Read Online The Wedding Gift by Kathleen McKenna - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kathleen McKenna
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Charlie died, the Willets'
lawyer had come to our house offering money, not, Daddy said, as a
way of taking responsibility for the house being something called
“ an attractive nuisance ” but as “ hush
money ." Daddy said they only offered the
money so that he would stop telling everyone and their brother in
Dalton how my brother must have been attacked in that house to get
those scratches.
Well, my daddy did not have
any money back then, but he was real proud, so he turned that money
down; I guess he did it so he could keep telling his friends at
Downey’s what a bunch of rich lying assholes the Willets were. But
obviously I did not want to say any of this to George, so I just
lied and said that was how daddy handled his grief, by acting mad
all the time. George, he laughed real sweet and said that maybe his
mama had a secret grief he didn’t know about 'cause she was mad all
the time too. Well I knew to quit when I was ahead, so I didn’t
share my thoughts on what I thought of how and why Miz Bethany
acted like she did all the time.
C hapter 12
Four weeks later, all the
poop in the whole world hit the fan that was my life and I was
about splattered from here to hell.
I was late, maybe only a
few days, but I had never been late before. I told Jessie, of
course, and she was real good about it. She didn’t start in on me
that minute ‘cause she said she was waiting to see how much of a
dumb ass I was. She said she was waiting to “ share her thoughts ” with me until we
established whether or not I was a pregnant dumbass or just a
regular dumbass. I was feeling real scared and humble so I actually
told her ‘ Thank you ’, if you can believe it.
Me and Jessie knew that we
could not just saunter on into the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test
as, if we did that, we might as well just go ahead and take out an
ad in the Dalton Tri-City Weekly, for heaven’s sake. Lurlene's
mama, who was the cashier there, was the biggest damn gossip in
Dalton and that was saying something I’ll tell you.
So, Jessie, she just went
on in there and shoplifted a first response pregnancy kit and two
wet and wild lipsticks, because it was like she said … what the
hell, might as well get her money's worth.
Now anyone alive who wasn’t
a fool should understand why I was glad every day of my life that
Jessie was my best friend. We went back to her house for me to take
the test as I nearly went crazy at the thought of doing such a
thing at my house with my own sweet daddy sitting downstairs all
innocent and still thinking I was his baby girl and all. As my
increasingly horrible luck would have it, Delilah, Jessie’s mama,
was home.
Her real name was Susan,
but starting last year she started telling everyone to call her
Delilah which, if it had been my mama, would have embarrassed me to
my shoes, but if Jessie was, she never let on. So there was
Susan/Delilah sitting there on the couch with a G and T in her hand
and, just like always when she saw me and Jessie together, she had
to act like she was our best friend.
She was all
“ Hey girls, whass up? Ya’ll want a little
drink with your good buddy Delilah? ”
Under normal circumstances,
and not a twelve alarm fire emergency like this, me and Jessie
would have said ‘ Hell,
yeah ’ at the drink offer and then Jessie
would have needled her until we peed ourselves laughing. But this
was not the time.
So Jessie just said like
she was being all serious “ Well hell,
Delilah, much as we would like to just sit here in the living room
at three in the afternoon and start drinking with my mother, I am
afraid I must decline for both of us. Just today Leeann and I went
to an assembly at school and it was all about a program called
Alanon. Do you know what that is, Delilah? ”
Jessie’s mama just shook
her head, her lips tight as a drum.
“ No? Well, I’ll tell ya.
See that Alanon thingy, well shoot it's about family members of
alcoholics and how they can get as messed up as the
lawyer had come to our house offering money, not, Daddy said, as a
way of taking responsibility for the house being something called
“ an attractive nuisance ” but as “ hush
money ." Daddy said they only offered the
money so that he would stop telling everyone and their brother in
Dalton how my brother must have been attacked in that house to get
those scratches.
Well, my daddy did not have
any money back then, but he was real proud, so he turned that money
down; I guess he did it so he could keep telling his friends at
Downey’s what a bunch of rich lying assholes the Willets were. But
obviously I did not want to say any of this to George, so I just
lied and said that was how daddy handled his grief, by acting mad
all the time. George, he laughed real sweet and said that maybe his
mama had a secret grief he didn’t know about 'cause she was mad all
the time too. Well I knew to quit when I was ahead, so I didn’t
share my thoughts on what I thought of how and why Miz Bethany
acted like she did all the time.
C hapter 12
Four weeks later, all the
poop in the whole world hit the fan that was my life and I was
about splattered from here to hell.
I was late, maybe only a
few days, but I had never been late before. I told Jessie, of
course, and she was real good about it. She didn’t start in on me
that minute ‘cause she said she was waiting to see how much of a
dumb ass I was. She said she was waiting to “ share her thoughts ” with me until we
established whether or not I was a pregnant dumbass or just a
regular dumbass. I was feeling real scared and humble so I actually
told her ‘ Thank you ’, if you can believe it.
Me and Jessie knew that we
could not just saunter on into the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test
as, if we did that, we might as well just go ahead and take out an
ad in the Dalton Tri-City Weekly, for heaven’s sake. Lurlene's
mama, who was the cashier there, was the biggest damn gossip in
Dalton and that was saying something I’ll tell you.
So, Jessie, she just went
on in there and shoplifted a first response pregnancy kit and two
wet and wild lipsticks, because it was like she said … what the
hell, might as well get her money's worth.
Now anyone alive who wasn’t
a fool should understand why I was glad every day of my life that
Jessie was my best friend. We went back to her house for me to take
the test as I nearly went crazy at the thought of doing such a
thing at my house with my own sweet daddy sitting downstairs all
innocent and still thinking I was his baby girl and all. As my
increasingly horrible luck would have it, Delilah, Jessie’s mama,
was home.
Her real name was Susan,
but starting last year she started telling everyone to call her
Delilah which, if it had been my mama, would have embarrassed me to
my shoes, but if Jessie was, she never let on. So there was
Susan/Delilah sitting there on the couch with a G and T in her hand
and, just like always when she saw me and Jessie together, she had
to act like she was our best friend.
She was all
“ Hey girls, whass up? Ya’ll want a little
drink with your good buddy Delilah? ”
Under normal circumstances,
and not a twelve alarm fire emergency like this, me and Jessie
would have said ‘ Hell,
yeah ’ at the drink offer and then Jessie
would have needled her until we peed ourselves laughing. But this
was not the time.
So Jessie just said like
she was being all serious “ Well hell,
Delilah, much as we would like to just sit here in the living room
at three in the afternoon and start drinking with my mother, I am
afraid I must decline for both of us. Just today Leeann and I went
to an assembly at school and it was all about a program called
Alanon. Do you know what that is, Delilah? ”
Jessie’s mama just shook
her head, her lips tight as a drum.
“ No? Well, I’ll tell ya.
See that Alanon thingy, well shoot it's about family members of
alcoholics and how they can get as messed up as the
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