I looked at Mrs. Bledsoe, who nodded, and then I went in to see Mother. I sat with her and talked about school. Sometimes she listened, sometimes she just stared as if she were alone and heard nothing. I kept expecting Cassie, but she never came up. Finally, Mrs. Bledsoe came in and told me I should just let Mother rest now. She said she would sit with her and that I shouldn’t worry. I thanked her, kissed Mother, and left. I thought I would go directly to my room to do my homework, but when I came to the stairway, I heard the sound of Cassie’s laughter. It was coming from the living room. Curious, I went down to see.
She was sitting with Daddy, who was sipping some coffee. They both turned to me when I entered. The way Cassie was looking at me made me feel as if I had interrupted two adults having an adult conversation. Whatever it was, it wasn’t for my ears.
“How was she?” Daddy asked quickly.
I told him how she did seem to drift in and out.
“Mrs. Bledsoe assures me it’s not unusual. In a few days, Dr. Moffet will stop by. Cassie was just telling me about some of the amusing and ridiculous things that happened in school today. I must say we have to reconsider the idea of a private school for you two. I imagine you’d like that.”
“Maybe,” I said. He looked surprised.
“She’ll like it, I’m sure,” Cassie said. “For now, you’d better see to your homework. I’m too busy to go over it with you, Semantha. It takes her longer when I don’t help her,” she explained to Daddy. He nodded.
That wasn’t completely true. It was only when I had some difficult math. I started to say something, but she turned away and whispered something to Daddy that made him laugh. Frustrated, I turned away and went upstairs.
Cassie didn’t come up until much later, and she didn’t stop by my room. I heard her go into hers and close the door. I finished my homework and went to bed. I fell asleep quickly but was woken in the middle of the night by the sound of some commotion. It was just before three in the morning. I heard Cassie’s voice and quickly got out of bed, terrified that something had happened to Mother.
Daddy was in the hallway. He was in his robe and slippers. Cassie, in her nightgown, was listening to him. I hurried to see what was happening.
“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with Mother?” I asked, holding my breath and pressing my hand over my heart.
“No,” Cassie said. “It’s Mrs. Bledsoe.”
“She thinks she might have a bad case of the stomach flu,” Daddy said. “It’s terrible, Semantha. My fault. I should have made sure everything she needed was in that bedroom and bathroom.”
“What do you mean, Daddy?”
He shook his head.
“Mrs. Bledsoe has the runs,” Cassie said, “and there was apparently no toilet paper or tissues. She’s messed herself the way some of her patients do. It’s quite unpleasant.”
“But … I thought …”
She turned back to Daddy. “If she might have the flu, Daddy, it’s very dangerous for Mother in her run-down state. I’ll see to Mrs. Bledsoe, but you should make immediate arrangements to send her home. Don’t worry. I’ll stay home tomorrow and take care of Mother.”
Daddy was very flustered. He actually started in one direction and then went in another. “It’s so late. We can’t send her home in the middle of the night like this,” he decided.
“She’s a nurse, Daddy. I would think she would be all right.”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t even like you going in there now. Flu can be very infectious, and you could carry it into your bedroom and infect Mother.”
He nodded. “But you …”
“I won’t stay long, and I will be careful not to get too close to her or touch her.”
She went to the hall closet and gathered up toilet paper and tissues and some clean towels and washcloths.
“Go back to Mother, Daddy. I’m sure she’s disturbed. I can handle this.”
“Yes, I …”
“I’ll handle this,” Cassie said firmly. “Go on.”
Suddenly, Daddy looked like a little boy eager to obey his mother. He nodded and went to his bedroom door. He paused there and looked back.
“Go on, take care of Mother. That’s more important,” Cassie insisted.
He nodded again and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
“I thought you said you were in her bedroom checking that she had everything she needed, Cassie.”
