Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

25 ∞ i swear

Day Six ∞ Wednesday evening

SUPPER WITH THE McGAHNS. It shouldn't have been a big deal, but it was. The meal started in awkward silence with Mother sitting at one end, Danny at the other, and Gina and Mickmi facing each other. Outside dusk was falling, but it wasn't that noticeable from inside with a wide circle of the yard brightly illuminated by new lights.

Danny hardly noticed what he was eating: he was watching Mother, waiting for her to start her interrogation. Every now and again he'd look at Mickmi; she was quietly focused on her food but she ate very little. He wished he could touch her in encouragement but they were sitting too far apart for him to be able to do so without it being obvious. He exchanged glances with Gina, wishing there was something more they could do.

"So..."

—Here it comes.

"Micki, is it?"

Mickmi looked up at Mother. "Mickmi."

"Okay. Mickmi. So where are you from? Where's your family?"

"I know not. I am an orphan."

"Oh. I... I didn't realize..." Mother was a bit thrown by that unexpected answer, but she soon recovered. "You're not American."

"Nay. But I have lived here as long as I can remember."

Danny nodded. —Smart move, Mickmi. That's the truth.

"So where did you go to school?"

—You were homeschooled because the people who took you traveled a lot, he prompted.

"I was homeschooled because the people who took me traveled a lot."

"But if you're home-schooled, how did you get to meet Gina at college? And aren't you too young to have gone to college when she was there? How old are you?"

"Seventeen and a half years."

Danny exchanged glances with Gina, shaking his head. —She's seventeen and a half and she's supposed to have gone to college with you, Sis? That was a humongous gap. He thought quickly. They felt you needed to experience formal education so they sent you to college for a semester. But because you were homeschooled you're so advanced you skipped high school.

Mickmi took a deep breath and repeated Danny's words with a steady voice, meeting Mother's gaze. Then she turned back to face Gina, but she was staring vacantly at the table.

"I see." Danny could see Mother's brain at work. He hoped that she would take the lie at face value and not probe too deeply. "So what makes you think you should be staying here?"

His brows furrowed; he had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from saying something he'd regret.

Mickmi met Gina's gaze for a moment, then turned to Mother. "It was not my intention. I was invited to stay here."

—By Gina, he prompted.

"By your daughter."

—She saw your distress.

"She saw my situation."

"I see. And what is your situation, exactly?"

Mickmi rested her knife and fork on the half-empty plate, lifted her left hand to rub her brow, sneaking a slight turn of her head to meet Danny's gaze for the first time during dinner. He gave her a minuscule nod in encouragement. —You were abused so you ran away.