Girl in Reverse (9781442497368) by Stuber Barbara

Author:Stuber, Barbara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Chapter 21

Evangeline has switched from black and white to color! She wears a gold necklace and green plaid dress with a scoop neck. Her purse sways as she sits on the edge of the chair next to mine. The nun is gone, but not her voice.

“I hoped you would come tonight,” she says.

Really? I don’t say that she is the last person I expected to see. She is the last person I expected to see ever again!

Evangeline looks at the bodhisattva, then turns to me. She reaches to my cheek, then curls her fingers back. Nun training. Most of the audience has moved into the main room now. The expert, Dr. Benton, converses with Mr. Chow in Chinese.

“My birth mother used to bring me here to look at this dragon pearl,” I say, pointing up. “It must have reminded her of home.”

Evangeline raises her eyebrows. Nods. I cannot take my eyes from the matching curves of her collarbones, the elegant upward sweep of her neck. We each sit waiting, it seems, for the other one to talk.

“She was the Chinese archaeologist’s daughter.” My voice is raspy. I clear my throat. “Did you know that?”

“Adoption records are sealed.”

“The speaker said Lien Loo never came to America. Why would he say that? It’s a lie.” A tunnel of silence stretches between us.

“Perhaps you should ask him,” Evangeline says.

I glance at the dragon pearl collecting candlelight. “I thought the pictures in that box were clues to help me find her, that she might be here and I could show them to her and, if not, I could at least show them to someone.” I take a deep breath, knit my hands. “Idiotic. After all this time, but . . .”

She glances at my purse. “Did you bring the slipper?”

“No! It’s too fragile, and I don’t know . . . I . . .” I fiddle with my purse strap, glance up at her. “I came back the next day. I needed to talk to you.”

She looks off. “There are restrictions for sisters who leave. I couldn’t . . .”

What restrictions? “Joy took me on a tour. Sister Immaculata can’t hear. Joy’s food was dried out, her water was frozen, and the new nun is allergic to cats. Joy was curled up on your bed when I left.”

Evangeline lowers her head. I wish I hadn’t said it. I wish I had Kleenex. “I’m sorry, Lily. Leaving was terribly difficult.” She stares at her lap. “I grew up there.”

“You did ?”

She straightens her back and chin. “Yes.”

“But . . .”

“I became one in the stream of souls going out the door.”

“Y . . . you left that day, after the shed, didn’t you?”

“It was time. My work was finished. The Mercy Home saved all our lives—yours, mine, my mother’s, and both of your mothers’.”

I sit back, picturing my mothers. So strange to think Evangeline actually knew both of them. The Sisters of Mercy saved Mother?

“How did it save my adoptive mother?” I ask.

Evangeline looks puzzled, as if this is something I should already know.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.