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Show second floor. "I wish your dad was here. " said Mrs. Long wistfully. Kim stared at the array of fathers, many in striped ties and blazers, who were shepherding their daughters around the large hall. The nicest suit of clothes Kim could remember her father wearing was a suede jacket and a pair of leather cowboy boots he wore to the Community Church on Sundays. A lump settled in Kim's throat as she thought of sitting in church pressed against his soft coat, her head on his shoulder. Had her father been here, he would have been carrying her suitcases and signing forms and taking care of all these details too. Now, everything depended on her and her mother. Finally, Kim spotted a bulky, but well corested woman who was handing out mimeographed sheets to a student. "That fat lady behind the desk looks kind of official," said Kim. "Why don't you ask her where we're suppossed to go." Mrs. Long stood for a moment eyeing the elderly woman. Then, gathering her courage, she left Kim standing with the suitcases on a worn Persian carpet while she approached the lady. As her mother was introducing herself, Kim stepped just close enough to the woman to notice tiny red veins running through her puffy cheeks. The woman, Miss Dennis, spoke with a hoarse, whiskey voice. Kim overheard her telling her mother that she had just come from the University of Maryland where she had been a resident counselor for one of the boy's dorms. At Miss Putnam's she was the resident counselor for the freshmen. Kim 15 |
