Bursting Bubbles by Dyan Sheldon Read Free Book Online

little of that, and if you wanted salmon but they only have herring, you have herring. She doesn’t have a career strategy like mine.”
    “Asher,” says Claudelia, “even Napoleon Bonaparte didn’t have a career strategy like yours.”
    Asher doesn’t smile this time.
    “And, anyway,” she continues, “just because you’re focused doesn’t mean you can’t float with the tide now and then. Give yourself a break.”
And everyone else
, she thinks.
    “I have a goal trajectory,” says Asher. “You don’t float when you have a goal trajectory. That’s like trying to get to Istanbul by getting on the first plane you see and hoping that’s where it’s going.”
    “I just think that you shouldn’t go into this expecting the worst.”
    “I’m not. I don’t think it’s going to be like a high-security prison in Texas. That would be the worst. Or in South America. A high-security prison in South America, that would definitely be the pits.” Asher watches a dog trot across the road. “What I think it’s going to be is boring. Probably irritating, too. And I know for sure that it’s going to be pointless.”
    “For your goal trajectory.”
    “For everything. It’s not going to be any use to me, but it’s no use to these losers, either. Like my dad always says, you can’t help people who won’t help themselves.”
    Claudelia is saved from having to argue any more by the alarm on Asher’s phone going off.
    “I have to get a move on,” says Asher, “or I’ll be late for my fencing class.”
    “Right.” She leans over and kisses his cheek. “See you tomorrow.”
    Asher broods about the placement on and off for the rest of the day. His father is in Washington doing something very important. Should he call him and ask for his help? He was told not to. That’s how important whatever his father’s doing is. He was told that if there’s an emergency he should call Albert’s assistant and that she would pass on the message. Unless Asher’s arrested; then he can call his father directly. So maybe he shouldn’t bother his dad. The housekeeper’s out for the night, so Asher blitzes himself a pizza in the microwave and sits in front of the TV in his room to eat it. His father’s probably in a meeting. Sometimes his meetings go on for days. At ten o’clock, Asher finally breaks down and decides to call. Then imagines his father’s face, serious and disappointed. This is not taking responsibility. This is not handling things himself.
    He disconnects before it starts to ring.

Chapter Six
Marigold Starts Weaving a Tangled Web
    Marigold’s mother is in a good mood this morning. This is as big a relief to Marigold as not seeing any white people riding through their territory would have been to the Lakota two or three hundred years ago. Eveline Liotta is delicate. She has a sensitive nature and is easily stressed out. She spends a lot of time in bed.
    Her mother is another reason why Marigold acts more like the goodwill ambassador from the planet Perfect than a normal, moody teenager. Living with Eveline is like living in the shadow of an active volcano. There is nothing that can’t upset her (including absolutely nothing). She may hide it from the outside world, but her family knows that her cheerfulness is as fragile as a glass ball in a hurricane. She can lose her temper over the smallest things – the wrong look, the wrong greeting, a dish left on the table, a bar of soap left in a sink. She can suddenly burst into tears because the mail is late or she’s spilled something on her blouse or it happens to be Tuesday and raining. She can get one of her migraines because the washing machine broke or her lunch plans were cancelled. Life – and every person and every thing in it – is always disappointing her. Her husband and her daughters are either pitted against her or letting her down. No matter what they do, it’s never enough. No matter what they give her, they should have given her something