The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes by Kelly Easton

Author:Kelly Easton [Easton, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-89256-1
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2009-06-09T04:00:00+00:00

Bad apples

As Liberty was dragged over the river by the two scoundrels, Sal was in a state of confusion. Her daughter had flown off the roof. Her husband had disappeared.

There was no one to cook her meals, but it didn’t matter. Sal missed Liberty so much, she wasn’t hungry.

Nor could she focus on the TV, whose voices only reminded her that she was alone. Without the TV blasting, she did something she hadn’t done in a very long time: She thought.

I should go look for her too, she thought, but I can’t manage out there. This was something Mal had told her, not only in her waking hours, but also, unbeknownst to her, in her sleep.

For the twelve years they’d been married, he had suggested to Sal day and night that she was incompetent, incapable, stupid, and lame.

Without Mal around to drill this into her head, though, Sal was beginning to have a sliver of doubt.

She stood up, then sat down again.

She thought about the question that nagged her day and night. Am I a terrible mother?

An image of Libby came to mind. Her girl. Her daughter. It was that day she was asking to go out, the tears rising in her eyes.

Is she having a terrible childhood?

Certainly, Sal’s own childhood had been better than Liberty’s. She couldn’t deny that. She went to school and to parties. She went to stores, parks, soda fountains, and movies.

Perhaps you’ve heard this saying: One bad apple spoils the whole bunch. It means that a bruised and rotting apple ruins the rest of the apples in the bag or bowl.

Sal had been a happy, albeit shy, girl, prone to fits of giggles and bursts of song. When she had her daughter, she’d delighted in caring for her and teaching her games. After years of being married to a rotten apple, though, she had gradually become one herself.

Furthermore, Mal had convinced her that the world was dangerous. Fear is a powerful tool of control. It was what Mal did for a living. Fear was one reason that now, Sal didn’t answer the persistent knock on the front door. Who could it be? She sat up and listened. She covered her ears until the knocking stopped. “Who is it?” she finally called out, but, of course, they were gone.

What if it’s Libby? But Libby would know I’m not allowed to answer the door. She would come in.

Will I ever see Libby again?

The question was too painful to contemplate. As if her mind were a radio, Sal changed the station and pondered the chicken instead.

It had appeared that morning, after she’d finally escaped the door frame. Clucking, it had teetered across the living room floor, then settled on a patch of carpet. It looked like it would lay an egg any second.

The first thought, Sal had was: FRIED CHICKEN! One of her favorite foods. But then she remembered that she wasn’t hungry anymore, and that she didn’t know how to cook, let alone pluck a chicken.

Then she thought, A mutant chicken from Mars.

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