Rain Dance by Joy DeKok

Author:Joy DeKok [DeKok, Joy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-05-07T04:00:00+00:00

After I’d told him I was pregnant, Dad had dropped off a boxful of my old baby things. I wondered if Eve remembered them.

While shaking out and refolding tiny dresses, bonnets, and buntings, I found an old shoebox of photographs. Those on top showed Mother and Dad gazing into each other’s eyes, their look so intimate I felt like a gawker. Beneath them I found one of a young Eve holding a small girl child—a copy of herself. My smile beamed at the camera.

Memories lingered at the edges of my mind. As a young mother Eve had spent her time raising me. We did normal things. We went to the park, the zoo, and on picnics. Looking at the photos, I thought I remembered her laughter—as clear and sweet as the tinkle of a small wind chime.

Next I found a picture of Eve holding an infant I was certain couldn’t be me. She didn’t smile into this baby’s face. Her arms held it loosely. Curiosity drew me to the unknown child. My excellent memory failed me. I didn’t recall this baby and couldn’t figure out why.

I flipped through more memorabilia. Another photo showed Eve on a lounge chair, with me next to her in a small wading pool. I knew that was about the time things changed.

After my grandparents died in a car accident, we moved into their mansion. Dad worked longer hours, and Eve spent more time reading. We no longer went to the park. A nanny, housekeeper, and cook took care of me and the house while my mother went to meetings and marches.

If anyone ever experienced a conversion, Eve did. She preached feminism to anyone in listening range. Her clothes went from cotton pedal pushers to linen slacks and silk blouses. She took speech lessons and practiced for hours in front of me, delivering her message of equality and women’s rights. The only time she smiled was for campaign photos.

When I turned seven, I was enrolled in a private school and Eve ran for office for the first time. She won election as state representative and took me to the State House with her to sit in on the proceedings. The big words and long speeches bored me. I fell asleep.

“You embarrassed me today,” she told me coldly when we got home. “I will not bring you back until you can pay attention. You behaved in an immature, rude manner.”

I’m just a kid, I wanted to protest, but the words never reached my lips. I didn’t understand why I should care, but I knew that from then on I’d better. Disappointing Mother was bad. I decided I’d try hard not to let her down again.

Most of the time I failed.

When Mother was elected to the Senate, we developed new habits. In her absence Dad and I ate supper in front of the TV, rented silly movies, ate popcorn, and told jokes. At home, Eve kept me sheltered from friends as much as she could. Only people whose influence furthered political and social status gained entrance to our exclusive lives.

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.