Her Sister's Tattoo by Ellen Meeropol

Author:Ellen Meeropol
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Hen Press
Published: 2019-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Somewhere in the back of her brain, Esther heard the car door slam, but it didn’t register, not really, and she kept writing until she looked up to see Jake standing next to the desk. With a quick intake of breath, she spread her left hand over the notebook page, covering her words. He picked up the photograph leaning against the base of the lamp.

“You’re writing to her?” Jake’s voice got quiet and precise when he was upset. “And mooning over her picture? I can’t believe it.”

Esther tried to explain. “With the sun behind us, our faces are in shadow and you can’t tell our hair color is different. We look like twins.”

“Why on Earth would you want to look like her?”

Esther closed the notebook and pressed it against her chest. “She’s my sister.”

“Yeah, and she tried to ruin your life.”

“That’s not true. She just tried to live hers. And anyway, I want Molly and Oliver to know they have an aunt and a cousin.”

“That’s self-destructive, sweetheart. That chapter of our lives is over. Besides,” Jake said as he turned away, “you promised.” He put his arms around Molly, who stood alone in the middle of the kitchen. “Let’s check out Mr. Rogers.”

Did she ever actually promise? And even if she had, how could Jake be right about this, about never telling their kids about Rosa, when it felt so wrong?

She stashed the notebook in the back of the bottom desk drawer and stared out at the meadow. The old glass was wavy, distorting the view, making the marsh hawk waver in flight. She had caught something, a mouse or a vole, most likely. The crows, three of them now, were dive-bombing her luncheon.

“Esther?” Mama called from the living room, her voice faltering. “Would you make me a cup of tea?”

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