She looked at me a moment. In the dim hall light, her slight smile looked like a devil’s grin. “I must have overlooked things. You can go to sleep, too, Semantha. Unless Daddy takes you to school, you’ll have to go on the bus again,” she said, and went to Mrs. Bledsoe’s bedroom door. She squeezed her nose and smiled at me and then went inside, closing the door behind her.
I stood there, amazed. I could never do what she was about to do.
However, Cassie was going to get what she wanted. Mrs. Bledsoe would be gone. I started back to my room, worrying, of course, that Mother might not have the medical attention she needed. Maybe Daddy would hire a new private-duty nurse tomorrow, I thought, and that gave me some comfort. But when I stepped into my bedroom, I also thought Cassie would persuade him not to bother. She was usually very successful when it came to persuading him to do one thing or another.
I started to get back into bed but stopped.
How convenient it was that Mrs. Bledsoe, of all people, had contracted a stomach flu. Cassie was somehow to blame for this, I thought. But even if Cassie had deliberately taken all of the toilet paper and tissues out of the bathroom before, how did she know Mrs. Bledsoe would have such a nasty flu?
The answer exploded in my head. I froze with my blanket in my hand.
Then I quietly left my room and tiptoed through the hallway and down the stairs. When I flipped on the kitchen light, I really didn’t know what to look for or where to look, but I went to the garbage compactor and rifled through some of the refuse. I saw the first one and plucked it out. It was an emptied laxative capsule. I knew what they were. I had once been given one. I opened the cabinet we used for our medicines and saw the bottle. It was nearly empty.
Staring at it, I recalled how Cassie had doled out everyone’s meal and then had gone back to get Mrs. Bledsoe more meat loaf.
It stunned me.
“What are you doing?” I heard Cassie ask.
My heart jumped in my chest when I turned and saw her standing in the kitchen doorway.
“Why aren’t you in bed?”
She stepped into the kitchen, her eyelids narrowing and her shoulders rising.
Without accusing Cassie of anything, I said, “She’ll find out she doesn’t have the flu, Cassie.”
“Of course, she has the flu, Semantha. It can’t be food poisoning. You and I ate the same things, and we’re fine. She agrees. She’s just about packed. The taxi is arriving any minute to take her away.”
She moved closer to me, seeming to grow taller, wider.
“It’s best for all of us, Semantha. You agree, don’t you? Don’t you?”
I looked at the medicine cabinet and then at her. Her eyes followed my moves, but then she stuck her gaze on my face. I nodded.
“Good. Then go to sleep. Everything’s okay. I’ll see that everything is just fine. I’ll have your breakfast ready, too. Good night,” she said, closing the medicine-cabinet door. She folded her arms across her breasts and stared at me until I turned and hurried out of the kitchen.
I hurried up, taking two steps at a time and gasping at the top. I didn’t stay there long. All I wanted to do was get back into my bedroom before Mrs. Bledsoe appeared. I knew I couldn’t look into her face without crying.
And if there was one thing I was afraid to do right now, it was cry.
Cassie wouldn’t like it.
Sedated
DESPITE THE LITTLE sleep Cassie had, she was up ahead of me and very bright and energetic in the morning. I had heard Mrs. Bledsoe leave her room and go
down the stairs during the night. I had gone to my door and listened harder and heard Cassie, too. She sounded very pleasant and concerned for her. Mrs. Bledsoe kept thanking her.
“I’m bringing Daddy and Mother’s breakfast up to them,” Cassie told me. “Everything you need for your breakfast is right here on the counter.”
“Does Mother know about Mrs. Bledsoe?”
“Daddy told her last night. She wasn’t very upset about it. I knew she wasn’t fond of having her. I can see a change in her already.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Being under that added tension only harmed her recuperation. It was too stressful. Hurry and eat, and then go up to say good-bye for the day. You have to make the bus, Semantha, and the clock doesn’t wait for anyone,” she added, which was one of Daddy’s favorite expressions.
