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But now, Powell’s interest in her renewed her confidence. She wouldn’t have to depend on her parents much longer. She wouldn’t have to feel guilty for living after Tamera’s death any longer. But she wasn’t completely insensitive. “One.”
“Where did Tamera die?”
She sucked in a sharp breath. This wasn’t the question she’d been expecting. “What?” She clenched her trembling fingers together at her lower back.
“At the risk of violating my one condition, I’ll refrain from asking again.”
“Why would you want to know something like that?”
“Because I wonder if some of my… innate fears get dredged up when things happen. It makes me think that I don’t have it together as well as I thought I did.”
“Innate fears?”
He let out a sigh. “Tamera was a stalker, Maylis.”
“And you think I’m a stalker?”
“No! But there were other things. And, if you must know, I almost quit the theater program at SMU. But she’d disappeared. For a long time, maybe even now, I still find myself looking over my shoulder, not sure what stunt she was going to pull next.”
Maylis’s shoulders fell. She went over to the couch, sat down, and pulled her blanket up, hugging it to her chest for comfort. “An asylum. She was committed when she was still in school. She hated it. She made several attempts on her life, and finally outsmarted one of her nurses. However she managed it, Tamera got hold of a lot of pills, and made it back to her room. They said she never woke up the next morning.”
“It wasn’t the pregnancy that killed her?”
“No. It was her mental illness that eventually killed her.” Her head shot up, and she glared at him. “You can go now. I’ve answered your one question plus a bonus one.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
The door latched behind him, and she curled up on her tiny loveseat and soaked the blanket with her tears.
Some hours later, Maylis’s phone blared, startling her from her awkward position on her couch. She still wore her boots. How sad and pathetic was that?
“Mom?”
“Hello, honey. The show went well?”
“It went very well.”
“That’s fine, dear. Just fine. So, you’ll be coming home then? Your father misses you.” Her parents’ own mental health seemed to deteriorate further with each phone call. Maylis knew her only shot in helping them was to pursue her current course. When the time came, she would be there to see them settled, even if it meant not living under their roof as they so dearly wanted.
“I miss him too, Mom. But, I really do have good news.”
“Not another show, dear. So soon?”
“I’ve been invited to audition in Louisville. There’s a new Austen production they want me for.”
“But that’s miles away from Bloomington. Even Chicago.”
“Yes. It’s not like I can’t fly out to see you.” Maylis had much practice in keeping her parents calm and on topic.
“Your father isn’t going to like this.”
“I suppose not.”
“With Tamera at the asylum.”
“Mother, Tamera is gone now,” she reminded her gently.
“Right. Yes.” Her voice shook, on the verge of soft sobbing that would soon follow. “We need you here, honey.”
