Scattered Leaves by V. C. Andrews Read Free Book Online

tube
of toothpaste without a cap. A bottle of cough
medicine had spilled as well, the liquid sticking to one
of the shelves and dripping down to another. It was
hard and discolored. It had obviously spilled quite a
while ago. Why hadn't it been cleaned up?
When I looked at the tub and the shower. I saw
they weren't in much better condition than the sink.
The tub also had rust stains and a ring around it, from
when it had last been used. perhaps. There was a
damp washcloth crimpled in it and a bar of soap.
Along the far side were jars of bath powders lined up,
two without caps.
Was this to be my bathroom. too?
I hoped not and quickly walked out and to the
other side of the stairway, where there were two other
rooms. The first door was closed, but it wasn't locked.
I opened it and looked in on a very nice bedroom. It
had a canopy bed with a lighter shade of wood for the
headboard, posts and footboard. The dressers matched
and the oval area rug was a pretty shade of light blue
and in very good shape. Everything was neat in the
room. There were no articles of clothing cast about,
and nothing looked out of place. All the articles on the
dresser were carefully placed. I saw there was another doorway, so I walked in to discover a bathroom in which the fixtures, although not modern, looked
newer and clean.
The windows in the room were the ones I had
seen with curtains and shades when we'd driven up.
Nothing looked worn or torn. Why couldn't this be my
bedroom? I wondered. Was it Great-aunt Frances's
bedroom? On closer inspection. I could see that
although it was well put together, it still had thin
layers of dust over the furnishings. It was simply an
unused room, but the nicest room in the house I had
seen so far. I couldn't imagine why Great-aunt
Frances wasn't using it.
Confused. I left it and tried the last door, but it
was locked. I thought about it for a moment and then
returned to the stairway. I could hear the television. so
I descended and walked into the living room. where I
found Great-aunt Frances sprawled on the sofa
looking dreamily at the set and following the drama,
Miss Puss was sprawled on the floor and looked up at
me, then lowered her head to her paws. Great-aunt
Frances didn't even notice I had entered. It was almost
as if she had forgotten my arrival, just the way a child
might. She was totally absorbed in her show and
looked like she would cry if I interrupted. I decided to
wait for the commercial.
Before it came. I heard the front door forcefully
opened. Felix stepped in and then stepped to the side
to permit a tall. thin. African American woman, with
short hair cropped more like a man's hair, to enter as
well. Her facial features were childlike, diminutive,
with a pair of blazing ebony eyes and firm, taught
lips. She wore a dark blue blouse, opened nearly to
her belly button. She didn't seem to care that her
breasts were almost entirely visible. Her jeans were so
tight that I wondered how she could put them on and
take them off. I saw she wore no socks with her
battered old running shoes. Her ankles looked bruised
and swollen,
"It makes no sense for me coming here to clean.
Believe me, ten minutes after I'm gone, she gonna
turn it back to a pigsty," she whined.
Felix closed the door by pounding it with his
sledgehammer fist. He glared at her.
"And believe me it makes no sense your living
here rent free without doing the work." he responded. "I do the work!" she moaned. "She ruins it, so I
just give up. I ain't a slave, you know."
"You don't decide when to give up," he said
firmly. "Or if you do, you move off the property" She looked away angrily, her gaze falling on
me with stinging fury. I immediately thought she
believed I was the reason she was being chastised. If I
hadn't come, no one would have discovered how
poorly she was keeping the house.
Felix lifted his right hand and pointed to the
chandelier.
"No one can change a lightbulb? What's that
got to do with how Miss Wilkens conducts herself?
And this