Madison opened what might easily be construed as a closet door between the kitchen and the lobby and descended the stairs into her cave. Heda had basically wanted to claim the attic, meaning she would be on the opposite side of the building, but it was still very close.

Heda could not be there that day because she had a practice game against the University of New Mexico, but she would be back that evening.

"You're excited about this aren't you?" Edgar asked from behind her.

With Heda gone, he had become her de facto protector and escort.

Billy still filled the role sometimes, but Edgar seemed to have developed an interest in this woman who had gotten under his sister's skin a bit.

“Yeah, I guess. Kinda. Sure. Can you tell?" she said, turning around to face where his voice was coming from.

“You're undressing the room with your eyes. So just go ahead and let it out. What do you want to do with your room?"

Madison just stood there, calm and casual. Then her face got really excited and she started pointing out exactly where everything she had would go. Her music systems, including an eight-track player, a reel -to-reel player, a turntable, a phonograph, and of course her laptop and DJ equipment. The closet in the basement was not very big, but she also did not have many clothes.

"So you need a bed and what . . . a dresser maybe?"

"I really can't afford anything though."

"So you were planning on making a nest of dirty clothes and sleeping there."

"Nests are for the birds."

Edgar slapped his face.

"I walked into that didn't I."

"Just a bit." Madison smiled.

"Is everyone in your family so easy to talk to?" she blurted, then wished she had not. She was sounding like a goober.

“Our family likes to talk," Ed replied.

"It's kind of a blessing, kind of a curse. Our folks were really big on education. Pissed ‘em off when I didn't go to college. But family dinners were kind of like meetings of the debating society for as long as I could remember. You had to learn to think and talk at roughly the same speed, which didn't always work well for me. Heda's a lot better at it than me. Dad's the master of nonverbal communication grunting, dirty looks, and that sort of thing. You'll understand soon enough."

Madison paused.

"Huh?"

“Parent day? Next week?"

"Heda didn't mention that your parents are coming."

Ed grinned.

"I may have forgotten to mention it to her. And Mom was probably way too pissed to think of it the last time they talked."

"Crap," Madison yelped, her eyes shooting open.