quiet
after 10:00 p.m., or reading Bible passages before lights out, with
nothing to look forward to but more of the same the next day.
But Jonathan’s pleasure faded as he saw his wife look at her watch.
“Come on, Helen. It’s early,” he groaned.
“It’s almost ten-thirty. By the time we get home it’ll be eleven.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“The kids will be up early in the morning, Jonathan.”
“So what? They can watch cartoons while we sleep a little more.”
“We don’t have television down here, remember?” Jonathan smiled
slyly. “I brought a portable with me. It’s in
the trunk.”
She knew better than to fight with him. Helen had learned to pick
her battles and ultimately win the war. She agreed to a few more
dances, knowing full well that a television set would come into their
tent over her dead body.
CHAPTER 17
As she walked down the hallway to get ready for bed, Diane heard the
shower running. Michelle had left the door to her bedroom ajar, and
Diane walked inside. A duffel bag lay on the floor, stuffed with enough
clothes for an entire summer. The miniature DVD player Michelle had
begged for as a Christmas present along with a stack of movies were
piled next to the bag. Another canvas bag was filled with a boom box,
Walkman, and CDs.
Demanding that her teenage daughter pack more economically wasn’t
worth the effort. Diane knew that. The other mothers she traded notes
with reported exactly the same thing. The day would come when Michelle
would want to simplify and carry as little as possible on a trip, but
that day wasn’t going to be for a while. Now her daughter felt it was
necessary to bring everything she might possibly need or want with her.
Picking up the teen magazine that lay open on Michelle’s bed, Diane
began flipping through it. Between the articles on boyfriends and acne
were pages of advertisements for jeans and shoes and handbags and
makeup. As the shoes were danced in and the jeans swaggered in, there
was no ignoring it. Every single one of the female models that the
companies used to sell their products was thin. In some cases, almost
impossibly thin.
Diane looked up to see her daughter standing in the doorway. There
was a white towel twisted around her head and a larger, longer one
wrapped around her body. Was she imagining it, or did Michelle’s
shoulders look bonier than the last time she had seen them? Diane tried
to think back. They hadn’t been at the beach or at a pool together all
summer. When Diane came home from work in the evenings, Michelle
usually had on a cotton T-shirt. Come to think of it, she’d been
wearing ones with long sleeves, always complaining that the apartment
air-conditioning was too cold. Diane hadn’t thought anything of it,
until now.
CHAPTER 18
It was a real drag that the Richeys didn’t have a television set.
But since this wasn’t the first time Carly had babysat for them, she
had known enough to bring her Walkman and some magazines. Hannah and
Sarah had been worn out from the heat and a long day at the beach and
had conked out only an hour after their parents left. They were sound
asleep now in their bunk beds pushed against the canvas wall.
Carly got up from the wicker chair and wandered into the kitchen,
stopping to adjust the air conditioner. There was no way she would have
taken this job tonight if the Richeys hadn’t had air-conditioning. She
could live without TV for a couple of hours, but she wasn’t into
sweating. But even cranked up as high it could go, the air conditioner
was fighting a losing battle against a heat wave that just wouldn’t
quit.
Carly pulled open the fridge and rifled through the contents. She
spied some ice pops wedged on top of the ice cube tray in the tiny
freezer section and selected an orange one. Lots
of bang for the caloric buck
, she thought as she pulled
off the paper wrapper. And all water, nothing to bloat her. Carly
patted her stomach to make sure it was still as
after 10:00 p.m., or reading Bible passages before lights out, with
nothing to look forward to but more of the same the next day.
But Jonathan’s pleasure faded as he saw his wife look at her watch.
“Come on, Helen. It’s early,” he groaned.
“It’s almost ten-thirty. By the time we get home it’ll be eleven.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“The kids will be up early in the morning, Jonathan.”
“So what? They can watch cartoons while we sleep a little more.”
“We don’t have television down here, remember?” Jonathan smiled
slyly. “I brought a portable with me. It’s in
the trunk.”
She knew better than to fight with him. Helen had learned to pick
her battles and ultimately win the war. She agreed to a few more
dances, knowing full well that a television set would come into their
tent over her dead body.
CHAPTER 17
As she walked down the hallway to get ready for bed, Diane heard the
shower running. Michelle had left the door to her bedroom ajar, and
Diane walked inside. A duffel bag lay on the floor, stuffed with enough
clothes for an entire summer. The miniature DVD player Michelle had
begged for as a Christmas present along with a stack of movies were
piled next to the bag. Another canvas bag was filled with a boom box,
Walkman, and CDs.
Demanding that her teenage daughter pack more economically wasn’t
worth the effort. Diane knew that. The other mothers she traded notes
with reported exactly the same thing. The day would come when Michelle
would want to simplify and carry as little as possible on a trip, but
that day wasn’t going to be for a while. Now her daughter felt it was
necessary to bring everything she might possibly need or want with her.
Picking up the teen magazine that lay open on Michelle’s bed, Diane
began flipping through it. Between the articles on boyfriends and acne
were pages of advertisements for jeans and shoes and handbags and
makeup. As the shoes were danced in and the jeans swaggered in, there
was no ignoring it. Every single one of the female models that the
companies used to sell their products was thin. In some cases, almost
impossibly thin.
Diane looked up to see her daughter standing in the doorway. There
was a white towel twisted around her head and a larger, longer one
wrapped around her body. Was she imagining it, or did Michelle’s
shoulders look bonier than the last time she had seen them? Diane tried
to think back. They hadn’t been at the beach or at a pool together all
summer. When Diane came home from work in the evenings, Michelle
usually had on a cotton T-shirt. Come to think of it, she’d been
wearing ones with long sleeves, always complaining that the apartment
air-conditioning was too cold. Diane hadn’t thought anything of it,
until now.
CHAPTER 18
It was a real drag that the Richeys didn’t have a television set.
But since this wasn’t the first time Carly had babysat for them, she
had known enough to bring her Walkman and some magazines. Hannah and
Sarah had been worn out from the heat and a long day at the beach and
had conked out only an hour after their parents left. They were sound
asleep now in their bunk beds pushed against the canvas wall.
Carly got up from the wicker chair and wandered into the kitchen,
stopping to adjust the air conditioner. There was no way she would have
taken this job tonight if the Richeys hadn’t had air-conditioning. She
could live without TV for a couple of hours, but she wasn’t into
sweating. But even cranked up as high it could go, the air conditioner
was fighting a losing battle against a heat wave that just wouldn’t
quit.
Carly pulled open the fridge and rifled through the contents. She
spied some ice pops wedged on top of the ice cube tray in the tiny
freezer section and selected an orange one. Lots
of bang for the caloric buck
, she thought as she pulled
off the paper wrapper. And all water, nothing to bloat her. Carly
patted her stomach to make sure it was still as
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