other times Iâm afraid.
7
âGuess where weâre going over Washingtonâs
Birthday?â Michael asked.
I shifted the phone to my other ear. âI give up.â
âSkiing.â
âBut I donât know how.â
âIâm going to teach you.â
âReally?â
âYeah . . . weâre going to my sisterâs
place in Vermont  . . . sheâll be calling in a little while to fill
your mother in on the details.â
âYouâre serious?â
âYou better believe it. Listen, youâll like Sharon, and her
husband, Ike, is okay too.â
âIt sounds great.â
âIt will be . . . and Kath, wait till you see the
snow.â
When I hung up I ran into the living room. âGuess where
Michaelâs invited me?â
âTo his prom?â Dad asked.
âNo . . . nothing like that.â
âWell, tell us,â Mom said.
âTo Vermont . . . to go skiing . . .
his sisterâs got a place there. Sheâs going to call you.â
My mother looked at my father.
âI can go, canât I?â I said.
âWell . . .â Dad began.
âPlease!â
âYou canât expect us to say yes just
like that, Kath,â Mom said.
âWeâll have to think about it,â Dad told me.
âAfter we hear the details.â
Later, when the phone rang, I said, âThat must be Michaelâs
sister . . . her nameâs Sharon.â
âIâll take it upstairs,â Mom said, but by then Jamie had
already answered and was calling âHey, Mom . . .
telephone . . . somebody named Sharon something.â
âWhatâd she say?â I asked when my mother came back
downstairs. âDid you tell her I can go?â
âShe sounded very nice,â Mom said.
âGo on . . .â
âShe said she and her husband would drive you up to Vermont on
Friday. Itâs about a seven hour trip. Their place is near Stowe.â
âWhen would they come home?â Dad asked.
âMonday afternoon.â
âThatâs three nights.â
âWhatâs the difference?â I said.
âThey have plenty of room, Roger,â Mom told him, andI knew then that she was on my sideâthat she would let me go.
âThey share the house with two other couples but theyâll have it all to
themselves over the weekend. She said there are three bedrooms.â
âI donât know,â my father said.
âHer husbandâs a resident in internal medicine,â Mom
said.
âSo you wonât have to worry about me getting sick,â I
told my father.
âJust breaking a leg or two,â Dad said.
âIâll be very careful . . . I
promise.â
âI donât know . . . skiing is a dangerous
sport.â
âNo more dangerous than riding in a car,â I argued.
âGive us a chance to talk about it tonight,â my father said.
âAnd weâll let you know tomorrow.â
âI donât see what there is to discuss . . .
itâs all very simple.â
âI donât like making hasty decisions.â
âMom . . .â
âDadâs right. Let us sleep on it, Kath.â
âI want to go very much.â
âWe know,â they both said together.
I donât know how I got through the next day. Talking to Erica
helped some. âMy mother will let me go but my father seemed kind of scared to say
yes.â
âThatâs logical,â Erica said. âFathers have
complexes about their little girls. They canât stand the thought of their precious
darlings having sex.â
âYou think thatâs whatâs bothering
him?â
âAbsolutely. It has nothing to do with breaking your leg, like I
said . . . it
Learning to Kill: Stories