Brain Child by Andrew Neiderman

Author:Andrew Neiderman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books

10

It happened the night they were to go out for the dinner of celebration. Later on, Lois would see much irony in that. Dorothy, during her own hysterical moments, would actually voice the belief that her missing earrings and the subsequent frantic search for them had much to do with what happened. Lois would have found that ironic too, if it weren’t for the depths of guilt such an idea was to instill in Billy. That would create complications for Lois—nothing she couldn’t handle, but still, complications.

She was in her room dressing when Billy came in to tell her how Dorothy was screaming about the earrings.

“Daddy went down and up the stairs twice. She’s still wrapped in a towel. I was in the hall watching.”

“If she asks you anything, you act like you don’t know what they look like. You ask her to describe them.”

“She pulled a drawer out and everything fell on the floor. I heard it.”

“Don’t worry about it. Go play with something.”

“Should I give them back?”

“Of course not. How can you do that without showing her you took them?” Reinforcement, she thought, reinforcement. “What you did was good, because we’re helping her learn a lesson. You didn’t steal them, because you’re going to give them back someday.”

“Daddy’s mad. He’s yelling.”

“That’s OK. He’s not yelling at you; he’s yelling at her. He’s trying to teach her a lesson, too. We all have to teach each other lessons all the time.” She could see her brother considering the ideas.

“She could never find them in my room.”

“Good,” Lois said, making her voice as nonchalant as possible. Diminish the intensity, she thought. She made a mental note to take the earrings out of his room when he wasn’t around so he couldn’t return them on his own. That way she would have an even firmer control over the experiment. She heard her mother on the stairs, calling her. “Don’t say anything,” she said, walking past Billy. “Just listen.”

“Lois!”

“Yes, mother.”

“I can’t find my new earrings. Did you take them?”

“Hardly. Adorning my body with jewelry has never appealed to me.”

“Damn it. I can’t believe this.”

“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for it,” Lois said. Her calm tone of voice infuriated Dorothy more, and she rushed back up the stairs. When Lois turned around, Billy was standing right behind her, his hands in his little pockets. “It’s working,” she whispered. They heard the slamming of doors. Gregory raised his voice again. Then there was silence. “She’s gone into the bathroom to finish her hair. Going out has always been a Broadway opening for Mother,” Lois said dryly. “Come on, I’ll play you a game of checkers while we wait.”

At least fifteen minutes passed; Lois was quite sure of that. She was on her fourth game of checkers with Billy when the scream began. This time it was a long, shrill sound that evolved into a series of hysterical pleadings: “Greg, Greg, Greg …”

They both stood up and went to the living-room door. By then Dorothy was shouting for Lois.

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