Mischief and Malice by Berthe Amoss

Author:Berthe Amoss [Amoss, Berthe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781939601469
Publisher: IG Publishing

Nine

Adultery. That was what an affair was. The word wasn’t even mentioned in Dearest. The only place I’d seen it written was in the Ten Commandments, and Sister Maurice always managed to skirt around it in “the examination of conscience” we went through before going to Confession. “Have you had any impure thoughts?” we were supposed to ask ourselves, and you could tell by the looks on everybody’s face that the sixth commandment was number one on their conscience.

I sneaked back through Tom’s yard, hoping Pumpkin wouldn’t start barking. I wasn’t sure I could love a man who’d committed adultery. The moon was full, and clouds raced across it. I heard Pumpkin’s tail thumping on the shed floor; he’d seen and recognized me.

Would Mr. Valerie divorce Eliza if it were true? I didn’t really think so. I’d seen him look at Eliza, and Norma Jean would just have to get used to the fact that her father was madly in love with his wife. But where did that leave me? Why were everybody’s problems easier to figure out than mine?

Pumpkin whined for attention. “Shut up, Pumpkin,” I said, “I’m thinking.” It was hopeless; I couldn’t compete with anyone as sophisticated and gorgeous as Eliza. I couldn’t even get anywhere with boys my age. Supposed Tom said something to Leonard about the dance, something like, “What do you mean by dancing with my girlfriend?”

Leonard might answer, “I just danced with her because I felt sorry for her.” My cheeks burned with shame at the thought.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone dart through the hedge between Tom’s and Three Twenty. I figured it must be Louis going over to help Mr. Valerie with my bed, so I followed him through the hedge to the kitchen door of Three Twenty. It was open, and I went in. I didn’t see anyone, but I heard Mr. Valerie and Eliza talking to Louis in the dining room. I ran up the familiar back steps to the upstairs hall. Norma Jean’s door was closed, and I found myself next to the attic door. I opened it a crack and looked up the steps. The feeling that something there was waiting for me was strong. I remembered it so clearly I could hear Aunt Eveline saying again, “Adelaide, I don’t want you in the attic. There are loose floor boards and all kinds of things that could hurt you.” I put my foot deliberately on the first step and closed the door carefully behind me.

I tiptoed up the steps to the top. The attic was huge, with dark recesses packed full of strange-shaped boxes. I remembered the old broken grandfather clock with its ominous bong that had echoed as you walked by it. Now, standing in its place was a strange wire figure with an hourglass shape. Draped with fabric, it was the same size as Eliza, and I had the feeling it was an extra sense of hers spying on me. I hurried past the wire model and saw my homey brass bed and mattress in a corner waiting for me.

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