Mind of My Mind Read Free Page A

mother and child, Em?"
     
    "Yes. You know I will. Poor things."
     
    "Not so poor if I'm successful."
     
    She made a sound of disgust.
     
    He smiled. "I'll be seeing you more often, too, with the girl living next door."
     
    "Well, that's something." She reached out and took one of Doro's hands between her
    own, observing the contrast. His was smooth and soft. The hand of a young man who had
    clearly never done any manual labor. Her hands were claws, hard, skinny, with veins and
    tendons prominent. She began to fill her hands out, smooth them, straighten the long
    fingers until the hands were those of a young woman, attractive in themselves but
    incongruous on the ends of withered, ancient arms.
     
    "I wish the child were a boy instead of a girl," she said. "I'm afraid she isn't going to
    like me much for a while. At least not until she's old enough to see you clearly."
     
    "I didn't want a boy," he said. "I've had trouble with boys in . . . in the special role I
    want her to fill."
     
    "Oh." She wondered how many boy children he had slaughtered as a result of his
    trouble.
     
    "I wanted a girl, and I wanted her to be one of the youngest of her generation of
    actives. Both those factors will help keep her in line. She'll be less likely to rebel against
    my plans for her."
     
    "I think you underestimate young girls," said Emma. She had filled out her arms,
    rounding them, making them slender rather than skinny. Now she raised a hand to her
    face. She passed her fingers over her forehead and down her cheek. The flesh became
    smooth and flawless as she went on speaking. "Although, for this girl's own sake, I hope
    you're not underestimating her."
     
    Doro watched her with the interest he had always shown when she reshaped herself.
    "I can't understand why you spend so much of your time as an old woman," he said.
     
    She cleared her throat. "I am an old woman." She spoke now in a quiet, youthful
    contralto. "And most people are only too glad to leave an ugly old woman alone."
     
    He touched the newly smooth skin of her face, his expression concerned. "You need
    this project, Em. Even though you don't want it. I've left you alone too long."
     
    "Not really." She smiled. "I've finally written the trilogy of novels that I was planning
     

 
    when we lived together last. History. My story. The critics marveled at my realism. My
    work is powerful, compelling. I'm a born storyteller."
     
    He laughed. "Hurry and finish reshaping yourself and I'll give you some more
    material."
     

 
    PART ONE
     
    Chapter One
     
    MARY
     
    I was in my bedroom reading a novel when somebody came banging on the door
    really loud, like the police. I thought it was the police until I got up, looked out the
    window, and saw one of Rina's johns standing there. I wouldn't have bothered to answer,
    but the fool was kicking at the door like he wanted to break it in. I went to the kitchen
    and got one of our small cast-iron skillets—the size just big enough to hold two eggs.
    Then I went to the door. The stupid bastard was drunk.
     
    "Hey," he mumbled. "Where's Rina? Tell Rina I wanna see her."
     
    "Rina's not here, man. Come back around five this evening."
     
    He swayed a little, stared down at me. "I said tell Rina I wanna see her."
     
    "And I said she's not here!" I would have shut the door in his face, but I knew he'd
    just start kicking it again unless he managed to understand what I was saying.
     
    "Not here?"
     
    "You got it."
     
    "Well." He narrowed his eyes a little and sort of peered at me. "How about you?"
     
    "Not me, man." I started to shut the door. I hate these scenes, really. The idiot shoved
    me and the door out of his way and came on in. That's what I get for being short and
    skinny. Ninety-eight pounds. At nineteen, I looked thirteen. Guys got the wrong idea.
     
    "Man, you better get out of here," I warned him. "Come back at five. Rina's the
    whore, not me."
     
    "Maybe it's time for you to learn." He stared at me.