She fixed the tray and left. What Cassie had done to Mrs. Bledsoe frightened me, but, like her, I did feel things were more normal in our home. Because we had never had sleep-in help or even part-time house help as long as I could remember, we were closer than most wealthy families who had servants. Perhaps Mother was right about that. Whenever something made one of us unhappy, the rest of us felt it and reacted and were not ashamed to show it. There was no one here to make us feel embarrassed about our emotions, and nothing about our personal lives could become fodder for gossip.
After school and on weekends, when Daddy, Cassie, and I were here with Mother, our house was more like a protective cocoon. Thinking about all of that now convinced me that Cassie was right when she said there was something special about us, about the Heavenstones. We were like four parts of one person. No family members felt the blood of their ancestors running through their veins as much as we did and only because we were in this great house, this monument to our heritage. When I was younger, I believed I saw different expressions on the faces of our ancestors. I’d glance at a portrait and think, she just smiled at me or winked at me. The house and all that was in it was as alive as we were. It wasn’t something I would tell anyone else, but I still had those feelings.
I thought about this as I ate my breakfast, and it had the effect of calming me. Things were tumbling back to the way they had been. It was as if the past months had been erased. It was like the day before Daddy had announced Mother’s pregnancy at dinner. Happy and energetic again, I hurried up to Mother and Daddy’s bedroom. Cassie hadn’t come down. Daddy, already dressed in his light-blue suit and tie, was standing by the window sipping some coffee. Mother was sitting up, and Cassie was standing by her bed, overseeing everything and looking as if she was in total charge.
“As you can see,” she said the moment I entered, “unlike yesterday, Mother has eaten most of her eggs this morning.” She nodded at Mother’s nearly empty dish. “Mrs. Bledsoe might be a good nurse, but she’s certainly no cook.”
“What a dreadful thing to happen,” Mother said when I kissed her good morning. “That poor woman.”
“It’s a wonder more medical personnel don’t get sick, being around so many infected people. More people get sick in hospitals than out of them,” Cassie said, and Daddy nodded.
“Still, I’m not happy about your missing so much school, Cassie,” Daddy told her.
“Don’t you spend a second worrying about that, Daddy. I’ll arrange for Semantha to pick up my work. I usually do the week’s work in one day, anyway. Mother,” she added, looking at her, “shouldn’t need more than a few more days, and then she’ll be on her feet again.”
“We’ll see what Dr. Moffet says. He’ll be upset about Mrs. Bledsoe and want me to hire someone new.”
“Once he stops by and sees how well I’m taking care of her, he’ll change his mind, Daddy,” Cassie insisted. “I can make sure she’s well fed, much better fed, and rested and takes her medications just as well as Mrs. Beldsoe could. We already see how Mother likes my cooking better.”
Daddy shook his head and smiled. “What am I to do with such a daughter, Arianna?”
Mother forced a small, short smile and then took a deep breath. “That’s all I can eat, honey,” she told Cassie.
“One more bite, Mother, and please finish your juice. As Mrs. Bledsoe would say, you need your vitamin C if you want to get well faster.”
Mother smiled a real smile this time. In fact, it was the best smile I had seen on her face since she had gone to the hospital.
“Now I know what an ogre you girls thought I was when I would pester you to finish when you girls were sick,” she said.
Daddy laughed. “Cassie did sound like you for a moment there. I’m off, gang. Final preparations for the gala opening. I’ll call you as soon as I hear from Dr. Moffet, Arianna,” he said, and leaned down to kiss her. For a moment, they just looked at each other. I saw how Mother’s lips were starting to tremble. “Now, don’t keep thinking about it,” he whispered. He held her against him. Her whole body shuddered.
I looked at Cassie. She seemed disgusted, shook her head, picked up the tray, and started out. “You’d better get moving. You’ll miss the bus,” she told me.
Daddy seemed unable to release Mother. He held her against him so long it brought tears to my eyes. He didn’t let her go until I said, “I’m off.”
I rushed to kiss Mother good-bye and then hurried out after Cassie. She was still descending the stairs and waited for me to catch up.
