The Strangler's Daughter by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Three

Today

“Goddamn bitch!”

After loitering near the cafe for the best part of an hour, I finally see Caitlin come storming out from a side door.

“Hey,” I say, hurrying after her, “are you sure you don't want me to help clean up the mess?”

“What mess?” she snaps angrily. “Aunt Delia's just a dragon. She's always hated me, ever since she was stuck looking after me. Well, those days are over and she can stick her job up her arse.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I quit. I just told her that, and I'm moving out of her fusty, porcelain mouse filled house as well.”

“You're moving out?” I ask, shocked by the news. “What do you mean? Where are you going to go?”

Stopping, she turns to me, and I can see that there are tears in her eyes.

“We have a spare room,” I tell her, before realizing that having her live with us might be a really bad idea. Dad probably wouldn't be happy, and it'd be even worse if he did agree.

“That's sweet of you, Lisa,” she replies, “but this is a sign from God. I've spent long enough rotting in dumb little Forkworth. I was getting complacent, but this is the kick up the butt that I've needed for a while. I could've ended up spending the rest of my life trying to make the perfect cake here, how sad would that have been? Now I'm going to go to London. When I told you about my plans, I wasn't sure about the timescale, but now I am. Screw Forkworth. I'm out of this dump.”

“You are?” I reply. “When?”

“Now. Today.” She hesitates. “This week. Within a week, definitely. I have friends there, I can crash on couches for a little while until I get a job. I'm not completely unemployable, you know. I'm twenty-five years old, it's time I spread my wings a little.”

“But do you have enough money to move to London?” I ask. “Why not wait a while?”

“If I wait, I'll never leave.”

“What does your aunt think?”

“She thinks I'm an idiot,” she replies. “She thinks I'll never make it in London. She thinks I'll end up on the streets.”

“Maybe you should talk to her some more.”

“I'm an adult, Lisa,” she says firmly. “I've been listening to my aunt ever since my parents shuffled me off to live with her, and look at me now. I can't live like this. No-one can, it's not natural. She treats me like I'm still a child. No, it's worst than that, she treats me like I'm some kind of pet. I'll go crazy if I stick around here.” She takes a deep breath, as if she's starting to calm down just a little. “And now,” she adds, “I need to go and make some serious plans. And think about what I should take with me when I leave. And drink, probably quite heavily. You in?”

“For what?”

“A session on the booze,” she says with a faint smile. “Wait, you do drink, don't you? Don't tell me you're one of those freaks who never get wasted.

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