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back in her chair.
Does that man, the singing one. Does he. Have a dungeon or anything?
She disappears under the desk, emerges with a pile of board games and places them on the desk in a teetering pile. Connect Four, Battleship, Twister,Monopoly. She rests an elbow on the top of the pile.
Whips and things? Chains? He doesn’t chain anyone up, does he?
    We’re friends since yesterday
, Millie says.
    He’s just an old man
, she continues.
You can be an old, lonely man, hanging around girl-children, and be completely normal. Right?
She ducks under the desk again and comes to stand, holding Millie’s backpack in one hand and an open bucket of paint in the other.
Ta-da!
The paint slops over the side and drips onto the floor.
It’s society, you know?
Helen pauses, puts the backpack and paint on the table, moves the pile of board games aside, and sits on the desk.
Is all this
, she wiggles her index finger at Millie’s face,
for him? The makeup?
    Millie wipes a hand across her lips. There’s a smudge of bright red on the top of her hand, like war paint.
I’m hungry
, she says.
    Oh, darling, I’m sorry. I had cookies. But Stan
, she says loudly out the doorway again,
Stan ate them. He’ll eat my cookies. When it suits him.
She waits, her ear cocked toward the door.
    Stan appears in the doorway and Helen jumps. Millie sucks in a breath. It’s the security guard from last night. He has a black eye. He’s on his mobile phone but he stares at Millie, unblinking, pushing the pads of his fingers into the swelling on his cheekbone.
Well, I’d finished
The Cosby Show
on DVD and wanted to get something else, didn’t I
, he says to the phone.
Didn’t know I was gonna get attacked.
He’s still staring at Millie.
Helen let me out this morning
. Millie’s whole body feels like it’s clenching.
Listen, Ma, can you hang on a tick?
He puts his hand over the mouthpiece.
You better get her something to eat, Helen
, Stan says.
Before they come.
    Helen jumps off the desk.
Of course
, she says, and opens another drawer. She’s flushed red in the face.
Mentos? They’re surprisingly satiating.
    Before who comes?
Millie says.
    I’m on a diet
, Helen says.
The Atkins one? Is it Atkins? Or Paleo? You get to smell all the food you want. It’s fantastic.
She looks sideways at Stan.
Not that I need to.
She rips the packet of Mentos, pops two in her mouth and two on the desk for Millie. Millie picks them up and chews them greedily.
Go on a diet, I mean. I’m not one of those women who worries about those sorts of things. It’s more about treating myself like I deserve. It’s very empowering.
    Stan rolls his eyes.
Helen
, he says.
Just get her something proper, okay? They’ll be here soon. They got a ways to travel so she needs to be fed.
He gives Millie a last look, turns, and leaves.
Huh?
Millie hears him say into the phone as he walks away.
No, it was a little kid. I’m not suing her, Ma. Mum! I’m not. Well, they left her here, didn’t they? They can’t have much.
    He’s lovely, isn’t he? Stan?
She looks out the door and spits the Mentos into a tissue.
    Who’s coming?
Millie says. She is sick in the stomach.
Mum will be here
, she adds.
She’s just. Lost.
    Oh, darling
, Helen says, throwing the tissue into the rubbish bin by her feet and wiping her hands on her pants.
I’m sure she is.
    My dad died. But my mum will be here.
    Oh, darling.
She walks around to Millie’s side of the desk and kneels on the ground in front of her. She grabs one of Millie’s hands and holds it with both of hers.
How did he pass? Oh, don’t answer that.
Helen talks like she is surprised by the words that come out of her own mouth, as if someone else is saying them.
Don’t. If you don’t want. But if you want. How? Was it? That he passed? Was he into. Gambling? A little bit? Did he get mixed up in something?
    Mixed up?
    Drugs?
Helen whispers.
    They gave him drugs at the hospital.
    Was it. A mental hospital?
    What’s that?
    Forget I said