Sam's Light by Valerie Sherrard

Author:Valerie Sherrard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2004-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I hadn’t expected to have all this guilt over that stupid doll, but Jessie’s heartbreak was getting harder and harder to take. More than once, I wished I’d never hid Penelope in Cassie’s carriage. I even started wondering how I might be able to get it back. Then, something happened that made it even worse.

It was the next Wednesday evening. Jessie had gone off to bed — without even arguing — and Mom and Dad called me into the living room.

“We’ve been thinking about this whole thing with Wayne,” Mom said, “and we were wondering if maybe we weren’t a bit too harsh.”

She went on then, telling me that they’d decided they hadn’t been fair about the whole thing.

“Naturally, we don’t approve of what happened a few weeks back, but Wayne is your best friend,” she said.

“Has been for years,” Dad said, nodding.

“Yes, and, well, we’re sorry for taking such a hard line about it. So, you can let him know that he’s welcome here again, though we don’t expect a repeat of that episode.”

“Anyway, I’m sure the two of you have learned from the experience,” Dad added.

“You know,” Mom went on, “seeing how distraught poor Jessie has been over her doll’s disappearance kind of opened my eyes.”

I looked at her questioningly, wondering how the two things were related.

“I realized that if she was that upset over losing a doll, it must be a hundred times worse for you to lose a friend.”

I could hardly believe my ears. They were letting me hang out with Wayne again partly because I’d gotten rid of Penelope, though, of course, they didn’t know that.

“Well?” Mom was looking at me quizzically. “Aren’t you happy about it?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I mumbled. I felt like the biggest lowlife ever. “Thanks.”

“I was just telling Mona today how important friendship is. Mona, I said, a true friend is too precious to just throw away, especially for a man like Parnell.”

It took me a few seconds to realize that she had crossed over into her soap opera world again. It was the first time I could remember her saying she talked to the characters. I glanced at Dad, to see if he found it scary too, but he didn’t seem to realize what was going on.

“Those people aren’t real, Mom,” I said quietly.

She gave me a sharp glance.

“I mean, you can’t actually talk to the characters on TV.”

“I know that,” she said with a weak smile. “I’m just giving you an example.”

I shrugged, but I still thought it was kind of creepy. In spite of what she’d said, it was like she didn’t always have a clear line drawn between reality and what went on in those stupid soaps.

It was still early, and Dad told me I could drop over to Wayne’s place for a while if I wanted, but I’d worked that day and had to be at the shop at nine the next morning too. I decided I’d just turn in. I’d just crawled into bed and picked up the book I was reading when Mom knocked on my door.

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