Girl in the River by Patricia Kullberg

Author:Patricia Kullberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: prostitutes, abortion and politics, portland, corrupt politicians, americana romance, prostitution and drug abuse
Publisher: Patricia Kullberg

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Jump!” Her mother yelled.

Mae floated in the air at the peak of her forward arc, bottom glued to the hard plank of the swing, her grown-up woman’s legs stuck out straight, toes pointed in white anklets pushed into Mary Janes, shiny and black, the kind of shoes she’d always wanted as a kid and never had.

“Jump!”

But the ground was far away and covered with a thicket of thorny vines. Couldn’t her ma see that? Mae clung to the ropes as she swung back to the ground and up high into the backswing. There she hovered, and then dropped again, giddy and scared. Lilly ran behind her, pushing her with both hands. “Jump!”

The school bell rang and rang.

Trudy poked her flank. “You get it.”

It was the phone. Mae cracked an eye. “Time’s it?”

“Early. Must be your bug,” Trudy said and rolled away.

Mae had a phone bug, a lonely fellow who liked to call up between dates, make sure she was okay and didn’t need anything. Once in a while, she’d let him pick up a quart of milk for them, fix a broken lock, or change the oil in the car.

She stumbled out to the phone in the kitchen, her feet bare on the cold tile. Outside, the sky was steely.

It was Leonard. “I’ve gotta see you.”

Mae hopped from foot to freezing foot and kept her voice low. “What is it?”

“Meet me at Benny’s?”

They settled on 1:00 p.m., so she could get back in time for her 5:00 date at their apartment, a fellow who came for his weekly “refreshments.”

When Mae climbed back in with her icy feet, Trudy yelped. Since she’d stopped crawling all over the bed with morning junk jitters, they both slept in later. Same guy, Mae reported. That goof, Trudy said, in a modest version of the hair-raising temper she got into with tiresome regularity. Dope craving, that was it, but Trudy denied it up and down. So that sweet temper of yours just comes natural? Mae asked. Shut up, Trudy had said.

Leonard wanted to see Mae all the time now, was downright grumpy about how her evenings and weekends filled up with dates, but even he wouldn’t pull a stunt like this for an hour of her time and never during the day. She’d need a crowbar to pry Leonard from his typewriter before 5:00.

Trudy—who seemed to think that quitting the junk had earned her the right to make more demands—had extracted Mae’s promise that she’d tackle the shopping that afternoon. Mae had a shrewd grasp on the complicated system of rationing points and coupons that buffaloed Trudy. But grocery wrangling could soak up half the day or more. Mae, who loathed to hand Trudy any excuse to tap into one of her evil moods, or worse, question the depth of Mae’s loyalty, calculated whether she could put off the shopping. They had enough eggs, bread, and apples, plus an unopened can of Spam to satisfy Trudy for the day. Mae planned to skip eating

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.