Read Online Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman - Free Book Online Page A

capable of putting a curse on the speaker.
    The worst was how little she remembered of her mother, only bits and pieces — red hair, like her own, but with a darker sheen; a song she sang, "Stormy Weather"; a single story she told, "Red Riding Hood." Three years with her mother and that was all Arlyn could recall. Her own little girl was three months old, not three years. What would she possibly remember? A red shadow, a voice, a strand of pearls she played with as she nursed.
    Arlie thought carefully about what she wanted to do before her surgery. She treated it as though it were her last day on earth. She kept Sam home from school. He had been more withdrawn since his pet squirrel died, though Arlyn had tried to explain why the loss had happened. She'd told him there was a natural order to all of life, and that he had done his best to care for the creature. No one, not the president, not the man in the moon, could say who would live and who would die.
    Arlie read to Sam all morning on the day before her surgery.
    They were up to Magic or Not? — almost done with the Edward Eager series of Connecticut marvels. Arlie brought the baby into bed with them so she could feel how alive both her children were.
    Blanca's gurgles; Sam's warm body stretched out beside her. Sam was tall for a six-year-old; he'd be like his father, rangy, needing to duck under doorways. Arlie wanted Sam to have everything; she wanted the world for him. With so little time, she did the best she could; at lunchtime, she took the children to the ice-cream parlor on Main Street and let Sam order a Bonanza, the sundae of his dreams — four flavors of ice cream, chocolate and butterscotch sauce, lots and lots of whipped cream, red and green maraschino cherries. He ate about a third of it, then held his stomach and groaned.
    As for John, he was at work. Not as heartless as one would think: Arlyn had told him to go, said she wanted the day to be normal, otherwise she wouldn't get through it. Or maybe he simply wasn't a part of her perfect day. Maybe she wanted John gone for reasons she could barely admit to herself. Maybe she had to see George Snow one last time.
    Late in the afternoon, she brought the children to Cynthia's.
    "Arlie," Cynthia said. Her eyes filled with tears at the sight of her neighbor.
    "Can you watch them for me?" Arlie had her car keys still in her hand. It was April and everything outside was greening.
    "No," Sam said. "Don't leave us. We hate her." "You see,"
    Cynthia said helplessly.
    Arlie led Sam into Cynthia's hallway, then handed the baby to her neighbor. They might not be friends anymore, but sometimes friendship was the least of it. "I need you," Arlie said.
    "I won't stay in a witch's house," Sam told his mother.
    "He won't." Cynthia looked down at the baby in her arms.
    Blanca gazed back at her.
    "Okay, then take them home, the back door's open. They'll be happier over there. Let Sam watch TV and give Blanca a bottle.
    Heat it under hot water, then test it to make sure it's not too hot."
    "I'm not an idiot." Cynthia sounded as though she might cry.
    "Just because I don't have children doesn't mean I would burn her mouth."
    "Of course you won't. I know that, Cynthia. I trust you." Arlie turned to Sam. "Do what Cynthia says for the rest of the day unless it's utterly stupid. I'm asking as a favor. I need you to."
    Sam nodded. He had an awful breathless feeling, but he knew when his mother meant something.
    Arlie got into her car and drove to New Haven. She knew where George was living. She had looked him up in the phone book months ago. She'd called once, then had hung up before he answered. If he'd known Blanca was his, he would have come after them. It would have been a mess. Now, everything was a mess anyway. Arlie drove too fast. She felt hot all over. Around her neck, the pearls George had left for her were feverish, colored with a rusty tinge.
    She parked across from the three-story house where he rented an apartment. She