“I can’t help crying every time I look at them, Cassie.”
“Cry if you want to, but do it in private. One more mourner in this house, and we’ll be able to register as a funeral home.” She paused on the stairs. “I’ll have my teachers send my work to the office. You’ll have to speak to that horrible Mrs. Whitman. She can be very nosy, so if she asks you anything, just stare at her without answering and leave.”
“Can you really miss all this work in school?”
At the bottom of the stairs, she paused. “I’ll tell you a secret, Semantha, and you know how I feel about keeping our secrets.”
I nodded.
“I intend to quit school.”
“What?”
“I’ve been thinking more and more about Daddy and our business ever since I began studying the paperwork in his office. He needs me now, especially now. As I’ve said, Uncle Perry is in his own world and of no help when it comes to administrative matters.”
“Quit? But everyone says you will be the valedictorian.”
“How would something like that compare to what I can do for Daddy? Do you think I’m that selfish, that egotistical?”
“No, but won’t he be very upset?”
“In the beginning, but once he sees how valuable I can be to him, he’ll change his mind.” She looked up the stairs. “With Mother a real burden now, he needs me more than ever.”
She stared up silently.
“He should have left for work already,” she whispered. “She’s dragging him down.”
I stood there, shocked and confused by her words. Suddenly, she turned to me, looking as if she thought I had been spying on her or something.
“Get moving. You’ll miss the bus!”
I hurried out, my heart thumping even before I started to run down the driveway. The things she had just told me, especially about her quitting school, were too shocking to put aside, even when I got on the bus and the girls were jabbering with exciting news about the upcoming school party and Billy Stanton, a boy in my class, getting into a car accident last night. He wasn’t hurt, but he had been drinking, and he had missed a turn and gone crashing into the wall at a gas station. The chatter was finally too overwhelming to ignore.
At the beginning of my last class of the day, my teacher was given a note that I should go directly to the general office at the bell. I knew that was for Cassie’s schoolwork. Of course, I wondered why she even wanted it if she was really going to quit school to work with Daddy. Maybe she was just fantasizing, I thought. Maybe she didn’t mean it.
She was right about Mrs. Whitman. As soon as she saw me, she wanted
to know if anything was wrong at home. I did as Cassie commanded and stared at her silently. It obviously unnerved her. She handed Cassie’s work to me and turned away quickly. I smiled to myself and hurried to make the bus. I can learn so much from Cassie, I thought. No matter how mean to me she seems to be sometimes, I should remember that. Few of my friends had an older brother or sister even willing to help them as much as Cassie was willing to help me.
Overall, it had been another good day for me. The friendliness I had felt the day before had continued in school. Kent was now pressuring me to meet him at the mall movie theater on Friday night. I didn’t want to use Mother’s condition as any sort of excuse, but more important, I really did want to meet him. I still felt guilty about the way I had behaved at Eddie’s party. I told Kent I would try.
“Try hard,” he said.
“What about Megan?” I asked.
“Megan? Megan who?” he replied, and I laughed.
I couldn’t remember when I had felt better about myself and the school. This was why I had hesitated when Daddy had suggested he might put us in a private school. Now, if Mother just improved and we got back to where we had been as a family, life would be perfect.
The chatter on the bus ride home was just as loud and excited as it had been on the way to school. At least four of my girlfriends wanted to call me in the evening. I felt as if I had been woken out of a Rip Van Winkle sleep and was finally in this world. With a bounce in my step and a smile on my face, I hurried home from the bus stop, eager to see how Mother was doing. Cassie seemed to be waiting for me at the door.
“How is she?” I asked immediately.
“Resting comfortably. Dr. Moffet came by during his lunch hour. Daddy told him about Mrs. Bledsoe’s abrupt departure.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Mother’s problems are now more psychological than physical, anyway, so it wasn’t important whether Mrs. Bledsoe was here or not, considering the good job I’m doing.”
“Psychological?”
“Exactly. Just as I told you, she’s never going to be the same.”