Read Online Outside Beauty by Cynthia Kadohata - Free Book Online Page B

wasn’t a bad person. He wasn’t as bad as Maddie’s father. She had the worst father of all of us. I knew we all thought that even though we’d never said it.
    Maddie’s father was a high school history teacher, and he always spoke to us as if he were lecturing a class.
    â€œI want to stay here,” Maddie said. She brushed away tears with her hands.
    Nobody spoke for a moment. Marilyn looked down, probably because Maddie was my responsibility. I weighed my options: Tell her the truth, or don’t tell her the truth. I opted for lying. “You’re going to be okay,” I said. “I promise. And I’ll be only six hours away.” Or four or seven, whatever.
    I looked at Marilyn. “It’ll be over before you knowit,” she said. “We’ll never really live with our fathers. This is just temporary.”
    â€œWhy can’t we all just stay here?” Maddie said.
    â€œStrictly speaking, we can’t live here without a grown-up,” I said.
    Maddie sniffled a bit and said, “Marilyn’s almost a grown-up.”
    â€œI only have a driver’s permit, so I’m really not a grown-up yet,” Marilyn said. “And I can’t vote yet. I’m still considered underage.”
    â€œYou seem old to me,” Maddie said.
    â€œI know, sweetie, but I’m not.”
    â€œWell, can I stay with one of your fathers?”
    â€œNot unless Mom says so,” Marilyn said.
    Maddie’s body seemed to almost curl up like something burning. She let out a moan that sounded like it came from a ghost, not from Maddie. I held her to me. “Maddie, the time will go so fast, you won’t even notice. You’ll forget all about it a year from now.”
    â€œI tell you what,” Marilyn said. “We’ll each ask our fathers if there’s anything we can do to get you to live with one of us.”
    â€œOkay,” Maddie said hopefully.
    Marilyn gave us each paper, pencils, stamps, andenvelopes so we could write to one another. “We’ll write letters in birth order,” Marilyn said. “I’ll write and send a letter to Shelby, and she can write more and send it to Lakey, who will add to it and send it to Maddie. That way all the letters will end up with Maddie. They’ll be chain letters. Anyone who writes one should send it to me first, and then I’ll always send it to Shelby next so we can stay in birth order. Okay, that’s settled. Next on the agenda is money. We’ll split what we have four ways and bring it with us.” Then she dismissed our meeting so we could pack. I packed seven pairs of jeans, three sweatshirts, and four tank tops, as well as seven pairs of underwear. I felt like a zombie. I also packed for Maddie: seven pairs of jeans, three sweatshirts, four tank tops, underwear, and her favorite red hat. We finished way before Marilyn. Her personal products alone took up more space than all my luggage.
    Mack was staying with us that night because, he said, he needed to make an announcement. We’d just got back from seeing our mother, who mostly slept through our visit because she was all doped up on painkillers. By eight p.m. Mack hadn’t made his announcement yet. We had been tiptoeing about while Mack wrote furiously in our kitchen—his shrinkmade him write down his feelings. We weren’t allowed to bother him while he was writing. But we had to know what his announcement was.
    â€œYou ask him,” I told Marilyn. “He’s your father.”
    We all trailed behind her while she marched into the kitchen. He looked up, annoyed. His pen had broken open while he chewed it, and blue ink covered his lips and tongue. I tried to look at his eyes instead of his blue mouth.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” he said. “You know I’m busy. I got homework from my shrink. He says I need to claim some time of my own.”
    Marilyn took a big breath. “You said you