Read Online Bindings by Carla Jablonski - Free Book Online

grown-ups to lie to us.”
    Tim thought she sounded sad, as if there were times she had believed her parents when she shouldn’t have.
    â€œBesides, what kind of clues would there have been?” Molly offered. “What could have told you any different? Hey, it’s only lately that you even figured out the, you know, facts of life. And until you knew the biology of it, why would you question it?” Molly laughed. “So this was a biology question, after all.”
    Tim shook his head but grinned. “I suppose I should have studied more then.”
    â€œSo what does your dad say about all this?” Molly asked.
    Tim gave her a sideways look. “Which one?”
    Molly shoved his knees a little. “You know. The one who bugs you about your homework every night. The one you complain about incessantly. That dad.”
    â€œOh, him.” Tim lay his head on his knees. He shut his eyes. He didn’t know whether he should be angry at his dad or feel sorry for him. Did his father even know that he wasn’t—well, his father? Was this some sort of huge secret Tim was now burdened with? He turned his head and squinted at Molly. “I don’t know.”
    â€œHe wasn’t the one who told you?” Now Molly’s dark eyes were wide with surprise. “Then how—”
    Tim raised a hand to interrupt her. “Long story. Don’t ask.”
    â€œHow do you know it’s true?” Molly asked.
    Tim lifted his head and stared straight ahead. Molly had a point. She usually did. Wasn’t a person supposed to get—what was the term they used in the action pictures—corroborating evidence? After all, who had hit him with this news flash? Kenny the homeless stranger. Not exactly a reliable source.
    But Tim knew he was so rattled because he sensed this to be the truth. He had felt something like kinship, some unnameable connection, with Tamlin. A kinship that might be explained if they were actually kin.
    â€œTalk to your dad,” Molly urged. “Don’t just take someone else’s word for it. It’s better to have things out in the open. Things fester in the dark. You’ll feel better if you know all you can know.”
    Tim nodded. He knew she was right. He slowly unfolded himself from the floor and kicked out the kinks in his legs. He had walked a lot in the cold, and his body felt like he’d been run over by a train in the Underground. All his muscles hurt.
    He gave Molly a sad grin. “Can’t you ask him about it for me?”
    â€œSorry. This is one you’ve got to do on your own.”
    â€œI was afraid of that.”
    â€œIt might be all right,” Molly said.
    â€œHow could it possibly be all right?” Tim asked.
    â€œI used to always imagine my parents weren’t my real parents,” Molly said, flopping down on her bed. She lay on her back with her arms behind her head. She gazed up at the ceiling, a dreamy expression on her face. “I’d be the daughter of a pirate and an explorer.”
    Tim sat on the edge of the bed. “Who was who?”
    â€œThey alternated. Sometimes my dad was the pirate, sometimes my mum. But they were always so much more exciting than my real parents. Nicer, too,” she added softly.
    Tim’s brow crinkled. Tamlin was certainly a more exciting figure than his beer-swigging, telly watching dad. He wasn’t particularly nicer, though. Tim wasn’t really sure what Tamlin was. The bloke was occasionally a bird, after all. I mean, what does that tell you?
    Molly rolled over onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. “You know, ultimately it doesn’t matter, does it?”
    Startled, Tim asked, “What do you mean?”
    â€œWell, at the end of the day, you’re still you, aren’t you? No matter who your father is.”
    Tim shook his head but didn’t reply. Shedidn’t seem to understand that this was precisely the