"Please," he beseeched.
The tone of his voice made her stop. "What do you want?"
"I want to know where she is?"
"The owner said she's staying at the hospital with her grandmother as far as I know."
The cold bit at his ears. He only put on his sheepskin to speak to David and it was freezing cold outside. "That's not true. I know it's not true, but I can't explain how I know. Can I come in, because I think she might be in trouble?"
Cleo looked worried and then confused. Finally, she unlocked the security door and let him in. He put of the cigarette he'd been smoking and came in. The home was clean, but it had that familiar poverty smell. She offered him a seat on the couch, and he welcomed it. He knew not to refuse any generosity because she would think it as an insult.
"When she didn't come in a couple of weeks ago and Marvin started working her shift, I got a little suspicious but he told me to shut my mouth. Well, one of the customers didn't like how his orders were always late so he demanded to know where she was. I happen to be there early trying to help with the Christmas orders and Marvin told him that Nanna got rushed to the hospital and Nicole was doing some vigil by her side. This sounded like Nicky because I know her grandmother means everything to her."
"I know that's not true because I've been watching for her. Nanna's still in the house on bed rest. I spoke to one of the nurses just the other day. They say she's getting worse, but there hasn't been any sign of Nicole. Do you think she might of run away?"
Cleo shook her head. "She wouldn't leave Nanna. I don't care how bad Marvin beats her."
"He beats her?"
"Hell yeah, but nothing lately. The last time he hit her was when she demanded to know why there was so much money missing from the accounts. He dragged her in the back and slapped her around a couple of times, but that was about a month or so ago. She told me about it. As far as I know, he only hits her when she stands up for herself or she does something he doesn't like."
"Could this be one of those times? Could he have hit her and hurt her?"
"Maybe, but...he'd never kill her. I think Marvin likes her a lot. I've seen how he looks at her sometimes. That's why he made me work nights cause I made a comment one time that if he kept looking at her that way, he might as well fuck her, but I was just teasing. He got so pissed at me though and that's when he started looking for reasons to fire me."