Read Online Blackout by Caroline Crane - Free Book Online

blinked and thought about it.
    “I doubt that there’s any one reason,” she
finally said. “Everybody’s different, and a lot of men would deny
that they hate women.”
    “Of course they don’t,” I agreed. “We make
wonderful playthings and they always want to play. But why is it so
hard for so many males to think of us as real, genuine, actual,
live human beings with a brain and feelings? Haven’t you had any
patients like that?”
    She smiled. “I’m pretty sure a true
misogynist would want a male therapist.”
    “Unless he wanted a female so he could fight
with her.”
    “Come to think of it, I did have somebody
like that once. He was quite antagonistic, but he didn’t stick
around long. I refused to lose my temper and that galled him.”
    “Okay, now a person like Evan. You said he
might have an inferiority complex that he just can’t deal with or
even recognize.”
    “I said might have. There could be
other reasons. I wouldn’t know without getting inside his
mind.”
    “But isn’t a lot of it cultural?” I asked.
“Where males grow up feeling superior just because they have bigger
muscles? And because they’re superior, they get to kick us
around.”
    “Maddie, what you’re doing here is you’re
generalizing. As I said before, everybody’s different. There may be
certain general factors but different people process those factors
differently. Each person has different life experiences—”
    “Oh. Okay.” I didn’t want a big long speech
in psychobabble. Furthermore, psychology is an inexact science and
I was perfectly capable of figuring out a few things for myself and
drawing my own conclusions.
    “Don’t you have to dig those up in the fall?”
I asked, diverting her attention to the cannas.
    “These and the gladioli. But it’s not time
yet. It can wait till October.”
    “Do you want me to do anything about
dinner?”
    She seemed surprised that I would offer.
Usually I didn’t take the initiative about that, but I felt bad
about interrupting her big speech.
    “You can set the table. Daddy’s gone to get
Chinese take-out.”
    What were my parents coming to? Was it all
because of Ben leaving? Mom stood up and went to clean the garden
off her hands. I set the table and put my computer to sleep just as
Daddy and Ben both drove in.
    We had a lovely dinner, including some
vegetarian stuff for Ben. Rhoda was sad. Her little boy was all
grown up and leaving her.
    “I’ll be back,” he assured her. “Probably for
Thanksgiving, if not sooner. And you can come and visit any
time.”
    “Why, thank you. We’ll do that,” she
said.
    That night I went to bed still trying to
think of a name for my campaign.
     

 
    Chapter
Six
     
    During the night, I thought of a gimmick. I
could end my article by announcing the crusade and holding a
contest for name suggestions. It would get everybody involved, and
with that settled, I managed to sleep for a few hours.
    When I woke, it was one day nearer the start
of school. Still, there were a few days left. And school usually
started fairly slowly, without a lot of huge assignments. If
I worked really hard, I could get the crusade underway before the
deluge began.
    It being Monday, the first thing I did after
shower and breakfast was add that final paragraph to my article. I
knew I should have discussed it with Cree and Glyn but I didn’t
think they’d be up yet. I read the whole thing over and printed
it.
    Rhoda was leaving for work when I went out
and locked the door behind me. “Where are you going?” she
asked.
    “Newspaper,” I said. “Didn’t I tell you I was
writing an article?”
    “The school paper?”
    “School hasn’t started yet. The
Chronicle. ”
    She blinked at that, got into her car, and
drove away. I hoped Phil Reimer was there, my special reporter
friend. Cree got to know him first when the baby she sat for was
kidnapped. Then Phil found out it was my house Evan broke into the
time he tried to drag me away. Phil had