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Show 7<o 238 THE WESTERN HUMANITIES REVIEW "A litde too free." She broke an egg widi a deft but harder crack than necessary. "Have you washed ?" she asked me. She so obviously wanted me gone mat I stayed. My fadier laughed: "A fine glorious free country and I'd sure hate to cut down on anybody's freedom." "Especially your own." "And die beauty. Isn't natural beauty for everyone ?" "She seems to think so." "Not to mention die convenience. She's so regular I can set my watch by her." 'You can set your watch by the clock in diis house. You want die time, I can give it to you." He laughed harder for some reason, and, as my mother turned from the stove, egg shells in her hand, he took her by the waist, grinning at her. "Come on, sweetheart, I'm not dead yet" And suddenly she smiled up at him. "I hope not." He kissed her and then she looked at me, fiercely now. "Aren't you washing ? And get the girls up, will you?" I had to know then. So later on I looked from the kitchen window on an angle into her bedroom and, just as I thought, saw the edge of the bed where she arose, where undoubtedly she often sat to dress. And my father stood and watched her! Had he no dignity ? I was surprised, shocked, horrified, not to mention ashamed: my own father a window peeper! But I was also jealous diat he'd been getting a better view than I had and I resolved to do better for myself. At thirteen, almost fourteen, I was a horribly unimaginative schemer and sinfully unaware of the world about me. I knew now that I'd seen so little of her because I usually slept later than she did but days passed before it dawned on me that I could probably survive with less sleep, more days before I realized that, since my father awoke punctually without aid and die alarm clock sat upon the sideboard, all I had to do was take it. I did, but with what trembling and palpitations, feeling about as inconspicuous a criminal as Frankenstein's clomping monster. And then another problem: how to hear the thing yet not rouse my twin sisters in the next room ? True, most mornings they had to be shaken awake, but I was certain that the alarm would start them up screaming. So I wrapped it in a towel, dien in my shirt, then added a sweater and a jacket That one I slept through too. So the next night I used only die towel and a sweater, but forgot to pull out the button. I was getting pretty worked up by dien, as feverish as a highschool boy plotting a seduction, but die diird time worked. I flew out of bed, wildly grabbing for the diing before die fire trucks arrived, shut it off and dien crouched diere for five minutes making |