Read Online The Fat Girl by Marilyn Sachs - Free Book Online Page A

want her helping me with Ellen. I didn’t want anybody helping me with Ellen.
    “Let’s change the subject, Norma,” I said quickly. “I forgot to ask you if you’d come with me to my father’s house this Friday. He’s invited us both to dinner. I couldn’t get out of it, but if you’d rather not go, I’d understand.”
    “It’s fine with me, Jeff. I’d like to meet your father.”
    Norma brought a couple of jars of pickled watermelon rind, and Linda acted like she was overjoyed to get them. I’ve never really liked Linda. I know my father’s happy with her, and she tries hard to make friends with me, maybe too hard. She’s always asking me what I think, and she agrees with whatever I say. I guess she’s pretty in a large, blonde, smiley way.
    They live in a little house over in the Sunset district. Linda isn’t much of a housekeeper—not as bad as Norma’s mother, but all the furniture looks scuffed and worn, and there’s usually a clutter of kids’ toys, sweaters, and newspapers lying around.
    Sean and David were looking out of the windows when we drove up Friday night, and they came tearing out the door before we even got out of the car.
    “What darlings!” Norma said.
    It took only a few minutes for them to get over their shyness with her. David is five and Sean seven. They’re cute kids. I don’t mind them as much as I do Linda.
    “How are you, Jeff?” said my father, giving me a manly handshake and a quick hug.
    Norma giggled when she saw him. “You and Jeff look so much alike, Mr. Lyons,” she said. “It really is something.”
    My father liked Norma. So did Linda. So did the boys. They sat on either side of her during dinner and talked to her both at the same time. I sat near Linda and struggled through a typical conversation.
    “So what’s going on, Jeff?”
    “Nothing much.”
    “Are you still working in the hardware store?”
    “On Monday and Wednesday afternoons and every other Saturday.”
    “Well, I was just telling your father that he ought to go down and get a new showerhead for the bathroom. I thought maybe you could suggest a better one than the one we have. It’s never worked right.”
    “I don’t know anything about showerheads.”
    “I thought you could show him what you had and maybe tell him which one you think might be best. I don’t mind spending a little more.”
    “I don’t know anything about showerheads, Linda.”
    “Well, I’m sure you know more than he does.”
    It was rough going. After dinner, Norma helped Linda with the dishes and my father and I went into the living room and looked at each other helplessly. Bad as it was talking with Linda, it was even worse talking to my father when we were by ourselves. When the kids were around it wasn’t so bad, but now they were both in the kitchen. You could hear their high, excited little-kid voices.
    “That’s a nice girl you got there, Jeff.”
    “Thanks, Dad.”
    “She’s real sweet.”
    “Mmm.”
    “Nice looking too, but that’s not really important.”
    “No, I guess not.”
    “So what’s new?”
    “Nothing much.”
    “We don’t see you very much these days.”
    “I know, Dad, but I’m real busy. There’s school and my job at the hardware store, and I have to help Mom around the house.”
    My father leaned forward and said in a low voice, “Jeff, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
    “What is it?”
    “Well, it’s Wanda. She’s not happy.”
    “When is Wanda ever happy?” I laughed.
    My father went on slowly. “She wants to move in with us.”
    “With you?”
    “Yes. She says she’s not happy with your mother.”
    He was watching me, waiting for me to say something. From the kitchen Sean’s voice yelled, “Norma, look at me! Look at me!”
    “It’s not fair,” I said to my father.
    He leaned back and his large, handsome face looked worried.
    “It’s not fair,” I repeated. “Mom would go to pieces if Wanda moved out.”
    My father said carefully,