Mourning Glory by Warren Adler Read Free Book Online

required. The best she could do was to live
in hope that mother and daughter could surmount the problems of the teen years
and look forward to a better future for both of them. The shock of observing
her daughter in this shameless exhibition had exposed Grace's failure as a role
model and a mother.
    All right, she conceded, she did have sex with Jason before
they were married. It felt normal, just as long as it was exclusive and
private. Her mother, the papal groupie, would never believe such a thing could
happen. She would be the last person on earth for her to confide in. The woman
would have spent overtime in the confessional and doubled her prayers for her
daughter's soul. Her father, the barber, would have been oblivious,
disbelieving and indifferent. The act of sex, after years of deprivation, would
not be in his frame of reference.
    The image of the little man with the thick Italian accent
appeared in her mind. A decent, compassionate man, he had endured the woman who
was her mother until her death. More fanatical than a nun, Mama Sorentino's
life revolved around the Church and the confessional. She had believed that
somehow Grace, her only child, had been responsible for killing the fertility
of her womb. Such an attitude did not make for a particularly joyous maternal
relationship.
    Yet she did love her father, the long-suffering,
inarticulate Carmine, who had been liberated at last when his wife had gone to
her great reward. Could anyone have known that Grace had shed tears of joy at
her graveside, celebrating the little man's freedom? He still cut hair, played
checkers with his cronies, smoked ropy Italian cigars and lived above his
little shop in Baltimore.
    She called him once a week. The conversation was always
stilted, the communication sparse. But somehow she sensed that he took comfort
in just hearing her voice. The words hardly mattered.
    "Maybe we should confide more in each other,"
Grace said to Jackie, choosing the path of placation rather than confrontation.
    "Mom, we do confide."
    "Not enough."
    "Mom, I can't tell you everything. Not
everything."
    Grace sucked in a deep breath. What more could she be
hiding?
    "You don't tell me everything, Mom," Jackie said,
planting a kiss on her mother's check. Grace felt suddenly grateful that her
daughter had not accused her of being jealous of her pleasure. Such an
accusation would be unnerving, hateful, although it was a real possibility. It
had to be in Jackie's thoughts, Grace was certain, grateful for the repression.
Perhaps, after all, she had raised a daughter with some character. Or were such
thoughts on her part merely a form of denial?
    "I better get dressed, Mom. Phys Ed I can miss, not
math. Lose one day and it's worse the next."
    "I'll drive you," Grace said, welcoming this
chance at repairing her relationship with her daughter.
    "Great, Mom. Just great."
    Again she kissed her on the cheek, then bounced into the
bathroom.
    In a few minutes, Jackie was dressed, looking every bit the
prim high school junior. It was hard to reconcile this image of the wide-eyed
teenager with the girl wrapped around the naked form of the young man.
    They got into Grace's Volkswagen.
    "It's not—what did he call it?— an Evo something, but
it will have to do," she said, suddenly remembering Jason's motorcycle,
which he had taught Grace to operate. It wasn't a Harley-Davidson, but it had
its share of bells and whistles and, for a while, it was Jason's pride and joy.
Perhaps there was some truth in Jackie's remark. Maybe she had forgotten what
it was to be young. But that didn't negate her dark feelings about Darryl and
the danger he posed for Jackie.
    "Darryl doesn't ask everyone, Mom. He says it's a
privilege."
    "I wish you wouldn't," Grace said, starting the
car and backing it out of the parking space.
    "Wish I wouldn't what?"
    "Go near him."
    Jackie shook her head, falling into silence.
    "We're like two ships passing in the night,"
Grace said when they were heading