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"I didn't stop glaring at him and he pointed his thick, crooked right forefinger at me.

"'Your momma's right about you. You're too sassy. We'll deal with it later,' he said and went to the bedroom to start unpacking and moving in."

I paused and looked at the other girls. Each in her eyes showed she understood what a low moment that was for me and my little brother. I didn't even have to ask, but I did.

"How would you like that to happen to you?"

Doctor Marlowe's face brightened with interest and excitement as she looked at them and waited.

"They make decisions about our lives as if we were nothing more than ornaments on Christmas trees," Jade said, her eyes darkening as she fixed on her own thoughts.

"My daddy never even told me he was seeing someone else, much less look for my opinion about it," Misty said.

Cat remained quiet, but her eyes filled with a cold look of fear that made me wonder again how different her life had been and what troubles she had seen, troubles so bad they had stolen her voice and her smile.

"Yeah, well despite what Aaron and Momma threatened, Momma didn't say anything more about it to me that night. She and Aaron went to their celebration and came home very late. Their door was closed when I got up the next morning. Rodney and I had our breakfast and left without seeing them, which was fine with me.

"Aaron supposedly worked for a used-car dealer, but I always thought he did something else on the side, something illegal. After he moved in, there were lots of phone calls for him at all hours of the night, and he would always talk too low for me to hear.

"Right from the start, I was never comfortable with him in the house and especially uncomfortable when he was there without Momma. Most of the time, he was out or with Momma at One-Eyed Bill's, but when he wasn't, he made both me and Rodney nervous and Rodney would just retreat from the living room and stay in our bedroom. It wasn't a big apartment, probably not much bigger than this office, and we had only one bathroom for all of us to share.

"But I want to say right away that he never tried anything with me. I know that's the first thing everyone's supposed to think, but he didn't and he had his reasons, which he came out and told me once."

"I'd like to hear about that," Jade said.

"I thought you might."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she fired back.

We stared at each other for a moment and then she smiled and I just laughed and shook my head. Cat's eyes filled with confusion and she looked at Misty.

"Maybe after dealing with us you oughta rethink the use of the word crazy, Doctor Marlowe," she said. Doctor Marlowe laughed.

"The only place I approve of its use is in the Patsy Cline song," she said.

"Who's Patsy Cline?" Misty asked and looked from me to Jade.

"She's a country singer, or was, right?" Jade asked Doctor Marlowe.

"Yes."

"There is other music besides hip-hop and rock, girls."

"I know who she is," Cat said. "My father listened to her music, but my mother threw all of his stuff out of the house after he was gone, just like Misty's mother did, except my mother even got rid of the bedsheets, blankets and pillowcases he had used."

No one spoke. We could hear footsteps in the hallway, a door close and then the sound of a vacuum cleaner Sophie had started.

"So, are we going to hear more about Aaron Marks or not?" Jade asked impatiently.

"He's not that interesting to hear about," I said, "but yeah, I'll tell you more about Aaron.

"I'll tell you more about it all."

5

Early one evening about two months later, I gave

Rodney dinner and then decided to take a bath. I had my portable CD going with my earphones on and I didn't hear Aaron come home. He rushed into the apartment and moments later, he was in the bathroom."

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