It's Not Like I Knew Her by Pat Spears Read Free Book Online Page B

rumpled shirt and shrugged, her reflection frowning back at her. She’d at least go to the table dirt-free the way Aunt Pearl expected.
    â€œOh, there you are. And don’t you look … clean. Chicken’s ready to take up. Go ahead and sit down.”
    â€œSure smells good. I believe I could eat a whole fryer.”
    â€œI’d give anything if your poor sweet mama could know how well you’ve done during your time here.” The grave had served to soften Aunt Pearl’s recollections of Jewel. Her mama was never sweet, and she wouldn’t want to be remembered that way.
    â€œSit, child, and eat. It’s your special night.” Her tone had the ring of a once in a lifetime happening, even though her aunt had begun to harp on the perils of her getting fat, warning that boys didn’t like fat girls. As far as Jodie was concerned, big wasn’t the same as fat, and big was her equalizer with bullies like Tommy Lee. Besides, she didn’t give a damn what boys liked or didn’t like. The prettiest girls liked having a big, ugly girl as company, although she was never among those invited to their sleepovers.
    Jodie filled her plate, her attention giving way to the pleasure of stuffing herself. While Aunt Pearl wasn’t a big eater, she’d hardly touched her food, and she’d done that odd thing of patting down the right side of her heavily sprayed hairdo, a habit she had when perplexed, causing her head to appear tilted.
    â€œWhy aren’t you eating? Chicken’s the best. Taters melt in my mouth like ice cream.”
    â€œThank you, shug. I guess I grazed too much while fixing supper.” She smiled, but in a way Jodie knew was forced. “Go on and enjoy your food. But save room for my twelve-layer chocolate cake.”
    Jodie turned back to her plate, thinking of the thin-layer chocolate cake, her absolute favorite. Yet, the more Aunt Pearl picked at her food, the more Jodie wished she hadn’t eaten so fast.
    The big hand on the grease-spattered clock hanging on the wall above the stove clicked slowly toward what Jodie felt was some impending doom. She swallowed hard, forcing the food to stay down.
    â€œAll right, what are you not telling me?”
    Yesterday she’d stolen two new comics, and although old man Pepper, the storekeeper, had taken her dime for the RC Cola, she wanted this to be about him having noticed the bulge under her shirt. She’d return the slightly used comics, cry convincingly, and offer to sweep out the store for a week. Lay low for a time, and all would blow over. Stealing was fixable.
    Aunt Pearl put down her fork, the deep lines of her worn face etched in dread. She gathered their plates from the table, plunging them into a cloud of sweet-smelling suds. She stood staring out the kitchen window before turning back to Jodie’s question.
    Jodie pushed up hard against the back of her chair; she knew what was to come was much bigger than stolen comic books.
    â€œI washed up your clothes, and you’ll want to pack them in that old brown cardboard suitcase you came with.”
    â€œWhy? Are we going someplace?” She and her aunt had never as much as gone to a picture show together.
    â€œMr. Dozier called yesterday. And he’s agreed to take you to live with him and his family in Florida.” Aunt Pearl’s fake cheerfulness was lost in the tears she wiped away on the back of her soapy wrist, lather running down her forearm, dripping onto her clean kitchen floor.
    â€œAgreed? No damn way. It was settled.” Had Red stopped sending the envelopes?
    â€œHe’s insisting.” She glanced at the floor. She was a terrible liar.
    â€œSo what? There’s no law against me being here.” Still she clutched thin air.
    â€œI know, but you’re wrong. If put to a judge, he’d say you belong with him.” Aunt Pearl paused, as if searching for a higher reason.
    But whether she stayed or