insects that had been trapped in amber millions of years ago. They didn’t look dead suspended in that smooth brown glassiness. Just stuck in a single moment forever.

I knew how they felt now, because I was rooted to the spot near the Gypsum Man exhibit like a bug in amber. If a wrecking ball had come crashing through the wall and headed straight at me, I couldn’t have budged an inch.

Ashley’s painted fingers were twisted through Hush-a-bye’s long blond curls. The doll’s body swayed gently back and forth. Her green eyes, even from across the room, shone bright. I watched them staring back at me like we were the only ones in the room.

But the spell between us didn’t last. Once Madison spoke, everything came back into focus.

“I thought Trash Licker was just a name everyone called you,” Madison said, her lips curling in a sneer. “Turns out it you really are a Trash Licker.”

“Ew! Ew!” Ashley shrieked. “Take it, Gretta. I don’t want to hold it.”

Gretta backed away and waved her hands. “No way! That thing is probably full of lice.”

Ashley screamed and shook her fingers until Hush-a-bye came loose. The doll crashed to the floor.

“Ew! Gross!” Ashley made a big show of shivering from head to toe. “Now I have to go wash my hands. Gretta, come with me. Please!”

Gretta rolled her eyes. “Fine. You coming, Maddie?”

Madison shook her head and smiled. “Think I’ll get a few pics of Trash Licker’s nightmare doll and send them out with the other ones. Meet you back at the green.”

“Okay. Bye-bye, Trash Licker!”

“Yeah, so long, weirdo.”

The twins ran out, squealing and giggling, leaving the door halfway open. Madison picked up the doll by its neck. She pinched the frills and poked at the eyes. Then she turned Hush-a-bye around, and her eyes widened.

“Pretty,” she said as she undid the red sash around the dress. She gave me a glance, smirked, and stuffed the sash in her pants pocket. Then she placed the doll on the steps leading up to the Gypsum Man’s box and clicked away with her phone.

I stood there and let her do it. Like I always did. Except this time she’d found a way to grind me under her heel in front of the whole school.

I could hear them already, pointing at me and laughing until their faces turned red. The Trash Licker with the stone giant for a boyfriend. The weirdo who carried an amputated doll around with her.

The icy fingers ran cold through every vein in my body. They pinched at every patch of skin, dug in deep, and crawled right through to the bone. I started trembling violently. The tears poured out so hard I could barely see. I wanted to run away, but my legs wouldn’t budge. It was like I’d forgotten how to use them.

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