Once Upon a Day: A Novel by Lisa Tucker

Author:Lisa Tucker [Tucker, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, United States, Women's Fiction, Domestic Life
Amazon: B000GCFD18
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2007-05-11T07:00:00+00:00

thirteen

ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, Nancy Baker told Dorothea and Stephen that Jimmy had been pacing his room all morning, waiting for his sister to arrive. He’d remembered something important about his father, he said, though he hadn’t told Nancy what it was.

“I’ll be interested in hearing about this,” Nancy whispered to Stephen, on the way down the hall. “Did I tell you the father sent a twenty-thousand-dollar check and called it a ‘down payment on the bill’? That has to be a first for this place.”

“True,” Stephen said, but he was looking at Dorothea, who was walking about ten feet ahead, obviously eager to get to her brother. He glanced at Nancy. “Any talk of releasing him?”

“I don’t think he’s ready, but if he wanted to go home, we wouldn’t stop him. At this point, it’s his call.”

“Stephen!” Dorothea said, turning back to him and smiling. “Could you please hurry?”

Nancy took a long look at him, but she didn’t say anything. He walked faster to catch up with Dorothea.

Jimmy was looking better every day. All of his stitches were out now, and he was healing fast, as fair-skinned people often did. He smelled of oil paints, as usual; he seemed to spend every free moment in art therapy. Nancy was right about how excited he was. He ran over to Dorothea and slipped his arm through hers. They’d barely sat down together when he said he’d been trying all week to remember what their father was like when they lived in California. “It’s been driving me crazy,” he said, and smiled weakly. “Crazier, at least.”

“I can see why this is so important to you,” Dorothea said, patting his hand. “Stephen explained this to me. He said learning about someone’s past helps you to know them better.”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t want to know Father better. After what I remembered, I don’t care if I ever see him again.”

Her face crumpled. “You can’t possibly mean that.”

“I mean it, Thea. If for no other reason, because he still has the fucking gall to talk about honesty and principles.”

“But Father does believe in those things.”

“No, he’s a liar, and now I can prove it.”

“Oh,” she said, in the smallest voice, barely audible.

Stephen wished he could hold her then, but he knew how she felt about keeping their distance in front of Jimmy. She’d told him she was afraid her brother would feel uncomfortable, even like an outsider, if he knew they were “seriously dating.”

He was listening carefully to see if Dorothea was going to have an anxiety attack. She’d already given up breathing through her nose. Her mouth was open, just a little, but he could hear the effort it was taking to fill her lungs.

“Maybe you should wait on this,” Stephen said to Jimmy. He nodded at Dorothea.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jimmy’s face went even whiter than usual. “I wasn’t thinking about—”

“No,” she said. “I want to hear it.” She panted for a moment. “Please, just tell me all at once.”

“All right. I remembered the way he treated Mom when she had to work.

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