She raised her hand and rapped her knuckles against the wall, her eyes cold and calculating as they flicked toward me. Then, with a sharp crack, she slammed her forehead into the wall.
Bright red blood streaked down from her hairline, dripping onto the floor one drop at a time.
"No! Stop!"
She screamed, crumpled to the ground, and pressed both hands tight against her forehead.
The bedroom door swung open, and Mom hurried over to Aileen. "Ally, what happened?"
Aileen kept her head down. Blood seeped slowly through the gaps between her fingers, trailing down her entire arm.
She pulled her hand away from her forehead, revealing the wound where she'd struck herself. Her voice cracked with a sob.
"Mom, I just wanted to share the cake with Eudora, but she... she told me to get lost. She threw the cake on the floor and... and pushed me."
Mom's jaw tightened instantly.
She looked down at the frosting smeared across the floor, then glanced sideways at me, curled up in the corner by the table, not saying a word.
The sliver of concern on her face dissolved into fury. She raised her voice.
"Eudora!"