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Show CHAPTER SEVEN When Father and I arrived home that evening, Mother was sitting on the front porch, rocking in the way that always told me something was wrong. She rocked hard, her heels coming down on the wood floor every time she tipped forward. Muffin, who would tolerate almost anything to stay in Mother's lap, perched uneasily on the porch railing, her tail twitching. The cat turned to look at us as we climbed out of the car, but Mother ignored us. "Hello, Sweetheart," Father said as he bent to kiss Mother. She put up her hand to stop him and looked up. She stopped rocking. "I want to know what is going on between you two." I stopped on the steps and pulled some dried lilac blossoms off the stem and crumbled them onto the cool dirt below the steps. My stomach pitched uneasily. Father turned to look at me and then back at Mother. "What do you mean, Katherine? Annie's been out with me at the hospital. That's all." "Yes, but why?" For the first time she looked at me. Mother tended to avoid looking at people when she was very angry with them as if the heat she held within her would leap across space and singe her victim. "Annie, you told me this morning that you were going to visit your father. At least, that's what I understood." She began to rock again. |
