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lawyer.” She snapped her fingers. “Little Ree didn’t play the sucker, little Ree went and got her own legal representation so forget
that
—do you have something to drink? All this talking’s taken the spit out of my mouth.”
    I fetched her water.
    “Thanks, Doc. Anything else you need from me?”
    “Let’s talk about the three months Connie took care of Rambla.”
    Her jaw jutted. “She keeps saying three months. It was eighty-eight days.”
    “Fair enough, Ree. Tell me how it came to be.”
    “I was afraid you’d get to that. Why’s it important?”
    “Connie’s citing it as evidence you wanted her to have guardianship.”
    She put the cup down hard enough to resonate. “That’s fucking bullshit!”
    “How’d the arrangement come about?”
    “There was no arrangement,” she said. “No arrangement at all. I was playing with Rambla and out of the clear blue Connie came over. She was nice—a different Connie. She brought me stuff for Rambla. Baby clothes, diapers—like I didn’t have the brains to buy diapers. The ones she brought were the wrong brand and wrong size, but no matter, I said thank you because that’s the kind of person I am, I always see the best in everyone. And truthfully, Doctor, I was happy with my life, no reason to be unfriendly.”
    “Connie was being nice.”
    “Like for once she cared about someone else, not just herself. She even said I was doing a good job—which is something that bitch lawyer of hers denies. So when she asked to hold the baby, I said sure. Even though she didn’t know how to do it right and Rambla started fussing and I had to teach her to unstiffen her arms so Rambla would be mellow.”
    Black eyes turned to chunks of obsidian. “Big mistake. Teaching her anything. She was already scheming.”
    “To take the baby.”
    “What else? She never came over, now she was coming over?”
    “How often did she visit?”
    “I dunno, like … once a week? Whatever. It’s not like she was babysitting or really helping. That whole time I never went out even one night, I was taking my obligation seriously. And yeah, Connie tried giving me money.”
    I said, “Tried? You didn’t accept.”
    “I accepted, why wouldn’t I accept? Not loans, gifts. She volunteered, I never asked. No way, not after I already loaned from her and paid it back, I didn’t want any … what you called it, entanglements. But if she was insisting to give me something and she’s got more than she needs and it can help Rambla, why not?”
    “So for a while, you and Connie developed a better relationship.”
    “It was phony, Doctor. Totally phony. I’m a truster, that’s part of myproblem, I have faith in people more than I should. So when the chance came to travel with L.M.—that’s a band, some friends I know, Connie was like, ‘Sure, go, have fun.’ ”
    “L.M.”
    “Stands for Lonesome Moan. They do Lynyrd Skynyrd covers, Sir Douglas, Stevie Ray, original material. I known ’em for a long time, sometimes I do some singing for ’em, help out with percussion, that kind of thing. Local clubs, no farther than Reno. But this time they got offered a tour farther. Two weeks, Arizona and New Mexico, doing lounge shows at Indian casinos. They asked me to come along, do some roadying, do some singing. I was like, Don’t think so guys, I’m a mom, now. But Connie was like, ‘Go, Ree, it’s an opportunity, take a break, no problem, I’ll take care of her.’ I taught her to be okay with Rambla and by then Rambla didn’t mind being with her but even so I’m ‘Nah, I don’t think so.’ ”
    She crossed her legs, lifted the cup of water, drank it empty. “Connie kept working me, Doc. She’s like, ‘Don’t worry.’ And then she … I’ll be totally honest, okay? She gave me some money. For the road. I figured she was being nice, knew how hard I was working with Rambla, wanted me to catch a break. Now I see what she was up to. Bribing me. Moving me out of the way