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"Because I know who you really are," she replied.
14
TOGETHER AGAIN
MY POUNDING HEART TOOK MY BREATH AWAY, AND FOR A moment all I could do was speak in a loud whisper.
"Come in and sit down," I said. Fern glanced at Jimmy, who looked absolutely stunned, and then walked quickly to the sofa in the sitting room of our suite. She unbuttoned her coat, scooped the sock hat off her head, and shook out her hair. I sat down, but Jimmy remained standing, his eyes locked on Fern. From the way he stared, I knew he saw Momma in her eyes and hair, Momma in her gestures. Some of my own precious memories of Momma came rushing back. They brought tears to my eyes.
"It's pretty here," Fern said, gazing around. "A friend of mine, Melissa Holt, stayed here once with her father, and I came to visit her. Her father took us both to dinner and then to the circus! Her parents are divorced, but her mother has a new husband," she continued. "Melissa hates him. She wants to run away from home and live with her real father," she concluded.
Her lack of inhibition and her obvious comfort and ease in our presence brought a small smile to Jimmy's lips. He finally sat down and folded his hands in his lap.
"How did you
find out the truth about yourself and us?" Jimmy asked.
"I snuck a peek at Clayton's important papers one day and found my birth certificate and the adoption papers," she replied with a shrug. "I didn't know I would find those things. I don't snoop," she said, turning more to me, "but I was bored doing tons and tons of stupid homework and just went exploring."
"Weren't you afraid your parents would find you looking into their things and be upset?" I asked.
"Leslie was at her studio, as usual, and Clayton was at a dinner meeting with some clients."
"They left you home alone?" Jimmy asked.
"Uh-huh. They do that a lot, because Clayton has to go somewhere and Leslie is supposed to come right home from her studio, but she gets so busy with her paintings, she forgets the time. Sometimes Leslie even forgets to eat! She forgot Clayton's birthday, too, and mine, and last week she forgot she left Snoogles in her bedroom, and he wet the carpet in three places."
"Snoogles?" I asked.
"Their poodle," Jimmy guessed.
"Leslie named him Snoogles, but Clayton named me Kelly Ann after his mother," Fern said. "She was dead before Clayton and Leslie adopted me."
"Do you always call your parents by their first names?" I asked.
"They're not really my parents," she replied, her dark eyes bright with anger. "So I don't care."
"You mean you started calling them by their first names after you made that discovery?" I pursued.
"Oh, no, I always called them by their first names. It's what they wanted. They're . . ." She paused to search for the term. As she did so, she ran her tongue over her lips, a gesture that widened Jimmy's smile. It was something Momma Longchamp used to do, also without being aware of it, whenever she was deep in thought. "Progressive parents," she finally concluded. "They have loads and loads of these books on how to bring up a child and have studied up on it. I guess it's mostly Clayton, though. Leslie didn't read the books. She just listens to whatever Clayton says.
"Clayton's always complaining about her," she continued, "complaining about her missing appointments or being late or not looking after the house and me.
"That's one of his favorite complaints," she added, widening her eyes. "They even had a fight about it after you left today."
"What sort of fight?" Jimmy asked.
"He blamed her for what happened at school and told her she doesn't take enough interest in my education," she responded.
"What did happen at school?" I asked.
"Jason Malamud's science project burned up in the lab." "What?" I looked with concern at Jimmy.
"Well, it was something electrical, and it shorted out or something, only he claimed I did it, and the teacher believed him because he's the teacher's pet."
"Did you do it?" I asked. She returned my gaze firmly.
"Absolutely not. And I'm tired of being blamed for things that other people do," she moaned. "I hate that school. It's full of . . . spoiled rich kids."
