Solemn Oath

“Don’t flatter yourself that I did it for you, Theo,” she snapped.

He frowned, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t be that stupid. You never—” he began, then caught his words, closed his mouth, shook his head.

“And don’t expect me to do it again,” she said. “I was your meal ticket for too many years, and I’ve run out of meals.”

“I’m not after a free meal, either. Can’t you just listen to me for once?” That old blue blaze flickered in his eyes, then was forcibly doused. “No, Mercy, that’s not what I’m here for.”

“Good. Tedi didn’t deserve to have an alcoholic father who not only tried to kill her, but was being dragged through the courts on embezzlement charges. She’s had a hard enough time because of you.”

He exhaled sharply, then inhaled again, as if to curb a quickly rising temper. “Look, I know that, okay? I’ve been locked up for it, the courts know it, everybody knows it! Why do you have to rub my nose in it, too? Can’t you see I’m trying to change?”

Mercy held his glare until the fire in his eyes once more died, then she turned her back on him. “Get out.”

Chapter Five

T edi Zimmerman always felt the darkness before she saw it. It wasn’t really a feeling, though. It was more just a sudden discovery that something was watching her, waiting for her to close her eyes, to fall asleep, to forget for just one night. That was when it pounced like a monster.

And so she lay awake with her light on, staring at the lumps and bumps of texture on the white ceiling and fighting the sleep that weighed down her eyelids when she wasn’t paying attention. She’d finished her homework hours ago. She’d come to bed hours ago, too, but she mustn’t sleep, because tonight was one of those nights when she knew what was out there. Sometimes it caught her before she could brace herself.

Should she go climb into bed with Mom? The monster could never get her there, and she always slept so well then. Mom didn’t, but she’d told Tedi to wake her up when the shadows got too close. Tonight they were lurking everywhere.

She reached up to pull the blankets back when she saw it, actually saw it! Darkness puddled in the closet corner, seeping across the wall in slow motion, trying to creep up on her. She pulled the covers back up over her chest and tried to breathe quietly. It wasn’t supposed to come this close, not in the light!

Surely it couldn’t come any closer than the corner. It was kind of dark in that spot—the darkest place in the room. It would have to wait there until she turned the light off, and she wasn’t going to do that.

She lay frozen for a long time, watching the blackness as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Then the blackness moved. It crept a few inches from the corner, then slowly inched across toward the door along the white glow of the wall. A small tendril poked out from the rest of it like a huge bony finger. It nearly reached the light switch before she realized what it was doing.

“No! You can’t do that! Stop it!” Her voice wouldn’t reach across the room. The tendril snatched off the light, then grew to fill the room with its evil. It tried to suffocate her.

“No! Mom, stop the monster! Mom!” She couldn’t make any sound. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even move her hands from her sides. The monster filled her mouth and nose and ears and slid over her face.

And then something changed. A warmth spread down her legs, wet and heavy, and the scream she had been trying to make finally broke through, loud and—

She woke up to find the light still on in the bedroom. The light snatched the monster away before she could see it. The door swung open, and Mom rushed in, her long hair tumbling across her face.

“Honey? Tedi, what is it?” Mom’s voice sounded strong. It sounded wonderful. She sat down on the edge of the bed and reached forward.

Tedi’s face contorted in tears, and she scooted forward into her mother’s embrace, hating the sharp smell that rose from the covers. She was too embarrassed to admit what she’d done, but still too scared to let go.

“It came again, Mom. He tried to get me again.”

“It’s okay. I’m here and he can’t get you now.” Mom’s grip was firm. She held Tedi and let her cry for a moment. “Come back to bed with me. I’ll keep that ol’ monster away from you.” She released Tedi and leaned back to look at her. “Okay with you?”

Tedi wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hand and tried to keep the tears from falling, but her chin still trembled. “I can’t.” This was the third time since she’d been living with Mom that this…kind of accident had happened. She was sitting in a puddle of pee, and it was seeping everywhere. It felt awful, but how could she admit—

“Of course you can.” Mom straightened and stood from the bed, then reached down and pulled the comforter back. “Get your pajamas off and go clean up while I throw this bedding in the washer.”

The relief came strong and fast. Tedi looked down and grimaced. “How’d you know?”

“You never cry this hard over a bad dream.”

Tedi thought about that for a few seconds and realized that was right. Usually the dreams went away soon after she woke up.

“Besides,” Mom continued, “I know what urine smells like.” She sighed and shook her head, her dark eyes resting on Tedi’s face with sympathy and love. “It hurts worse when your whole body lets you down, doesn’t it?”

Tedi nodded.

“I know. It happened to me when I was eleven, too.”

“Does it still happen?”

Mom grinned. “Well, I don’t wet the bed anymore, but our bodies will always let us down. That’s why I decided to be a doctor. It’s a part of life.”

Tedi climbed out of the soggy sheets, taking care not to drip on the floor. “Does it have to be so embarrassing?”

“I always wondered that myself.” Mercy bent down and kissed Tedi’s forehead. “Come on. If we hurry we can catch a couple more hours of sleep before we have to get up and get you to school.”

Tedi grimaced as she peeled off her stinky pajamas. Today was Thursday, and Mr. Walters always gave tests on Thursday. She had to go to school. Mr. Walters constantly told her what a good job she did, not just on test days, but lots of times. He liked her, she could tell.

She ran into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Mom liked her, too. Parents were supposed to love their kids, but they didn’t always seem to like them or want to spend time with them. Tedi knew some kids at school whose parents didn’t seem to like them very much, and she felt sorry for them. That was what she’d felt like when she’d lived with Dad.

By the time Tedi was clean and dry and in fresh pajamas, she wasn’t scared anymore.

Mercy shoved the sheets into the washer with a little extra force, glad she’d decided to buy the protective mattress pad this summer. Tedi’s brilliant, wonderful, little-girl mind was working out some nightmare issues that nobody should ever have to face—issues Theodore Zimmerman had caused. And how would he have reacted to tonight’s mishap? With ridicule.

She slammed the lid on the washer. And now he thought he could just dance back into Tedi’s life and turn it upside down again. He was the most selfish, thoughtless—

“Mom?”

Mercy turned to find Tedi watching her from the laundry room door. “What, honey?”

“Are you mad at me for wetting the bed again?”

Mercy realized her jaws were set and she was gritting her teeth. “You’ve got to be kidding.” She made an attempt to relax her facial features into a smile and went over to put her arm around her daughter. “When have I ever been mad at you? You’re the most important person in my life.” She buried her face in Tedi’s hair and squeezed her close for a long moment. If only she could make the nightmares go away. “I hate to see you going through this. Come on. Let’s get to bed.” She walked with her arm around Tedi to the master bedroom.

Tedi was silent for a moment, then said, “You’re mad at Dad again, aren’t you?”

Oh boy. There was no hiding anything from this child. Mercy motioned for Tedi to crawl into the queen-size bed—a newly purchased luxury. “You’re far too discerning for an eleven-year-old.” She switched off the bedside lamp and reached over instinctively to tuck the covers around Tedi’s shoulders.

“Will you always be mad at him?” Tedi asked into the darkness.

Mercy was tempted to tell Tedi to just go to sleep and stop worrying so much. But Tedi would keep worrying, and Mercy knew how that felt. Her own mom had done the same thing to her. Of course, Ivy had not only been a mother but a shield for Mercy when Dad got drunk, and sometimes a punching bag.

And after all that, Mercy had married a guy just like him.

“So will you, Mom? Always be mad at Dad?”

She had to be honest. “I don’t know.”