Bridge to a Distant Star - Carolyn Williford [5]
Maureen looked from one daughter to the other in exasperation and disappointment. After Colleen was born, she and Bill had tried for ten years to have another child—years of bargaining and pleading with God to put another baby in their arms. Their prayers were finally answered when Aubrey joined their little family. Bill and Maureen were convinced that compliant, easy-going, sweet-tempered Colleen—about to enter the “turbulent teens,” as friends had called it—would welcome her new sibling with nothing but loving acceptance and unbounded joy.
Had they merely been delusional? Or totally out of their minds?
“Aubrey, did you go into Colleen’s room? You know you’re not supposed to be in your sister’s room without her permission.”
Aubrey reached for a handful of her mother’s sweatshirt as she gazed up at her. Her security seemed tied to a need to clutch things—satin on the edge of a blanket, the hem of her dresses (to her mother’s exasperation, as Aubrey repeatedly revealed her own underwear), her daddy’s pocket (she could reach just that high), and of course, the ever-present Rabbit. She whispered, “I hada finded Rabbit, Mommy.”
“But why did you think Rabbit was in Collie’s room?” Maureen whispered back.
Aubrey held out her hands, palms up, with eyes wide open in feigned innocence. “’Cause … ’cause I fink he’s hiding in there.”
“See. I told you she’d been in my room. She’s always doing stuff like this and getting away with—”
Trying her best to remain calm, Maureen interrupted. “Colleen, I’m handling it.” She paused, took a breath, and looked at her eldest daughter. “How about you go read the first part of John 8? It’s the passage about throwing the first stone.”
The look Colleen gave Maureen hit like a direct punch to the stomach. “I’m sick of you throwing Bible verses at me, Mother.” The name was saturated with sarcasm and disrespect. “Like you’re one to lay that on me. I heard you talking about Daddy with Miss Mann the other day. I heard what you said about him. And then you act … all loving-like with Daddy. And I heard what you said to Mrs. Esteban, too. You really don’t think they should have another kid, but because they’ve decided God says they should, you’re like, all for it suddenly. That’s sick.”
The accusation made Maureen feel ill, causing her to regret that she hadn’t hung up the phone the instant the girls started arguing. What on earth did I say to Sherry Mann? I can’t remember. Impulsively, Maureen reached out to pull Aubrey into her embrace. “Colleen, I—”
“I know exactly what you’re thinking right now, too,” Colleen spit out with a sneer. “You’re worried about your friends, aren’t you? What they would think of you if they could hear me right now.”
Sickening silence. Maureen opened her mouth to defend herself, but no words came.
“Knew I was right.” Colleen smirked and gave her mother one last disdainful, triumphant look before turning away. She walked down the hallway toward her room. “Here’s the disgusting rabbit.” A thump followed the pronouncement as it was thrown against the wall of the hallway, followed by the slam of her door.
“Mommy?”
A mommy again, not a mo-ther. “Yes, sweetie?”
“Can I get Rabbit now?”
“Sure.”
Lured by the glimpse of a bluebird that had just landed atop the birdhouse, Maureen moved to look out the window. She identified him immediately as a male, for he was a radiant indigo. For a moment, she simply drank in his glorious color, grateful for the respite. But then, distracted by the erratically waving leaves of the palm next to the house, she lifted her gaze to the sky. It was a sickly yellow, the hue that often precedes a major storm.
Though the air conditioner was running—generally a must for Florida’s climate—Maureen still noticed an uncomfortable mugginess. Absentmindedly she ran her fingers through her hair. Pulled a sticky shirt away from her neck and chest and used it to fan sweaty skin. The changing barometric pressure felt as though it were throbbing inside