Brooklyn Girls Read Free Page A

wallpaper. At the bottom the paper has started to peel, curled up like a little pencil shaving. It’s comforting.
    “Pia!” my mother is shouting. “Why are you not listening? Do we have to do the Skype again?”
    “No, no, I can’t, my Skype is broken,” I say quickly. I can’t handle Skyping with my parents. It’s so damn intense.
    “We are stopping your allowance, effective immediately. No rent money, no credit card for emergencies. You’re on your own.”
    “What? B-but it might take me a while to get another job!” I stammer in panic.
    “Well, the Bank of Mom and Dad is closed unless you come live with us in Zurich and get a job here. That’s the deal.”
    “No way!” I know I sound hysterical, but I can’t help it. “My friends are here! My life is here!”
    “We want you to be safe,” says my mother, in a slightly gentler tone. Suddenly tears rush to my eyes. “We worry. And it seems like you’re only safe when you’re with us.”
    “I am safe.”
    “And we want you to be happy,” she adds.
    “I am happy!” My voice breaks.
    My father interrupts. “This is the deal. We’re vacationing in Palm Beach in exactly two months, via New York. If you’re not in gainful employment by then, we’re taking you back to Zurich with us. That’s the best thing for you.”
    The tears escape my eyes. I know I’ve made some mistakes, but God, I’ve tried to make it up to them. I studied hard, I got into a great college.… It’s never good enough.
    How is it that no one in the world can make me feel as bad as my parents can?
    “Okay, message received,” I say. “I gotta go.”
    I hang up and stare at the curled-up rosebud wallpaper for a few more seconds. Then, almost without thinking, I lick my index finger and try to smooth it down, so it lies flat and perfect against the wall. It bounces right back up again.
    With one party, I’ve destroyed my life in New York City. Before it even began.

 
    CHAPTER 2
     
    When Julia comes back upstairs moments later, pink with fury, my stomach flips over. I hate fighting. And Jules is really good at it. She should have been a lawyer.
    “You destroyed our neighbor’s ceiling,” she snaps. “Destroyed. A piece of plaster fell on his sister’s head this morning. She’s eighty-six-fucking-years old, Pia!”
    “Is she okay? Oh, my God, I can’t—”
    “She’s fine,” says Julia. “It was only a tiny piece. But Vic is pissed .”
    “I’ll pay for it, I promise!” I say. “I have, like, sixteen hundred dollars. He can have all of it.” It’s all I have in the world, and the last of the money from my parents, but I need to convince Julia not to kick me out. “I’m sorry, Julia, I didn’t know it’d get so out of control.”
    “What were you thinking ?”
    “I just … I thought it would be fun, that everyone would have a good time.” I can’t tell her that I was drinking because it was August 26. I never talk about Eddie to anyone. Only Angie knows the story, only Angie saw me that day. “Seriously, Juju, I never meant to hurt anyone … or destroy the old guy’s, I mean Vic’s, ceiling.”
    “Vic and Marie have been here forever . Since long before I was born, or my mom,” says Julia. “They’re like family, okay?”
    Suddenly, I understand. Her mom grew up here, and she died of breast cancer about eight years ago. Her dad has cocooned himself in silent grief ever since, and then her Aunt Jo passed away, so I guess Vic and Marie—and Rookhaven—are sort of a last link to her mom. No wonder she feels so protective.
    “I’ll fix the floor damage,” I say, reaching out for Julia’s hand. She doesn’t resist, which I take as a good sign. “And I’ll get them flowers to say sorry. Today. And I will not let anything bad happen to this house again. I cross my heart.”
    Julia takes a deep breath and leans against the wall, closing her eyes. She looks exhausted, and it’s not just from the party. Her job—trainee in an investment