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Her mother furrowed her eyebrows. "That wasn't in fourth grade."
How stupid! thought Allie. Of course it wasn't. Allie found herself getting increasingly nervous, and as she did, that hand kept trembling more and more. "No, it wasn't," Allie said. "But sometimes Allie would confide in me, even years after she had left my class."
Whoo! Lucky save. Allie lifted the water to her mouth, and noticed that both her hands were trembling now.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, yes, fine. Not to worry." Then the glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the hardwood floor. It was the blasted cat woman! Allie was losing control. How long had she been in her body now? Three hours? Four? Quickly she bent over to pick up the broken glass, but her hands were shaking too much. "How clumsy of me!"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Now they were both on their knees picking up the broken glass, and when Allie looked to her mother, Allie found herself suddenly hissing through gritted teeth.
"Help me--she's stolen my body!"
Her mother just stared at her, not sure how to react. "What did you say?"
Allie was slipping on the ice again. The cat woman was not only awake, but she knew! Allie had to remain in control at all costs. She grappled with the woman inside her mind, forcing her down, and said, her voice a strange warble. "You'll have to forgive me. I'm prone to sudden outbursts. Tourette's Syndrome, you know. Some days are better than others."
Then came the blessed sound of a phone ringing.
"I should get that," Allie's mother said, a little coolly. "Leave the glass, I'll take care of it."
She crossed the room to pick up the phone, while Allie buried her face in her hands.
Stay out of this! she silently told the cat woman. You'll get your stupid body back!
--Who are you? What do you want from me?--
It's not your business! Allie bore down and pushed her deep again.
Her mother was on the phone now. Allie now sat on her shaking hands, and forced a fake smile as her mother turned back to her.
"Yes ... I see ..." her mother said into the phone. "Is that so? ... Don't worry, I'll take care of it... . I said don't worry ... I know ... me, too."
She hung up, and came back toward Allie, but she didn't sit down. "That was my husband," she said. "He just got off the phone with Sarah Wintuck, who's still teaching fourth grade in Cape May, New Jersey."
The slippery ice beneath Allie's feet became the edge of a glacier calving into the sea. She was in freefall now, and deep inside her the cat woman was screaming to be released.
"I don't know who you are, but I want you to leave," her mother said coldly.
"I ... I just ..." But what could she say? What could she tell her that would make any sense? "I have a message from your daughter!"
The hatred in her mother's eyes was so potent, Allie had to look away. "I want you out of my house!" she said. "Now!" And she didn't wait for her to leave. She grabbed Allie by her skinny cat woman arm, and pulled her toward the door. In a moment she was over the threshold again, outside the door, about to be hurled out of her parents' lives.
"Please!" Allie said.
"Help me!" shouted the cat woman.
"You think I don't know about you people!" said her mother. "You prey on people's hopes, telling them what they want to hear, and then you rob them blind! Well, you picked the wrong family to scam!"
Her mother's hand was on the door, ready to slam it, and Allie couldn't allow that. She had to say something to make her understand.
"They were arguing about the radio!"
And it stopped her mother cold. "What did you say?"
"When the accident happened, they were arguing about the radio--he turned it down, and she turned it back up. But it wasn't his fault! She wants you both to know that the accident wasn't his fault!"
