Shem Creek by Dorothea Benton Frank

Author:Dorothea Benton Frank [Frank, Dorothea Benton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2011-04-20T05:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

PAR-TAY TIME

MY house was so quiet that when the phone rang it sounded like a fire alarm. It was after ten o’clock and Lindsey finally called to let me know she had arrived safely. Fred and Patti had picked her up at the Newark Airport and taken her to dinner at Knickerbocker’s, a neighborhood haunt close to her dorm. Her voice crackled with excitement.

“So, I wasn’t really hungry, because I had just eaten with y’all, but I ate anyway.”

“I don’t want to sound like an old poop, but it’s almost midnight! I was getting worried!”

“Mom! It’s only like ten-fifteen or something!”

“Still!”

“Okay, sorry. I should’ve called you when I landed but we were talking and all. Anyway, freshman orientation is on Tuesday and classes don’t start until Wednesday, so tomorrow I’m gonna work in her store and make some di-ne-rrro. Monday, I’m gonna help her do inventory and come back here after dinner. Her store’s closed for Labor Day, right? Hopefully, my roommate, who I pray to God isn’t a raving lunatic, will show up by then and at least I’ll be unpacked and all, which is why I decided to stay here tonight. Patti’s gonna pay me ten dollars an hour! Isn’t that great? Oh! I am so psyched!”

“Yeah! It’s great. How are you getting back and forth to Essex Fells?”

“I’ll take the bus from the Port Authority. No biggie.”

“Lindsey! You be careful! The Port Authority is crawling with perverts and derelicts! It’s filthy! You have to wash the bottom of your shoes!”

“Mom! I’ve been taking the bus back and forth to New York since I was twelve!”

“You have not!”

“Yes, I have! So has Gracie!”

Well, that little revelation took ten years off my life. And, Patti sucking up to Lindsey was making me uncomfortable. Maybe I was a little bit jealous. Who knows? Better yet, who cares? About Patti, that is.

“Are you there? Mom?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about something . . . .”

“What?”

“My thighs. I have to go on a diet.”

“No, you don’t. You’re fine. Most women your age look like, I don’t know, half-dead cows.”

“Great. I feel much better.”

“Stop! Where’s Gracie?”

“Out. She went to the movies with Alex, I think.”

“You think? What do you mean, you think? Mom! You’d better watch her, you know.”

“Oh, honey, she’s fine. But I will tell her you called. Oh, shoot! Do you have a phone yet?”

“Yeah, here’s the number.”

“What’s the deal on computer access?”

“The room is wired for ethernet and I’m just hoping my roommate has a laptop or something. If not, I can use the tech room. There’s a whole IT office and everything. Don’t worry.”

Don’t worry? I had a vision of Lindsey walking across campus after dark and getting killed—how’s that for don’t worry? I took her number and e-mail and she promised to call Gracie Sunday morning. We hung up and I decided to take a bath and go to bed early with a book. The good Lord knew it had been a very long time since I had

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