To Love and Honor by Irene Brand Page A

over, and the awards given, she could hardly interest them in the new unit they were starting.
    Nan and Violet had a chance to lunch together and met in Violet’s room to eat the bag lunches they’d brought from home.
    â€œDid you have any flack about the Social Studies competition?” Nan asked.
    â€œA lot of dirty looks on Friday, both toward Janie and me, but except for the ‘accident’ to her project, I haven’t heard anything. Have you?”
    â€œSome comments among the teachers about ‘favoritism,’ but there are several teachers who don’t feel about Janie as we do. She’s an embarrassment to them…they feel intimidated by her past. People who have lived a trauma-free life can’t understand those who haven’t had it easy.”
    If Janie affected them that way, how would they deal with Violet’s sordid background? Would that alienate her also?
    â€œI haven’t asked about the birthday party last week. How did it go?”
    Remembering her unease at the dinner, Violet’s eyes clouded, and she chewed slowly on her sandwich before she answered.
    â€œI had to sit beside Mrs. Holland, and she made me quite uncomfortable prying into my antecedents. I have some family members who wouldn’t pass muster under much investigation.”
    â€œHaven’t we all?” Nan said with a laugh. “If she’s checking into your ancestry, Larry must be getting serious.”
    â€œThat’s my opinion, too,” Violet conceded. “And Larry has taken exception to my friendship with Roger Gibson. What do you make of that?”
    â€œThat the Holland family is no place for a personwho values freedom. Think long and hard about any alliance you make with them.”
    â€œI can’t tell you the details now, but some decisions I’ve made this week may remove me speedily from the list of Holland ‘eligibles.’”
    â€œSo much the better for you.” Nan crumpled her lunch bag and tossed it in the waste can. “Larry is a good administrator because he gets to make the rules, but the traits that make him a successful principal wouldn’t necessarily be welcome in a husband,” she advised. “See you later,” she added as the bell rung for classes to resume.
    When Violet returned home after school, she was tempted to sit by the phone, waiting for Roger’s call, but tried to busy herself with other tasks. She looked around her home, wondering how she could manage with two more people in the house. Probably she would need a hospital bed for her mother, and she could dismantle the bed in the small room and put her mother there. But what about Aunt Ruth? Could she put the small bed in the living room for herself and leave her bedroom to Aunt Ruth? Any way you looked at it, her whole household would need to be rearranged.
    By the time Roger telephoned, Violet was so discouraged she didn’t know which way to turn, and his report on what he had learned from a representative at the prison didn’t make her feel any better.
    â€œThey will release her into your custody,” Roger said, “with occasional visits by a parole officer, but she has a clean record as far as behavior is concerned, so they aren’t worried about her conduct. You will have to go to Topeka to sign the necessary papers, and she will be transported here in an ambulance at theexpense of the correctional facility. She isn’t able to travel any other way. As I understand, the State of Kansas will be responsible for her medical expenses, such as the chemotherapy treatments that she’s been taking each week.”
    â€œI’ll need to take school leave for a couple of days, for I don’t suppose I could make the necessary arrangements over a weekend. Please get the particulars of whom I should contact at the prison, and what I should do. I’ll arrive there on Thursday, and if I need additional time, I can travel home