Read Online The Sisterhood of the Queen Mamas by Annie Jones - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Annie Jones
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some lady thinks she’s too good to share the same air with the rest of us.”
Another burst of flame underscored her impassioned declaration.
Again Maxine and I stepped back.
Jake held his ground.
Bernadette alone moved forward. “I don’t think your being here on a nonmarket day is a good idea, Sammy. There could be problems with insurance, and…Does your boss know you’re here?”
“It’s all perfectly safe.” Sammy neither answered Bernadette’s questions nor looked at her directly.
I studied him for a moment. In cutoffs and a T-shirt, without flyers in his hand or the crush of the crowd around him, he seemed younger, somehow. And older, too—or more experienced, to be precise. But just at what I couldn’t have said. Leaner and harder than the mental picture I carried of him. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him menacing. Yet, when he turned his cocky gaze on me this time, I had the urge to clutch my pocketbook a little tighter.
Don’t be one of those people who makes up her mind about someone in less time that it takes a marketing-whiz kid to peddle you a tooth-whitening system. My mind spoke reason. But my skin crawled, just a little. There was something about his being here today, and the way he seemed to have a hold overChloe, how her story seemed to have changed. Nothing out here felt as it should have.
“So, Sammy agreed to come out here and give a demonstration for y’all.” Chloe, too, spoke as if she had not heard what any of us had said and wasn’t trying to talk to any one of us in particular. “Mrs. Belmont would run them off if she had her way. It’s not fair. You can’t make up your mind about something like this if you haven’t even tried it.”
Slowly the colorful balloon began to billow and grow.
“I have to admit, it is beautiful,” I whispered to Maxine.
“So are a lot of things you have no business getting too close to,” Maxine shot back.
“Anyone want to climb in? Ms. Pepperdine?” He, this Sammy with the hard eyes and the slippery charms, held out his hand.
And I confess, it was tempting. Which, right there, set off all kinds of alarm bells in my head. You see, I learned a long time ago not to worry myself overmuch as a Christian about the things that repel me. But the things that I am attracted to, that appeal to me, that even seem to call to me? Those I knew I should be wary of. Not all of them were wrong or sinful, but I should treat them that way until I knew better. Then again, what could be sinful about going up in a tethered hot-air balloon? “Aren’t there permits to worry about? Are you allowed to just…”
“I’ll go.” The Reverend held up his hand and took a long stride forward, leaving Bernadette behind.
“I, uh…” Bernadette blinked and began to raise her hand, as well. “I guess I might like to try it, too, if that would be okay.”
“Maybe Chloe should go, since it is her pet project.” TheReverend reached out to the girl in the Goth-ish getup, seemingly totally oblivious to the look of disappointment that flashed over Bernadette’s face.
“Sure. Why not?” And just that fast, Chloe seized the door to the big upright basket and jerked it open.
“Do you really think you should do this?” I asked Reverend Cordell, meaning taking the balloon ride, because of my own concerns about safety. Okay, and also asking—in that way women have of asking one thing but meaning another and then expecting the men to pick up on the undercurrent, which they never do so it’s really a waste of everyone’s time—if he really should pick Chloe over Bernadette.
“You didn’t see the grip that kid had on Chloe’s arm.” Jake leaned in close, a calming smile barely playing over his lips. “If someone doesn’t go along with this, I think he might hurt her later.”
My stomach turned. I felt ashamed. I’d focused so much energy on trying to set up Bernadette, I hadn’t kept an open mind or an open spirit about young Chloe. The girl
Another burst of flame underscored her impassioned declaration.
Again Maxine and I stepped back.
Jake held his ground.
Bernadette alone moved forward. “I don’t think your being here on a nonmarket day is a good idea, Sammy. There could be problems with insurance, and…Does your boss know you’re here?”
“It’s all perfectly safe.” Sammy neither answered Bernadette’s questions nor looked at her directly.
I studied him for a moment. In cutoffs and a T-shirt, without flyers in his hand or the crush of the crowd around him, he seemed younger, somehow. And older, too—or more experienced, to be precise. But just at what I couldn’t have said. Leaner and harder than the mental picture I carried of him. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him menacing. Yet, when he turned his cocky gaze on me this time, I had the urge to clutch my pocketbook a little tighter.
Don’t be one of those people who makes up her mind about someone in less time that it takes a marketing-whiz kid to peddle you a tooth-whitening system. My mind spoke reason. But my skin crawled, just a little. There was something about his being here today, and the way he seemed to have a hold overChloe, how her story seemed to have changed. Nothing out here felt as it should have.
“So, Sammy agreed to come out here and give a demonstration for y’all.” Chloe, too, spoke as if she had not heard what any of us had said and wasn’t trying to talk to any one of us in particular. “Mrs. Belmont would run them off if she had her way. It’s not fair. You can’t make up your mind about something like this if you haven’t even tried it.”
Slowly the colorful balloon began to billow and grow.
“I have to admit, it is beautiful,” I whispered to Maxine.
“So are a lot of things you have no business getting too close to,” Maxine shot back.
“Anyone want to climb in? Ms. Pepperdine?” He, this Sammy with the hard eyes and the slippery charms, held out his hand.
And I confess, it was tempting. Which, right there, set off all kinds of alarm bells in my head. You see, I learned a long time ago not to worry myself overmuch as a Christian about the things that repel me. But the things that I am attracted to, that appeal to me, that even seem to call to me? Those I knew I should be wary of. Not all of them were wrong or sinful, but I should treat them that way until I knew better. Then again, what could be sinful about going up in a tethered hot-air balloon? “Aren’t there permits to worry about? Are you allowed to just…”
“I’ll go.” The Reverend held up his hand and took a long stride forward, leaving Bernadette behind.
“I, uh…” Bernadette blinked and began to raise her hand, as well. “I guess I might like to try it, too, if that would be okay.”
“Maybe Chloe should go, since it is her pet project.” TheReverend reached out to the girl in the Goth-ish getup, seemingly totally oblivious to the look of disappointment that flashed over Bernadette’s face.
“Sure. Why not?” And just that fast, Chloe seized the door to the big upright basket and jerked it open.
“Do you really think you should do this?” I asked Reverend Cordell, meaning taking the balloon ride, because of my own concerns about safety. Okay, and also asking—in that way women have of asking one thing but meaning another and then expecting the men to pick up on the undercurrent, which they never do so it’s really a waste of everyone’s time—if he really should pick Chloe over Bernadette.
“You didn’t see the grip that kid had on Chloe’s arm.” Jake leaned in close, a calming smile barely playing over his lips. “If someone doesn’t go along with this, I think he might hurt her later.”
My stomach turned. I felt ashamed. I’d focused so much energy on trying to set up Bernadette, I hadn’t kept an open mind or an open spirit about young Chloe. The girl
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