Angela--Part 1 of a 2 part section

Angela was excited, and nervous.  Correction.  She was as excited as she ever was with Henry.  There always seemed to be some dreadful experience waiting to trap her in endless woe.  After witnessing Henry shooting and killing the woman that he had help him adopt Angela she was aware of Henry Butler's depraved nature.  Angela knew that if she did not do what he bid he would have no sorrow in killing her.

So she did her best to act nonchalant.  Happy, positive, emotions seemed to touch a threadbare nerve in Henry's wretched soul.  Angela had no desire to light his all too sensitive fuse.

Angela was starving.  Henry found each and every excuse to keep from feeding her.  He did this on purpose.  Fighting with nature he tried in every way he knew, to keep Angela from growing.  He knew that once she was taller than five foot two she would be useless to him.  At that point he could no longer use her to climb into the small spaces that helped him rob others. 

Henry also knew that he saved a great deal of money when he purchased food for only one.  He was not thrifty, he was not even just cheap.  No, he was penny pinching, bone deep, stingy.  No matter how much money they stole, to Henry it was never enough.  Angela knew nothing about Henry's large growing savings account in a national bank.  He never volunteered to share the proceeds of their robberies with her.
 
Angela had learned to live vicariously.  When Henry ate at a restaurant, and gave
her only water, Angela would smell the smells wafting through the café.  She would watch every mouthful that Henry ingested, and she would pretend that she felt the textures, and tastes in her own mouth. 

Henry once saw her glancing at his food with rapture.  He covered the dish with his arm and said, "What are you mooning over?"

Angela shook herself mentally.  It never did any good to get Henry's attention.  She had not meant to do so now, but she was just SO HUNGRY!  Thinking quickly she said, "I was just imagining how I would cook that beef.  I was thinking about the natural seasonings that exist all around us in the wild."

Henry looked from the tip of her tiny toes, to the top of her strawberry blond hair.  "Well, well," he said in a rough whisper, "I guess I'll leave the cooking to you now!"

Angela did NOT smile but a warmth filled her heart.  If she could do the cooking, surely she could sneak a tiny bit now and then.  That's all she needed, just a small bite to keep her from feeling so awful.