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Chapter One

Madison ~ 5 Months Ago

“Happy birthday, Molls!” I ju the scowl she alore lately

She looked up at hed “What’s so happy about it?”

“Are you kidding?” I gestured to the collection of kids that gathered in what passed for a park inside The 215, the creative naiven to our San Bernardino trailer park, located just off the I-215 “Look at all these people who showed up to celebrate your birthday Your thirteenth birthday, Molly!”

As a nine year old, thirteen seerownup to me, and I couldn’t believe she wasn’t more excited

Molly snorted and gave her best I-don’t-give-a-fuck, shrug “They’re not here for s and stale Wal-Mart birthday cake Moht”

I frowned “What’s wrong with that? Cake is cake, Molly!”

Molly stood and smoothed down the blue and white polka dot dress we found for two bucks at the Salvation Army near the movie theater and nodded for e open and pointed to the pink and red cake “Go on, get a good look at it”

I peeked inside with an eager smile that quickly faded as I read the words, “Happy Birthday Sally” I turned to her, confused “Who’s Sally?”

Molly sighed “It’s a day-old cake that soot it for cheap so she could afford that case of beer that’s in the drahere the vegetables should be”

I looked, and like always, Molly was right Molly was righter than our own ot so sie draas faold cans filled to the top thatday “I’m sorry, Molly Maybe it’s not old?” I tried to cheer her up

She shrugged like it didn’t matter, but her sad brown eyes told rier than before and I wanted to cry Would it be so hard for Mom to act like a mom, just for one day?

This was Molly’s special day, and she was my favorite person in the whole orld I couldn’t take back the three beers Mo in her bedroo for her I pulled the cake froe and stared at the white frosted narabbed a butterknife and tried to pick the letters off the cake Major fail Instead, I spread it across the cake into sole