Pearl in Deep by Faith Gardner

Author:Faith Gardner [Gardner, Faith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Santa Cruz is a windswept beach town nestled between redwood-covered mountains and the Pacific Ocean, with a long boardwalk where a wooden roller coaster rises like a serpent on the skyline. It’s home to surfers, skaters, beach lovers, drifters, new-agers, and college students. I’ve been here a handful of times on day trips since it’s only a couple hours from San Francisco. Never any significant time, though. Our new place is in Wonderland Mobile Home Park, where Tallulah and I live in a retro 1950s trailer with an attached sunroom. It’s six hundred square feet, but it’s cute, and it’s the only place we can afford. Anyway, after everything that’s happened, I’m positive it’s better to have a tiny home than it is to live in a penthouse with a psychopath who sends videos of me blowing my brains out.

Despite the 1950s vibe of our little house, it was a real pain in the ass to get an actual landline put in today. At least I have a phone now, a transparent trimline that glows when it rings. I can call Henrick to tell him we made it here in one piece.

“I’m not really understanding the refusal to get a cell phone,” he says.

I curl the cord around my finger. “I want a simpler life, a private life. I’ve told you about Christopher and what he’s capable of.”

“I hear you, but what happens when Tallulah goes to kindergarten and her teacher needs to send you an email?”

“Kindergarten is years away. Plus, I have an email address I check at the library computer.”

“You think this will solve your problems? I’ve been on this planet a lot longer than you have, Pearl, and I can tell you that this is just a phase. It’s like getting a new haircut and thinking you’ve reinvented yourself.”

There’s cheering on his end.

“Are you at a game right now?” I ask.

“Yes. So how about I call you back later?”

“I’ll make this quick. Can you send the child support check a week early? Just this month. I’m running low already because of all these unexpected moving costs—”

“Sure, sure. But Pearl, sweetie, you might need to think about getting a job.”

“I know,” I say, annoyed. “I called for money, not advice.”

“I’ll have Angie do it tomorrow morning,” he says.

I hang up the phone and Tallulah comes in, pajama-clad, hair a wild mess, and tugs on the phone cord with her index finger.

“Who was that?” she asks. “Uncle Henrick?”

I nod and pull her up into my lap for a hug. My girl, my sweet baby. Somehow, she got so inconceivably big. Time dripped and dripped and suddenly she’s almost four. All the drama, all the moving and the changes, and she’s remained a sparkle-eyed, curly-haired ball of light … most of the time.

“I love you so much, my noodle,” I tell her.

She puts a palm to my face and says, “Your breath smells like a trash can.”

“Love the honesty.”

I put her down on the floor, go gargle mouthwash.

After putting

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