“I intend to quit school.”
“What?”
“I’ve been thinking more and more about Daddy and our business ever since I began studying the paperwork in his office. He needs me now, especially now. As I’ve said, Uncle Perry is in his own world and of no help when it comes to administrative matters.”
“Quit? But everyone says you will be the valedictorian.”
“How would something like that compare to what I can do for Daddy? Do you think I’m that selfish, that egotistical?”
“No, but won’t he be very upset?”
“In the beginning, but once he sees how valuable I can be to him, he’ll change his mind.” She looked up the stairs. “With Mother a real burden now, he needs me more than ever.”
She stared up silently.
“He should have left for work already,” she whispered. “She’s dragging him down.”
I stood there, shocked and confused by her words. Suddenly, she turned to me, looking as if she thought I had been spying on her or something.
“Get moving. You’ll miss the bus!”
I hurried out, my heart thumping even before I started to run down the driveway. The things she had just told me, especially about her quitting school, were too shocking to put aside, even when I got on the bus and the girls were jabbering with exciting news about the upcoming school party and Billy Stanton, a boy in my class, getting into a car accident last night. He wasn’t hurt, but he had been drinking, and he had missed a turn and gone crashing into the wall at a gas station. The chatter was finally too overwhelming to ignore.
At the beginning of my last class of the day, my teacher was given a note that I should go directly to the general office at the bell. I knew that was for Cassie’s schoolwork. Of course, I wondered why she even wanted it if she was really going to quit school to work with Daddy. Maybe she was just fantasizing, I thought. Maybe she didn’t mean it.
She was right about Mrs. Whitman. As soon as she saw me, she wanted
to know if anything was wrong at home. I did as Cassie commanded and stared at her silently. It obviously unnerved her. She handed Cassie’s work to me and turned away quickly. I smiled to myself and hurried to make the bus. I can learn so much from Cassie, I thought. No matter how mean to me she seems to be sometimes, I should remember that. Few of my friends had an older brother or sister even willing to help them as much as Cassie was willing to help me.
Overall, it had been another good day for me. The friendliness I had felt the day before had continued in school. Kent was now pressuring me to meet him at the mall movie theater on Friday night. I didn’t want to use Mother’s condition as any sort of excuse, but more important, I really did want to meet him. I still felt guilty about the way I had behaved at Eddie’s party. I told Kent I would try.
“Try hard,” he said.
“What about Megan?” I asked.
“Megan? Megan who?” he replied, and I laughed.
I couldn’t remember when I had felt better about myself and the school. This was why I had hesitated when Daddy had suggested he might put us in a private school. Now, if Mother just improved and we got back to where we had been as a family, life would be perfect.
The chatter on the bus ride home was just as loud and excited as it had been on the way to school. At least four of my girlfriends wanted to call me in the evening. I felt as if I had been woken out of a Rip Van Winkle sleep and was finally in this world. With a bounce in my step and a smile on my face, I hurried home from the bus stop, eager to see how Mother was doing. Cassie seemed to be waiting for me at the door.
“How is she?” I asked immediately.
“Resting comfortably. Dr. Moffet came by during his lunch hour. Daddy told him about Mrs. Bledsoe’s abrupt departure.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Mother’s problems are now more psychological than physical, anyway, so it wasn’t important whether Mrs. Bledsoe was here or not, considering the good job I’m doing.”
“Psychological?”
“Exactly. Just as I told you, she’s never going to be the same.”
I felt my heart deflate. “Never the same? What does that mean?”
“We don’t know yet, Semantha.”
“Well, what does Dr. Moffet say to do?”