Read Online Jersey Tomatoes are the Best by Maria Padian - Free Book Online
Authors: Maria Padian
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goodness that’s over,” she breathes into my ear. “My cheeks hurt from smiling.”
“Get used to it, girl,” I tell her. “
Yer a stah.
” I put my arms around her shoulders and squeeze.
“Oh my
gawd
!” she exclaims. “A
stah?
Really? Me?”
“A dancin’
stah
. From
Joisey.
” Eva giggles. She loves talkin’ Jersey.
I glance down at the desserts and notice that I’m not the only one who has discovered the to-die-for brownies. There are three left. I scoop one up in a white paper napkin.
“
This
is a life-changing brownie,” I say seriously. “You must have one.” I lift the brownie to Eva’s mouth, holding it for her to take a bite.
She backs away as if I were holding a snake. Her eyes actually widen in horror.
“No!” she exclaims. “I mean … I’m really full. We ate breakfast late, and I never feel like eating right after I dance. But I’m so thirsty! Is there anything to drink?”
She pivots and walks quickly down the length of the table toward a bowl filled with ice and bottles of sparkling water. Istare at her retreating back before she disappears in the crush of people. Her shoulder blades stick out like stunted wings. Beginning at her neck, you can see lumps along her spine, knobby vertebrae that disappear into her waist. The bones that frame her back fan out from the spine like long fingers just beneath her skin.
As if some creature had her in its clutches.
Chapter Eight
EVA
“I can’t wait to show you this. You are going to be
so
psyched.”
“So why do I feel
so
nervous?”
Henry and I sit in my bedroom, eyes glued to the laptop, where, amazingly enough, I am introducing her to Facebook. My latest obsession in particular: a page I’ve created for her. And a group I’ve joined for her: the Chadwick Tennis Academy Summer Camp group. It’s a crucial step in her education.
Because Henry’s leaving for Chadwick. In a week.
To her credit, she has at least
heard
of Facebook, but up until this point she hasn’t joined. I realize it’s not her fault that she is cyberculturally inept: Mark polices her computer access with secret police–like zeal. It’s not that he suspects she might post lewd pictures of herself, or knowingly join chat rooms with pedophiles. He just thinks everyone’s out to stalk his daughter, and the computer is one hole he is bound and determined to plug.
Anyway, several days ago the gods of tennis and ballet got together … just like our parents, downstairs at this verymoment, sipping gin and tonics and discussing their daughters’ brilliant careers over a smoking grill … and good fortune rained down on Henry and me. Within days of my hearing from Madame DuPres, Chadwick offered Hen a summer scholarship. Depending on how things go, that could become a full-year scholarship.
How Mark agreed to this is beyond me. Henry says the price was right. Plus he thinks it’s just for the summer. Plus her mom went to the mat for her. Voices were raised to epic volumes, she says.
I think they slipped something into his nightly cocktail to make him less controlling.
I’ve opened Henry’s page, and a photo of her appears on the screen. It’s a picture I took in May, at our school’s spring formal. She’s wearing makeup and clip-on, gold hoop earrings.
“Hey! That’s me!” she exclaims.
“Glam, don’t you think?” I say.
“Yeah, but I’m not glam, Eva,” Henry says. “This is false advertising.”
“This is a smokescreen,” I explain. “Think: everyone is checking out everyone else. All the Chadwick girls are looking at your picture and thinking, ‘No comp! We’ll take pretty girl in straight sets.’ Meanwhile, the guys are thinking, ‘Hot babe!’ ” Henry looks confused.
“Why would anyone at Chadwick read this?” she asks.
“Because you’ve joined the Chadwick Tennis Academy Summer Camp group, and I’ve already garnered forty-eight friends for you,” I tell her. I glance at the screen. “Correction!Fifty-one
“Get used to it, girl,” I tell her. “
Yer a stah.
” I put my arms around her shoulders and squeeze.
“Oh my
gawd
!” she exclaims. “A
stah?
Really? Me?”
“A dancin’
stah
. From
Joisey.
” Eva giggles. She loves talkin’ Jersey.
I glance down at the desserts and notice that I’m not the only one who has discovered the to-die-for brownies. There are three left. I scoop one up in a white paper napkin.
“
This
is a life-changing brownie,” I say seriously. “You must have one.” I lift the brownie to Eva’s mouth, holding it for her to take a bite.
She backs away as if I were holding a snake. Her eyes actually widen in horror.
“No!” she exclaims. “I mean … I’m really full. We ate breakfast late, and I never feel like eating right after I dance. But I’m so thirsty! Is there anything to drink?”
She pivots and walks quickly down the length of the table toward a bowl filled with ice and bottles of sparkling water. Istare at her retreating back before she disappears in the crush of people. Her shoulder blades stick out like stunted wings. Beginning at her neck, you can see lumps along her spine, knobby vertebrae that disappear into her waist. The bones that frame her back fan out from the spine like long fingers just beneath her skin.
As if some creature had her in its clutches.
Chapter Eight
EVA
“I can’t wait to show you this. You are going to be
so
psyched.”
“So why do I feel
so
nervous?”
Henry and I sit in my bedroom, eyes glued to the laptop, where, amazingly enough, I am introducing her to Facebook. My latest obsession in particular: a page I’ve created for her. And a group I’ve joined for her: the Chadwick Tennis Academy Summer Camp group. It’s a crucial step in her education.
Because Henry’s leaving for Chadwick. In a week.
To her credit, she has at least
heard
of Facebook, but up until this point she hasn’t joined. I realize it’s not her fault that she is cyberculturally inept: Mark polices her computer access with secret police–like zeal. It’s not that he suspects she might post lewd pictures of herself, or knowingly join chat rooms with pedophiles. He just thinks everyone’s out to stalk his daughter, and the computer is one hole he is bound and determined to plug.
Anyway, several days ago the gods of tennis and ballet got together … just like our parents, downstairs at this verymoment, sipping gin and tonics and discussing their daughters’ brilliant careers over a smoking grill … and good fortune rained down on Henry and me. Within days of my hearing from Madame DuPres, Chadwick offered Hen a summer scholarship. Depending on how things go, that could become a full-year scholarship.
How Mark agreed to this is beyond me. Henry says the price was right. Plus he thinks it’s just for the summer. Plus her mom went to the mat for her. Voices were raised to epic volumes, she says.
I think they slipped something into his nightly cocktail to make him less controlling.
I’ve opened Henry’s page, and a photo of her appears on the screen. It’s a picture I took in May, at our school’s spring formal. She’s wearing makeup and clip-on, gold hoop earrings.
“Hey! That’s me!” she exclaims.
“Glam, don’t you think?” I say.
“Yeah, but I’m not glam, Eva,” Henry says. “This is false advertising.”
“This is a smokescreen,” I explain. “Think: everyone is checking out everyone else. All the Chadwick girls are looking at your picture and thinking, ‘No comp! We’ll take pretty girl in straight sets.’ Meanwhile, the guys are thinking, ‘Hot babe!’ ” Henry looks confused.
“Why would anyone at Chadwick read this?” she asks.
“Because you’ve joined the Chadwick Tennis Academy Summer Camp group, and I’ve already garnered forty-eight friends for you,” I tell her. I glance at the screen. “Correction!Fifty-one
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