Fairy Tale

         Margo followed Abby into the dining room and sat at the wobbly metal table. Abby lit a cigarette, and Margo fidgeted with a seam in her skirt. They looked at each other over crusty dishes and fast-food trash. "So, how does this work?” Margo asked.

         Abby blew a puff of smoke in Margo's direction. "You give me the money, you take it, and we never see each other again."

         "It", Margo asked. She furrowed her eyebrows at Abby.

         "Look lady, let's not get all personal about this. After I get the money, you can call it whatever you want." A young girl, hardly able to walk, waddled into the room and started towards Abby. Her soiled diaper sagged below her knees. She lifted both hands, holding a bottle towards Abby, and rattled a phrase that resembled, "more." Abby nudged the girl back. Sores and scabs infested her arms and hands.

         "Kyle! I told you to keep her out of here!" A teenage boy entered the room and lifted the girl up by her underarms. He rushed out, holding the girl away from him, her little legs dangled free. "Fucking kids couldn't listen if their lives depended on it," Abby said. She took another long drag from the cigarette and spoke while exhaling. "Anyway, let's get this shit over. You have the money or not?"

         "What about the police? What if they ask questions?"

         "Look around, lady, "Abby said. "Nobody gives a shit. I already said everything's good. Are we going to do this are not? You're not the only person interested.”

         Margo withdrew an envelope from her purse, thirty thousand dollars. Abby shouted through the house, "Kyle! It's time!" The teenage boy emerged again, this time gripping the girl against him. His eyes were red and swollen, tears streamed down his face. The girl stretched her empty bottle out to Abby and said "bah" as they were passing.



                                                                                         ***



         Margo slowed her vehicle to a stop at the red light. She looked at the backseat through her rearview mirror. She smiled.



Approx. 330 words