Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter: A Memoir by Melissa Francis Read Free Book Online Page A

before Dad stirs, but you still won’t be done. Look at everything Santa left!” she squealed.
    As we came down the stairs, I could see that the presents stretched all the way to the far walls of the sitting room. We weren’t normally allowed to play in the sitting room, with its white couches and chairs, too perfect for dirty little hands. But once a year, the room was transformed.
    This time there had to be nearly a hundred wrapped presents in every shape and size. Each one had a tag with an “M” or a “T” to tell us to whom the mystery delight belonged. Two new bikes with enormous bows sat in the middle of the room, a large blue ten-speed with white-walled tires for Tiffany, and a smaller, light blue two-wheeler for me.
    By the time Dad woke up, the sitting room looked like a wrapping paper bomb had exploded, spraying red and green shrapnel everywhere. I sat in the middle of the debris, exploring a Fisher Price doctor’s kit I’d been praying for.
    “Jesus,” Dad said in Mom’s general direction. “Think you overdid it?”
    “Santa, darling. Not me,” she smiled back.
    “Most of this was from Santa, Dad. It didn’t cost you anything,” I reassured him. “Although this was from Mom!” I said giving Tiffany a pretend shot in the arm with my toy needle. Next I planned to jump-start her heart.
    “I’m too tired to keep opening,” Tiffany said. She brushed me off and laid back on the ground in her holiday pj’s, admiring a new white leather purse she’d just unwrapped.
    “I’ll take everything that hasn’t been opened, in that case,” I said, eyeing the loot. Dad groaned and wandered into the kitchen for some coffee.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    M om placed her hand on my shoulder to wake me up. I jumped.
    “It’s okay. You just need to get up. It’s a special day. We need to go to school to get your assignments. Then we’re going on a plane to Sonora. Come on, sweetie,” she said.
    I’d landed what Mom called the role of a lifetime on Little House on the Prairie , a show that was already a hit. Being cast on a huge show that was already up and running was like being born on home plate with the crowd cheering. You’d done nothing to help the team win, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t bask in the glory. The victory was especially sweet for Mom since my last show, Joe’s World , hadn’t lasted more than a season.
    I plodded slowly down the hall to the bathroom I shared with my sister. She brushed her teeth at the far sink, which right now was hers. We each liked to claim ownership of one of the two sinks, but anytime we agreed on the division of territory, I got the sense I’d been had. I was eight years old, and she was nearly twelve. That was a lot more time to gather the skills of negotiation.
    “How long are you going for?” Tiffany asked with toothpaste foaming out of her mouth.
    “I don’t know. We’re shooting the first episode on location and then coming back for the rest of the season I think.”
    “Mom told me you’re going on an airplane that doesn’t have regular people on it,” she added, wiping her mouth.
    Who would be on it then? Aliens? I wanted to ask but she shut off the tap and left.
     
     
    An hour later Mom and I walked down the outdoor pathway to my second-grade classroom. My black and white saddle shoes scuffed the cement walkway as we hurried along, the leaves of late fall occasionally drifting into our path and crunching under our feet. The swings in the middle of the playground right next to the classes hung silent and motionless. All the other kids were in class.
    My mom opened the door to my classroom and I saw Mrs. Sandberg standing at the front by the chalk board, holding a piece of chalk. Her skirt flowed down to her ankles and her glasses were perched on the tip of her nose.
    All eyes, which had been fixed on her, moved quickly to me. I shifted uncomfortably. I was wearing the uniform Mom dressed me in for every single audition: OshKosh overalls rolled