Eleanor by Johnny Worthen Read Free Book Online Page A

overworked, underpaid, and dangerous.
    Eleanor had spent two days dusting and vacuuming, cleaning every corner, lamp shade, and drawer in anticipation of her inspection. Stephanie Pearce was not subtle about her check-ups. She’d draw her finger across a window sill and slide open silverware drawers without as much as a “May I?” Eleanor usually kept the house clean, but on scheduled visits, she made double sure not to give the social worker anything to use against them.
    Tabitha had cleaned up for the appointment. She’d put on her wig and a clean dress. She used makeup to conceal the shallows of her cheeks, shadows under her eyes, and pallor of her skin. Before Pearce arrived, she’d walked through a mist of perfume and sucked on a dollop of toothpaste. Eleanor had helped Tabitha with her nails the night before, but she had chipped one this morning opening a pill bottle and now kept her hands together to hide it.
    Naturally, Eleanor dressed up as well. She had only four sets of clothes that fit her larger body. She’d carefully chosen them from among the racks of secondhand clothes in a Nebraska Goodwill. She could arrange the shirts and pants and single dress into a variety of looks that all said, “Please don’t look at me. I’m uninteresting.” She’d wanted to buy more clothes in Jamesford, but she was deathly afraid to pick something that one of her classmates might have cast off and have it recognized. In a week or two, her mother would go down to the clinic in Riverton. Eleanor would look for clothes there.
    These quarterly meetings with the social worker were routine, but each had been more threatening than the last. Stephanie Pearce was the eyes and ears of some bureaucratic machine Eleanor didn’t understand. It sent them money and arranged for services like the van to Riverton and the expensive but failed medical care Tabitha had already undergone. These things (Eleanor knew because Stephanie Pearce had told her time and time again) could be stopped, and the beneficent force that had let them get by happily in poverty could also force Tabitha into a care center and Eleanor into a foster home.
    â€œA clean house is a good indicator of how you’re getting on,” Pearce said. “Of course, you had notice that I was coming. I might drop by unannounced some time just to make sure things are as they seem.”
    â€œWe’re getting by,” said Tabitha. “Eleanor had a vacation, and she came back a new girl.”
    Eleanor smiled politely.
    â€œShe did spring up didn’t she,” Pearce said, eyeing Eleanor critically. Eleanor was careful to remain seated for this visit, as she had the previous one before her trip.
    â€œHow did you get on while Eleanor was away?” asked the social worker.
    â€œOh, I did just fine,” said Tabitha easily. “It was actually kind of nice to have a little time alone. Eleanor is always fussing. I didn’t throw any parties or anything, but it was nice to have some quiet. Teenagers, you know.”
    â€œDid you do the shopping? Go out?”
    â€œI don’t remember,” Tabitha lied. “Eleanor left me stocked up. I don’t think I had to leave the property.”
    Pearce made an ominous note in her file.
    â€œNo, wait. I did run out of cream for my coffee. I walked down to the 7-Eleven and got myself a chocolate donut and a quart of half-and-half.”
    â€œHow was that walk?”
    â€œIt was a beautiful day,” she said. Stephanie raised an eyebrow when Tabitha ducked the question.
    â€œI took my time,” she said as if confessing. “When the heat got bad or the dust too thick, I sat down under a tree and watched the clouds for a minute. It was delightful, but not something I’d do every morning.”
    The admission of physical limitations satisfied the social worker. How she didn’t know it was a lie was beyond Eleanor.
    â€œAnd how are you doing in