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four-poster-canopy-monstrosity bed at the end of the room. The curtains were dark pink (obviously), red, and orange with crazy fucking gold patterns on it. In fact, the entire room looked as if a few cans of color had exploded and patterns had been added on later. And just… stuff and dark woods—and gold lamps. Like a medieval royal room, sort of, with a hint of… something else.
    “A lot of colors,” he said. “And patterns.”
    “It’s Moroccan—kind of,” she mumbled. “Mom and I went there when I was fourteen, and I liked it.”
    Travels abroad. Obviously. Could she be more cliché and girly?
    “Suits you,” he said with a smile he hoped looked nice and not sarcastic. “I think dinner is about ready.”
    She nodded and closed the door again. They walked downstairs together, and she took the seat next to Brick. Roach hesitated for a second, but sat down next to Dawg, since that seemed to be the farthest he could get from any of the children.
    This was so not his scene.
    Towards the end of the meal, when the worst hysteria settled down, and when Mel stopped trying to make sure the new guests were okay, it became pretty decent, though. At least it didn’t make him want to puke. He couldn’t help noticing how they doted on Eliza; he was surprised they didn’t cut the meat for her.
    He knew what it was about, he knew his own head well enough for that, and he hated to fucking admit it, but he was jealous. She’d had everything he’d ever wanted when he was a kid, and he was sure she didn’t even remotely understand how fucking lucky she was. Obviously, that wasn’t something he could say to anyone because she’d been kidnapped and raped, and sure, that was crap. But still, she had fucking everything and every chance to get out of that hole, and from where he was sitting, it didn’t look like she was even trying. It pissed him off.
    Once her plate was empty, she gave Brick’s cheek a kiss and left without a word to anyone else. Roach wondered if no one else had actually noticed that she hadn’t eaten much, she’d dropped most of the food in the napkin on her lap, but since no one commented on it, neither did he. So none of his business.
    The vibe changed when they went out on the deck and sat down there. It was a bit like being at the clubhouse again, and more relaxed. He still had a third of his beer left, so he figured he’d get by without having to say no to a second one. They all knew of his problems, he was sure, but them knowing at the back of their heads, and him having to remind them about it by declining a beer were two different things.
    He got a bit miffed when Eliza came sneaking from some other door out to the deck and sat down on the ground next to Brick’s chair. Without commenting on her presence, Brick handed her a cigarette while still talking to Dawg.
    She was stoned. It took Roach longer than usual to see it, but she was, and he wondered if no one else noticed or if they just didn’t care. He was leaning towards the first. They weren’t looking for it, so they didn’t see it. He mentally shrugged. It wasn’t his business, and he wasn’t going to stick his nose into that beehive.
    Roach actually soon forgot about her, and the next time he checked, she was gone.

CHAPTER THREE
    She Died
     
    ~oOo~
     
    AS FAR AS ELIZA could remember, the first time she flat-out disobeyed her parents was when she was ten years old. She was reading a book called ‘Cuckoo in The Nest’ by Michelle Magorian, and when her dad told her it was time to turn off the lights, she did.
    But only long enough for her father’s steps to disappear, and then she turned the light back on and continued reading. She just couldn’t stop, and that book was the reason she’d become interested in theater. It was the first time she’d ‘sneak-read,’ but it wasn’t the last.
    And she was never caught doing it.
     
    ~oOo~
    Mel
     
    A few weeks earlier, Eliza had told Mel she didn’t think she needed to see