Twelve Read Free Page B

felt extremely sad about Laetitia, and morbidly fascinated as well. Did she cry out? Was it quick? Did her father feel a horrible bump and know immediately that his world had changed?
    â€œImagine how horrible you would feel if you took a life,” Mom went on. “Or if you maimed someone. Imagine how horrible you would feel if you caused an accident and a ten-year-old boy fell into a coma and never came out. It happens every day!”
    â€œWhat ten-year-old boy?” Ty asked.
    â€œOkay, Mom, we get the point,” Sandra said. I noticed with interest that she was gripping the steering wheel more tightly than usual.
    â€œ What ten-year-old boy?” Ty asked again. “Tell that story!”
    â€œCould everybody please stop talking?” Sandra said. “Or I’m going to have a wreck for real!”
    â€œSandra, if you think you’re going to have a wreck, then pull over,” Mom said. “You should never drive when you’re incapacitated. Just last week a man had a heart attack in his car and killed four teenagers.”
    â€œMom!” Sandra complained.
    Mom settled into her seat with the air of someone who has spoken the truth, and too bad if it was painful. “You need to be careful, that’s all I’m saying.”
    On the escalator that led to the second floor of the mall, Mom glanced at her watch and said, “You know, Winnie, while we’re here we could take care of some other shopping. It really is time we got you a—”
    â€œLa la la la la,” I said to drown her out. “Look! Isn’t that a cute bunny, Ty? Isn’t that a cute bunny?”
    â€œTime she got a what?” Sandra asked.
    Ty regarded me with disdain. “I’m not a baby,” he said, “so you don’t have to talk to me like that. And there isn’t any bunny.”
    â€œIn the toy store,” I said to Ty. And to Sandra, “ Nothing .” I glared at Mom.
    Mom widened her eyes, like I’m sorry, I didn’t know . But she should have. Nobody wants to go bra shopping with her scoffing older sister.
    At Claire’s Boutique, the saleslady set me loose in the rows and rows of sparkling earrings. She said not to pick danglies, but that I should be sure to get fourteen-karat-gold posts for my very first pair. She recommended delicate gold balls.
    â€œToo boring,” I said.
    "Too WASPy,” Sandra said.
    â€œHuh?” I said.
    "WASPy,” Sandra said. “As in a White Anglo Saxon Protestant?”
    I still didn’t get it.
    â€œHoity-toity rich-girl stuff, like going to the country club and having a tennis date with Muffy. ‘ Oh, dahling, you look so adorable in your precious gold earrings .’ ”
    â€œSandra,” Mom said.
    â€œI like these,” I said, selecting a pair of tiny gold flowers with pale blue stones in the middle. “Will they work?”
    â€œThey’ll do just fine,” the saleslady said. I wondered if she was WASPy, and decided she was. She had a big bust and sensible shoes. Her own earrings were prim gold bows.
    She used a pen to dot both my ears, then gave me a mirror so that I could check the placement.
    â€œLooks good,” I said. Jitters started up in my stomach.
    She loaded the gun with earring number one, and pop ! In it went, just like that. There was a pinching sensation, but it honestly didn’t hurt at all.
    â€œCan I do the other one?” Ty asked.
    â€œ No! ” the saleslady and I said at the same time. She repeated the procedure for earring number two, and then she handed me the mirror once again.
    â€œThere you go,” she said. “What do you think?”
    I turned my head from side to side. Glints of light danced off the earrings.
    â€œGreat,” I said.
    â€œWhat does she need to do about upkeep?” Mom asked. “That is part of our agreement, that she’ll be responsible for taking care of them. Should she swab them with