Sherry lurched away from him and held on to the trailer to stay upright. Her stomach roiled. But if she retched, it would make Andy furious for sure, and she couldn’t risk him taking the keys away from her. She took a deep breath, then another.

Rita Mae’s salt-and-pepper hair flew in the wind. She stood on Sherry’s doorstep like an overweight avenging angel.

“Damn, bitch, we’re busy. Can’t you see that?”

Sherry took a deep breath. Then another one. She wouldn’t vomit, she wouldn’t vomit, she wouldn’t—

“So, where were we?”

Sherry stumbled backward. “Thanks for the keys,” she croaked, and tried to walk back to her trailer.

Andy grabbed her arm. “Not so fast.”

“You said one kiss.”

“Doesn’t count. That bitch ruined it.”

“Andy, please. My boy needs to go to the hospital.”

Andy stared at her with his cold eyes. Finally, he nodded. “You can pay me later.” His yellow teeth became visible when he grinned. “But try better next time. You kiss like a dead fish.” He laughed at his own joke and started coughing. Then he took a rattling breath and repeated, “That’s it. Like a dead fish.”

Sherry pulled away and ran toward her trailer as fast as her shaky legs would allow. On her way, she spat a few times on the dusty underground beneath her to get rid of the horrible taste in her mouth. “Thank you so much.” She wrapped her arms around Rita Mae’s comforting form, and when they let go, she held up the keys like a trophy.

“Would you like me to come with you?” Rita Mae followed her inside the trailer.

“No. When we’re back, he’ll probably need fresh pajamas. Could you ask Sue if she’ll let you use her dryer? Tell her I’ll give her the money later.” This month was turning out to be a financial disaster. Nothing new there.

“Okay.”

“We gotta go,” Sherry said. “Who knows how long we’ll have to wait this time? And my shift at the market starts tomorrow at seven.”

“You work too much.”

A hysterical laugh threatened to bubble out of her. “My bank account wouldn’t agree.” Sherry took a deep breath and slid open the folding door to the bedroom.

“You can’t be serious,” Janice blurted.

“Why not?” Madison shoved another forkful of apple pie into her mouth. “Mm-hmm.” After she swallowed, she said, “It tastes really good. You sure you don’t wanna try?”

“Very sure.”

“Your loss. Anyway, everybody would get what they want.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Madison paused with her fork in midair. She wasn’t sure what surprised her more: Janice’s choice of words or that she didn’t agree with her. She decided to focus on the latter. “What’s wrong with my plan?”