Evil Red by Nikki Jefford Page A

finding what she was looking for—pink lip shine still
in the box. Valerie watched her sister out of the corner of her
eyes as she took the lip shine out. She crouched down to unscrew
the top and pull out the lip brush, showing Ali it was like nail
polish for the lips.
    “This stuff stays on all day,” Valerie said.
    Ali held both hands out. “Thank you, Valerie!”
    As Ali retreated into the hall with her gift, Valerie
called out, “That’s just for you. No sharing with your
sisters.”
    A car horn blasted through the trailer’s shell,
followed by an audible sigh from the adjacent
room—Laura’ s trademark
huff.
    “Val, your flavor of the month’s here,” Lyndsey
called from the living room.
    Valerie checked her lips in the mirror. What they
needed was some extra shine. Valerie dipped into her bag.
    The horn blasted again.
    “Val!”
    Valerie took a closer look at her cheekbones and
decided to add a dab more rouge. Todd was going to have to learn
that the more times he honked, the longer he waited. The only
reason he’d passed his first screening was because he looked like a
young Vin Diesel and owned a Volkswagen Eos with a retractable
hardtop. It wasn’t a Jag, but Valerie always had her eyes open.
    She grabbed her oversized canary yellow purse and
proceeded down the hallway to the closed-in living space. Mom was
passed out on the faded green recliner, a cigarette still
smoldering in the ashtray at her side. With the way her head
drooped back at a crooked angle, her mouth hanging open, she looked
dead.
    Janice, the oldest, sat strategically on top of her
boyfriend’s lap. He massaged her shoulders gently. They were saving
up for their own place, as Janice was fond of reminding everyone.
That was the only reason they were still graced with her
presence.
    Nothing would give Valerie greater pleasure than to
leave before Janice. It was hard to tweak the queen bee, but if Val
made it out first, that would have to sting.
    Valerie smiled to herself as she made for the
door.
    “You got protection?” Janice asked in her “I’m the
adult here” voice.
    Valerie reached inside her purse and pulled out a
Smith and Wesson revolver. Best breakup gift ever. Not that John
had given it to her, but he taught her to use it at the firing
range. That had been a memorable date. Better than sex.
    “I meant condoms,” Janice said, rolling her eyes at
the gun as though it were nothing more dangerous than a hairbrush.
“Unless you want to end up with a trailer full of brats you’ll make
him use protection.”
    Nice try, Janice. Once she graduated from high
school, the only double-wide Valerie would ever step foot in would
be her personal makeup and costume trailer on a movie set. That
plan did not involve rug rats.
    Valerie
huffed. “I wasn’t born yesterday. No glove, no love.”
    “Just checking.”
    More like showing off for her boyfriend.
    “Just worry about yourself, Janice,” Valerie said as
she slipped out before her sister had a chance to respond.
    Outside, Todd had his music blaring, tapping his
steering wheel, rocking back and forth while jutting his chin
forward. He was Valerie’s first blonde and the tallest dude she’d
ever dated. Usually she enjoyed looking at his face, except for now
when he wore the petulant look of an over-privileged boy not used
to waiting for anything. Well, Valerie wasn’t used to being
summoned by a car horn so that made two of them with lowered
expectations.
    When Valerie closed the trailer door, Todd glanced
over. One look at her long naked legs put a grin back on his face.
Boys were nothing if not predictable. Still, he didn’t bother
getting out of the car to open Valerie’ s door for her.
    This flavor was starting to sour.
    Valerie opened the passenger door with deliberate
care before easing into the seat with all the regality of a
princess… if princesses wore miniskirts, halter tops, and three
layers of makeup.
    Todd put a hand on her bare thigh and leaned over to
kiss