Dig by A.S. King

Author:A.S. King
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2019-03-26T04:00:00+00:00

Loretta, Act Three: Cold Open

“I just want to see her!” Loretta yells. “She’s my mother!”

The actor playing the nurse behind the desk tells Loretta that she’ll have to wait. She’s said this eleven times already, and it’s not even noon. She tells Loretta to go take a walk. Tells her she will take care of Loretta’s suitcase. Tells her it will be a while. Tells her to not worry. Asks her if there’s anyone else coming to take care of her.

“I take care of myself, thank you very much.”

Loretta does a double take at the nurse. Makeup did a great job on the dark circles under her eyes. Then Loretta walks out the door of the emergency room. She gets to the sidewalk and opens her flea circus lunch box and asks the troupe which way she should turn. They can’t agree, so she closes the lid again and goes right.

She doesn’t come into the city very often. The sets are well built and realistic. Beautiful. There are restaurants here with food from other places. One is Greek. One is Thai. One is Moroccan. Loretta wishes she had enough money to try any of these but all she has in her pocket are four dollar bills and two packets of Arby’s horseradish sauce. She walks past a few clothing stores for ladies like her teachers. A tattoo parlor. A lawyer’s office. A music shop. A pet store with a sign that says REPTILES A SPECIALTY!

She comes to a thrift shop—mostly woven scarves and modest clothing in the window—but something tells her to go inside. There’s a rack of prom dresses in the back. Or dressy dresses. Formal things with tulle and satin, a pair of matching bridesmaid dresses. Something sparkles at her. Red. Red sequins. And Loretta grabs at it like there are hundreds of shoppers when she’s the only customer in the store.

She holds it up to her body and it’s probably too big but that’s better than too small. It’s ankle length—no more bared knees—with a slit up the right side, but not too high up. The straps are spaghetti style but thicker—an inch maybe—and sturdy. She makes a joke in her head about lasagna straps when the actor playing the woman at the counter asks, “Can I help you with anything?”

“I want this dress.”

Look at Loretta. Look at her unwashed hair and her dirty teeth and her bitten-up skin and her ears too big for her head. Look at her lunch box and her eyes that shine as if she were not the thing you see before you but the thing she sees in her mind. Ringmistress.

“It’s a pretty dress,” the woman says.

“I have to have it,” Loretta says.

“God finds mysterious ways.”

Loretta scowls. “Well, he can’t just show up and buy me this dress.” She walks toward the counter still holding it close to her chest. “I have three dollars.”

The woman laughs. “Oh, sweetheart, that’s got a price tag of thirty.”

“I have three dollars,” Loretta says.

The woman just gives her a pathetic smile, then purses her lips.

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