Chapter 2 - Say It Right
“Tell her,” Vanessa said.
“Tell her why you were on the floor.”
Lucy stared at the buttons on Vanessa's blouse.
“I made a mess.”
The answer came too quickly.
Like a line practiced before a school play.
“And?”
“I have to clean up my mistakes.”
Vanessa looked at Elena.
“She's been having behavioral issues since her mother died. You're new. You don't understand.”
Elena looked at the fingers closed around Lucy's wrist.
“Let her go.”
“Excuse me?”
“You're hurting her.”
Vanessa released Lucy with a small shove of her hand.
Elena guided the child into the chair and crouched nearby without touching her again.
“Are you dizzy?”
Lucy nodded.
“When did you last eat a meal?”
Vanessa laughed.
“Don't encourage this.”
Elena called emergency services.
She gave the address, described the child's weakness, and followed the dispatcher's questions.
“You're calling an ambulance over rice?” Vanessa demanded.
“I'm calling because she can barely stand.”
Vanessa stepped forward, but Elena moved the phone to her other ear and repeated the address.
Loudly.
Clearly.
That stopped her.
Outside, the fountain splashed against imported stone.
Inside, Lucy sat with both hands folded tightly in her lap.
“Am I allowed water?” she whispered.
Elena's throat closed.
She relayed the question to the dispatcher, then placed a glass within reach as instructed.
Vanessa picked up her own phone.
“Daniel, your new maid is having some kind of episode.”
She listened.
Her face changed.
“No, of course she's fine.”
Another pause.
“You cannot possibly believe—”
The call ended.
Vanessa looked toward the front windows.
Then she seized the stainless steel bowl and dumped the rice into the trash.
Elena watched her rinse it.
“The paramedics are coming,” she said.
“Then perhaps you should think about what they'll find in your purse.”
Elena felt a cold pinch between her shoulders.
Her bag was upstairs in the staff room.
She had left it there when she started work.
Vanessa dried her hands.
“People lose jobs over misunderstandings.”
Lucy suddenly caught Elena's sleeve.
Her grip was weak but desperate.
“Don't go get it.”
“My bag?”
The little girl shook her head.
May you like
She glanced at the doorway, then back at Elena.
“If you leave me, she'll make me say it right.”
