she had enough money to eat in the poshest places.
"Only if you go to Newark," Sherry shot back.
When Frank stopped at a stop sign, he took longer than usual look to the left. By the time he looked to the right, he had wiped the grin from his face.
They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, but Elena wasn't going to allow a little snip like Sherry to have the last word. "And what does your father do?"
"I don't know," Sherry said truthfully. "I do not know my father."
"Oh, in other words, you are an illegitimate little bastard."
"Elena, that was unkind," Mark protested.
Sherry let Elena know she was up to answering her catty remark. "Meow. Do you hiss, scratch and bite, too?"
Frank's hoot of laughter became, "Whoa!" as he jammed on the brakes when a doe with two half-grown fawns ran across the road.
They rode in silence for a while until Jan asked, "Do you want to come to dinner, too, Sherry?"
"No. I have my own tuna but thanks for the offer. I didn't sleep well after that storm went through last night." She wasn't about to admit that her lack of sleep was because of the discomfort of sleeping on the floor. "I plan to rest up this afternoon. After all, it's Sunday."
"We'll see you at milking time," Frank said as she got out of the car.
"I'll be there." She waved to Jan and went to the breezeway door. By the time she had the key in the lock, Frank had already backed out on the road and was headed for home. After changing to her favorite hot pink tee shirt and denim shorts, she looked through her pantry to find something for lunch. Selecting a can of ravioli, she scooped the contents into the white dish she had bought at the dollar store the day before.
After she ate, she went out the back door and walked around the yard in her bare feet. "This grass needs mowed," she mused. She would talk to Frank about it tomorrow. The flower beds were woefully untended. Even so, the chrysanthemums were in bud. Among the flowers she found a perfectly egg-shaped rock that had remnants of paint on it. She carried it to the porch and laid it beside the door. Later she would wash it and paint it like an Easter egg to add a little color to her new home.
She went back inside to take the mystery she was reading out of her pile of belongings and lay down on her blankets to read. When she tired of the hard floor, she got her bag of potato chips and went out to the front porch where she perched at the top of the steps.
Mark drove by in his Suburban and tooted the horn. Sherry waved. Elena waved, too, but Sherry didn't miss her middle finger sticking up. "You, too," Sherry said. She closed her potato chip bag and went back inside where she lay down for a nap.
It was almost four o'clock when she woke up hungry. A peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich and powdered milk mixed with water in an empty juice bottle was sufficient to hold her until suppertime.
At a quarter to five she walked over to the farm where she found Frank and Jan already preparing to do the milking. She joined in the work.
They were half finished when Mark walked in the barn still dressed in his white shirt, gray trousers and shiny black shoes. He went up to Sherry, put his hands on her shoulders and leaned to kiss her. Her reaction was swift. She slapped his face.
"Ow! That hurt."
She stepped back out of his reach. "That'll teach you to mess with a street-smart kid from Newark."
Mark cracked up. Because of his laughter, he stuttered, "Do...do you hiss, scratch and bite, too?"
"You better believe it. With a couple karate chops and kicks thrown in for good measure."
"Karate? You? I'll bet you don't weigh a hundred pounds."
"One hundred and six," she told him. "Where I lived a girl needed to know how to protect herself. The only time I needed to use it was on a man about your size. When I left him, he was on his knees moaning with his hands over a particularly vulnerable part of the male anatomy."
"Mark, why did you do that?" Jan asked.
He shrugged. "If I'm
"Only if you go to Newark," Sherry shot back.
When Frank stopped at a stop sign, he took longer than usual look to the left. By the time he looked to the right, he had wiped the grin from his face.
They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, but Elena wasn't going to allow a little snip like Sherry to have the last word. "And what does your father do?"
"I don't know," Sherry said truthfully. "I do not know my father."
"Oh, in other words, you are an illegitimate little bastard."
"Elena, that was unkind," Mark protested.
Sherry let Elena know she was up to answering her catty remark. "Meow. Do you hiss, scratch and bite, too?"
Frank's hoot of laughter became, "Whoa!" as he jammed on the brakes when a doe with two half-grown fawns ran across the road.
They rode in silence for a while until Jan asked, "Do you want to come to dinner, too, Sherry?"
"No. I have my own tuna but thanks for the offer. I didn't sleep well after that storm went through last night." She wasn't about to admit that her lack of sleep was because of the discomfort of sleeping on the floor. "I plan to rest up this afternoon. After all, it's Sunday."
"We'll see you at milking time," Frank said as she got out of the car.
"I'll be there." She waved to Jan and went to the breezeway door. By the time she had the key in the lock, Frank had already backed out on the road and was headed for home. After changing to her favorite hot pink tee shirt and denim shorts, she looked through her pantry to find something for lunch. Selecting a can of ravioli, she scooped the contents into the white dish she had bought at the dollar store the day before.
After she ate, she went out the back door and walked around the yard in her bare feet. "This grass needs mowed," she mused. She would talk to Frank about it tomorrow. The flower beds were woefully untended. Even so, the chrysanthemums were in bud. Among the flowers she found a perfectly egg-shaped rock that had remnants of paint on it. She carried it to the porch and laid it beside the door. Later she would wash it and paint it like an Easter egg to add a little color to her new home.
She went back inside to take the mystery she was reading out of her pile of belongings and lay down on her blankets to read. When she tired of the hard floor, she got her bag of potato chips and went out to the front porch where she perched at the top of the steps.
Mark drove by in his Suburban and tooted the horn. Sherry waved. Elena waved, too, but Sherry didn't miss her middle finger sticking up. "You, too," Sherry said. She closed her potato chip bag and went back inside where she lay down for a nap.
It was almost four o'clock when she woke up hungry. A peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich and powdered milk mixed with water in an empty juice bottle was sufficient to hold her until suppertime.
At a quarter to five she walked over to the farm where she found Frank and Jan already preparing to do the milking. She joined in the work.
They were half finished when Mark walked in the barn still dressed in his white shirt, gray trousers and shiny black shoes. He went up to Sherry, put his hands on her shoulders and leaned to kiss her. Her reaction was swift. She slapped his face.
"Ow! That hurt."
She stepped back out of his reach. "That'll teach you to mess with a street-smart kid from Newark."
Mark cracked up. Because of his laughter, he stuttered, "Do...do you hiss, scratch and bite, too?"
"You better believe it. With a couple karate chops and kicks thrown in for good measure."
"Karate? You? I'll bet you don't weigh a hundred pounds."
"One hundred and six," she told him. "Where I lived a girl needed to know how to protect herself. The only time I needed to use it was on a man about your size. When I left him, he was on his knees moaning with his hands over a particularly vulnerable part of the male anatomy."
"Mark, why did you do that?" Jan asked.
He shrugged. "If I'm
Similar Books
The Only Game in the Galaxy
Paul Collins
Spring Fire
Vin Packer
American Buffalo
David Mamet
At My Mother's Knee
Paul O'Grady
Bombshell
Mia Bloom
The Thorn of Dentonhill
Marshall Ryan Maresca
Arrow of God
Chinua Achebe
Stalemate (The Red Gambit Series)
Colin Gee
