“Look, I’m tired, Aunt Lucy. If you’re still at the hospital when I go there after school, I’ll see you. Roxy will be with me, too.”
“She will? I . . . don’t think I’ll be there that long. I have to get back to prepare for a Pentagon charity ball.”
“Have a good trip, coming and going,” I said, and hung up.
There was still a good possibility that she could run into Roxy at the hospital. I smiled to myself, imagining the look on her face if she did. It was practically the only amusing thing that I had thought of in days. I debated returning Chastity’s call. I even considered her offer to come over to stay with me but decided against it. I didn’t have the emotional strength to put up with her right now, I thought, and went up to bed.
Amazingly, I fell asleep quickly, and I almost overslept. When I saw the time, I rushed about to dress and get some breakfast. I called the hospital and was connected with the nurses’ station in ICU. The nurse told me that Mama was resting comfortably and promised to give her the message that I was going to school and would see her afterward. I wasn’t very eager to go, but Roxy was right. I couldn’t just sit around the hospital waiting room all day, and it would upset Mama.
I didn’t doubt the truthfulness of what Chastity had told me on the answering machine. Because our private school was so small, serious news about anyone or anyone’s family was common knowledge in a matter of hours, a day at most. That was the way it had been when Papa died, so I didn’t expect anything less. My teachers were as sympathetic and forgiving as they had been then, and no one was catty or nasty to me. Although he didn’t come over to speak to me, I saw a look of compassion on Evan’s face. Chastity, as I had expected, pounced. She was all over me the moment I approached my locker.
“How is she? Didn’t you get my message?”
“I was home too late to call you,” I said, and hung up my coat in the locker.
“So how is she? Is it serious?”
“Any surgery is serious,” I said. I started away, but she followed as closely as a conjoined twin.
“But what was it for? There are all sorts of rumors flying about.”
“I don’t feel like talking about it right now, Chastity. I’d like to keep my mind off it for a while, okay?”
“Okay, sure. I understand. Is anyone staying with you? Because I could really do that,” she added quickly.
Fortunately, Richard hurried to my side as soon as he saw me heading for my homeroom.
“Excuse me,” I told Chastity, and joined him.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “How is your mother?”
“She’s recuperating,” I said. “She’ll be there a while. Thanks.”
“Um, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Yes,” I said. “Keep the busybodies off me.”
He smiled and was there to escort me whenever he could. He offered to do anything I needed done, but I told him I was fine. He was a sweet and innocent boy who had seemed to fill a gap in my life when I needed it filled, but deep inside, I knew I wouldn’t jump into any romance with him, certainly not as quickly and as eagerly as I had with Evan. Why was it that someone as self-centered as Evan was more attractive? Why was evil more interesting than good? Maybe that was because there was more of it inside ourselves than we cared to admit.
The schoolwork did keep me from dwelling on Mama’s condition and prognosis. I really didn’t want anyone to know how serious the situation was, and by seeming to be interested in my subjects, answering questions, reading my assignments, and spending time with Richard whenever I could, I knew I gave the impression that everything was going to be all right.
Before the school day ended, Chastity tried again to get more involved with me and what was happening. Richard was at basketball practice, so I couldn’t use him as a shield. She leaped at the opportunity when I was getting my coat out of my locker.
“I could come over tonight, if you like,” she said. “Or we could go to dinner. I’ll take you out. My mother suggested it,” she added. “We don’t want you to be alone, Emmie. Even if it’s just for a short time. You’d be there for me, I’m sure. So don’t feel like you’re putting any burden on me or anything. I want to be your friend. I want . . .”
I thought for a moment before saying it, but I decided that it would provide me with the excuses I would otherwise have to invent.
I took a deep breath. “I’m not alone, Chastity.”
“Oh. Who’s with you, your aunt from Washington? Relatives from France?”
She followed me to the door. Roxy’s limousine was waiting. I didn’t have to say any more.
I walked out, and when the driver opened my door, I slipped in as if I had been riding in a limousine all my life.
Glancing back through the tinted windows, I saw Chastity standing there, gaping after me, looking like a guppy in a fishbowl, its mouth open in anticipation of food particles floating through the water.
17