Leo the Lioness by Constance C. Greene Page A

congratulate the groom, not the bride.
    I went to look at myself in the mirror. I am even uglier than usual because I have so many freckles. I always get freckles in the summer. Even on my knees. Nina gets a wonderful tan. She gets a little browner every day. She puts a gallon or two of oil on and then she starts turning like a chicken on a spit, my father says, and she just gets tanner and tanner.
    I looked at myself a long time. I could not even cry.

18.
    â€œI’m not going,” I said. “That’s all there is to it.” We had got the invitation to Carla’s wedding in the morning mail.
    My mother looked at me. “Why not?” she asked.
    â€œYou know why not. I can’t stand going to weddings where the bride is pregnant.”
    â€œThat’s a nasty thing to say,” my mother said.
    â€œIt’s true, isn’t it? I don’t notice anyone denying it. Of all people, Carla, of all people. I can’t stand it. I absolutely can’t stand it.”
    â€œLook,” my mother said and she put her arm around me. “I know how you feel. I know what Carla has always meant to you. But you’ve got to stop setting yourself up as a judge of others, Tibb, you really do. Just think of how she feels, and her parents. Think of them, not of yourself. And it isn’t as if she and Dave weren’t in love. They are, and they would have got married anyway. It’s unfortunate that it had to happen this way.”
    â€œThat’s a masterpiece of understatement,” I said. “I thought she was honest and good. And now she has to go and do this to me. She has betrayed me.”
    â€œNo,” my mother said. “She has betrayed herself. If anyone. She has betrayed herself and her family. They are the ones, not you. And it’s not the end of the world, Tibb. I know it seems as if it is, but it’s not. If Carla and Dave make a good life for themselves and their children and are useful, happy human beings, then they have accomplished a good deal. You must look at it that way.”
    â€œThat’s a lot of baloney,” I said.
    My mother took her arm away.
    â€œHow would you feel if it was me or Nina. What then?” I asked her.
    â€œMy heart would be broken,” my mother said. “But I hope I would try to understand. I’m not sure that I would be able to, but I would try.”
    I knew she meant what she said. She would try to understand if it happened to one of us. For some reason, that made me feel worse than before.
    If such a thing was possible.

19.
    â€œI have never been to a wedding,” Jen said. “I expect you’ll have a terrific time. Everyone says that weddings are the most fun.”
    I had decided to go. I had thought about it after I went to bed last night and decided my mother was right. I should not judge other people. Carla would feel bad if I didn’t go. I knew she would. Besides, my morning horoscope said: “You can’t escape the responsibilities you have. Attend to them immediately or you may lose out.”
    I figured that in a way, Carla was my responsibility.
    â€œWhat’s so fun about weddings?” I asked Jen.
    â€œWell, for one thing, there’s pots of champagne and no one thinks anything of it if you get squiffy.”
    â€œDon’t be asinine,” I said. “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard of. Who wants to get squiffy anyhow?”
    â€œNiffy does.” Nina liked that. “Squiffy Niffy.”
    â€œThen, for another,” Jen said, as if she hadn’t heard, “you meet all kinds of people.” She didn’t like jokes made about her name. “And when I say ‘people’ you know what I mean, I trust?” She put on her inscrutable look, which only made her look as if she was going to burp. Jen is a very good burper. She can burp out something that sounds like “The Star-Spangled Banner” if you stretch your imagination a