Read Online Dollenganger 06 My Sweet Audrina by V. C. Andrews - Free Book Online
Authors: V. C. Andrews
Tags: Horror
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and rain, through the hail and ice, nothing kept me home--even when I had pneumonia. When I was in high school on the football team and broke my leg, that didn't keep me from walking to school every day. I was hardy, determined to be well educated, to be the best there was."
Momma slammed down a dish so hard it cracked. "Damian, stop exaggerating." Her voice was harsh, impatient. "Can't you see what false notions you plant in your daughter's mind?"
"What other kind of notions have either one of you ever planted?" asked Aunt Ellsbeth sourly. "If Audrina grows up to be normal it will be a miracle."
"Amen to that," contributed Vera. She grinned at me and then stuck out her tongue. Papa didn't notice, he was too busy shouting at my aunt.
"Normal? What is normal? In my opinion normal is only ordinary, mediocre. Life belongs to the rare exceptional individual who dares to be different."
"Damian, will you please stop expounding on your ideas to a child too young to understand that you are not an authority on anything except how to run your mouth all day long."
"Silence!" bellowed Papa. "I won't have my wife ridiculing me in front of my only child. Lucky, apologize immediately!"
Why was Aunt Ellsbeth smirking? It was my secret belief that my aunt loved to hear my parents argue. Vera made some gagging noise and then, with a great deal of difficulty, rose to her feet and limped toward the front hall. Soon she'd be boarding the school bus I'd sell my soul to ride on like every other child who wasn't as special as I was. Instead, I had to stay home, lonely for playmates, with the kind of adults who filled my head with hodgepodge notions and then stirred them up with a witch's stick of contradictions. No wonder I didn't know who I was, or which day of the week, month or even year it was. I didn't have any best or worst times. I lived, it seemed to me, in a theater, with the exception being the actors on stage were my family members and I, too, had a role to play--only I didn't know what it was.
All of a sudden, for no reason at all, I was looking around the kitchen and remembering a large orange cat who used to sleep near the old cast-iron stove.
"I wish Tweedle Dee would come home," I said wistfully. "I'm even lonelier since my cat went away."
Papa jolted. Momma stared at me. "Why, Tweedle Dee has been gone for a long, long time, Audrina." Her voice sounded strained, worried.
"Oh, yes," I said quickly, "I know that, but I want him to come home. Papa, you didn't take him to the city pound, did you? You wouldn't put my cat to sleep, would you--just because he makes you sneeze?"
He threw me a worried look, then forced a smile. "No, Audrina, I do the best I can to cater to all your needs, and if that cat had wanted to stay and make me sneeze myself to death, I would have suffered on in silence for your sake."
"Suffered, but not in silence," muttered my aunt.
I watched my parents embrace and kiss before Papa headed for the garage. "Have a good time at your tea party," he called back to Momma, "though I wish to heaven you'd let Mercy Marie stay dead. What we need is someone to live in that empty cottage we own; then you'd have a nice neighbor-woman to invite to your teas."
"Damian," called Momma sweetly, "you go out and have your fun, don't you? Since we're held captives here, at least let Ellie and me have ours."
He grunted and said no more, and soon I was at the front windows watching him drive away. His hand lifted in a salute before he drove out of sight. I didn't want him to go. I hated Tuesday teatime.
Teatime was supposed to begin at four, but since Vera had started playing hooky to escape her last class in order to reach home by four, teatime had been moved up to three o'clock.
Wearing my best clothes, I sat ready and waiting for the ritual to begin. I was required to be there as part of my social education, and if Vera was incapacitated enough to stay home legitimately, then she was invited to the parties, too. I often thought
Momma slammed down a dish so hard it cracked. "Damian, stop exaggerating." Her voice was harsh, impatient. "Can't you see what false notions you plant in your daughter's mind?"
"What other kind of notions have either one of you ever planted?" asked Aunt Ellsbeth sourly. "If Audrina grows up to be normal it will be a miracle."
"Amen to that," contributed Vera. She grinned at me and then stuck out her tongue. Papa didn't notice, he was too busy shouting at my aunt.
"Normal? What is normal? In my opinion normal is only ordinary, mediocre. Life belongs to the rare exceptional individual who dares to be different."
"Damian, will you please stop expounding on your ideas to a child too young to understand that you are not an authority on anything except how to run your mouth all day long."
"Silence!" bellowed Papa. "I won't have my wife ridiculing me in front of my only child. Lucky, apologize immediately!"
Why was Aunt Ellsbeth smirking? It was my secret belief that my aunt loved to hear my parents argue. Vera made some gagging noise and then, with a great deal of difficulty, rose to her feet and limped toward the front hall. Soon she'd be boarding the school bus I'd sell my soul to ride on like every other child who wasn't as special as I was. Instead, I had to stay home, lonely for playmates, with the kind of adults who filled my head with hodgepodge notions and then stirred them up with a witch's stick of contradictions. No wonder I didn't know who I was, or which day of the week, month or even year it was. I didn't have any best or worst times. I lived, it seemed to me, in a theater, with the exception being the actors on stage were my family members and I, too, had a role to play--only I didn't know what it was.
All of a sudden, for no reason at all, I was looking around the kitchen and remembering a large orange cat who used to sleep near the old cast-iron stove.
"I wish Tweedle Dee would come home," I said wistfully. "I'm even lonelier since my cat went away."
Papa jolted. Momma stared at me. "Why, Tweedle Dee has been gone for a long, long time, Audrina." Her voice sounded strained, worried.
"Oh, yes," I said quickly, "I know that, but I want him to come home. Papa, you didn't take him to the city pound, did you? You wouldn't put my cat to sleep, would you--just because he makes you sneeze?"
He threw me a worried look, then forced a smile. "No, Audrina, I do the best I can to cater to all your needs, and if that cat had wanted to stay and make me sneeze myself to death, I would have suffered on in silence for your sake."
"Suffered, but not in silence," muttered my aunt.
I watched my parents embrace and kiss before Papa headed for the garage. "Have a good time at your tea party," he called back to Momma, "though I wish to heaven you'd let Mercy Marie stay dead. What we need is someone to live in that empty cottage we own; then you'd have a nice neighbor-woman to invite to your teas."
"Damian," called Momma sweetly, "you go out and have your fun, don't you? Since we're held captives here, at least let Ellie and me have ours."
He grunted and said no more, and soon I was at the front windows watching him drive away. His hand lifted in a salute before he drove out of sight. I didn't want him to go. I hated Tuesday teatime.
Teatime was supposed to begin at four, but since Vera had started playing hooky to escape her last class in order to reach home by four, teatime had been moved up to three o'clock.
Wearing my best clothes, I sat ready and waiting for the ritual to begin. I was required to be there as part of my social education, and if Vera was incapacitated enough to stay home legitimately, then she was invited to the parties, too. I often thought
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