Excerpt from Tip the Piano Man
Prologue
Piper Callaghan pushed the concealed sliding door in the back of the closet to one side and squeezed through the small opening, listening closely before she finally stepped into the bedroom, just as Mama taught her. The house was silent. When she spied the twisted body lying in a pool of blood on the cracked linoleum floor, she crossed the room slowly and stared down at it. An icy numb feeling slid into the pit of her stomach and settled there.
Poor Mama…
As she gazed down at the familiar form on the floor, Piper couldn’t cry. Mama looked just like she was sleeping—except for the tiny bit of blood still oozing from the deep wound across her throat. She knew Mama was dead, but it was okay. Being dead was something Mama had wanted for a long time.
Mama explained once about getting dead, and Piper still remembered what she said. She’d said it was something you looked forward to, like a birthday party or Christmas, and it came unexpected-like and carried you off to a place so beautiful it took your breath away. Mama had always wanted to go somewhere beautiful, and Piper was glad she got to go. She’d looked forward to it for so long.
Still dry-eyed and chilled inside, Piper moved toward the dresser. She didn’t bother to look into the mirror because it was so old and blurry that she could hardly see herself. Besides, she always looked the same—dirty blonde hair straggled to her shoulders, and her dark eyes were too big for her skinny face. Doe-eyes, Mama called them, just like Daddy’s.
Mama always talked about Daddy like he was something special, but Piper knew he wasn’t. Men weren’t special. They laughed too loud, drank too much, and liked to hurt little children. And no matter what Mama said about Daddy, Piper knew he wasn’t any different. If he was so special, he would’ve come back a long time ago…like Mama promised.
Piper couldn’t understand men anyway. They always came here to her house or to that secret place, and they always watched those stupid movies. Tony’s camera had been nearby for as long as she could remember. So had the blood and the screaming—men liked that. Piper didn’t like it, but she didn’t matter. No one ever listened to her.
She looked away from the mirror, waiting. Before today, she could go next door and cuddle with Tia Carly until she felt better. Before today, Tia Carly always took care of her until she had to go home and take care of Mama. But now Mama was gone, and no one would be around to protect Piper. Tony would bring back his camera, there would be more blood, and no one would listen to her.
She shrugged when she heard the distant police siren cutting through the night silence like that rip in Mama’s throat. Mama must’ve screamed too loud, but it was okay. Nothing mattered anymore because she wasn’t going to talk about it. In fact, she was never going to talk again in her whole life.
Ever since she was a little kid, people made her do things she didn’t want to do. But from now on, no matter what else happened, they couldn’t make her talk.
Besides, no one ever listened. Why should they?
Tony always laughed at her. “You’re just a baby,” he’d say with that ugly look on his face. “Who’s gonna believe you anyways?”
At long last, the tears came, and Piper closed her eyes. Tony was right. Nobody would believe her. There wasn’t any reason why they should.
