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.And that was last night.I found the quarter in a phone booth.”She polished off the milk, and stuffed the last of the Milky Way into her mouth.Jilly had a million questions, but she didn’t want to ask any of them.If Gwen had run away from home, like she had, she knew the other girl wouldn’t appreciate a bunch of nosy questions, even if she was half-starving.“Would you like to come to my house for dinner?” she asked shyly.“I’m making spaghetti and meatballs.”Gwen licked her lips.“Really?”“Sure.You can even help me.Otto said he hated spaghetti, and then I bragged that mine was special—just so he’d eat it.” Jilly reached down and grabbed the Radio Flyer’s handle.“Besides, it’d be nice to have somebody new to talk to.There’s not much to do at the house.We don’t even have a television.”Gwen moved into place beside her and they started walking together.“Don’t feel bad,” she said.“We didn’t even have electricity where I used to live!”“Really? Why not?”“I lived in a commune.”Jilly’s only experience with the word was a joke Lester used to tell about a bunch of nudists who lived in a hippie commune.“What’s that?”“A place near the foot of White Face Mountain.There’s a bunch of cabins, well, shacks, really, where everyone lived.There was one big one, that’s where everybody got together to eat and socialize, and three other ones where people slept.”“Did you live with your mom and dad?”“The commune doesn’t have mothers and fathers.All the females are the mothers and all the males are the fathers.Sort of shared parenting.Hell, I grew up there and I don’t have the foggiest idea who my biological mother and father are.For all I know, they up and left a long time ago.”Jilly stared at her, stricken at the thought.“That’s what I did, you know.Left.” She reached out and took the wagon from Jilly.“Here, let me pull that thing for a while.”“You ran away?” She figured it was okay to ask once Gwenivere said something.“Not exactly.It’s not like I was a prisoner there.We all just lived together, and were one big goddamn family.” Her voice was flat and empty.Jilly, whose own idea of family teetered somewhere between the Cosbys and the Waltons, could have cried.She wanted to tell Gwen she never knew who her mother was, either, but she hadn’t even told Otto that yet.Besides, just the thought of telling someone was enough to make her stomach flip over and her lips go dry and tight.Jilly swallowed the hard pebble that suddenly formed in her throat.“The commune doesn’t sound like a very good place,” she said.“I think it would be awful to look around and see people who might be your mother, but never be able to find out for sure.”Gwen nodded.“That’s why I left the commune,” she confessed.“I learned the hard way exactly how important a mother a real mother—is to a kid.” She reached down and rubbed her stomach.“I’m going to have a baby.”Jilly’s foot kicked a rock and she stumbled.“When?”“Not for a while.I think maybe some time in December or January.”“Where have you been living?”“Oh, here and there.Mostly camping out; that’s not so different from the commune, except there isn’t a place to heat water and take a bath.I’ve been traveling for over a month; I don’t know why I ended up staying here for a spell.I think it had something to do with the free-access bathroom at the mini-mart, and the library.” She laughed.“Today was the second day I spent in there.That little old librarian was a hoot, wasn’t she? I got a chuckle out of her, even though I probably shouldn’t have teased her about her Golden Rules.”“She was mean!” Jilly said.Gwenivere shrugged.“Not really.That’s her job.Cripes, that job is probably her whole life.I don’t think she has anything else.Remember that, honey, when you get older.If you aren’t careful, you can slide into something that changes who you are inside, and sometimes, you can’t ever crawl out.”Jilly nodded, but she wondered if Gwen’s harsh words were true.She hoped not because she’d been having that slip-sliding sensation ever since she’d walked up to Otto’s house.“That almost happened to me,” Gwen said.She stopped walking and looked intently at Jilly.“Can you keep a secret?”She’d been keeping so many secrets lately, seemed like she didn’t know how to do anything else! But she nodded.“The babies born in the commune—they, well, they sort of belong to the place until they grow up.That’s how they keep the place going.Once commune kids get to be eighteen they can leave if they want to, but most of them don’t go.They’re used to the place; it’s all they’ve ever known.Hell, we even go to school there.” She snorted.“Home-schooled by a bunch of people who never went to a real school! It’s a wonder I can read at all!”Impulsively, Jilly reached out and linked her hand with Gwen’s, and she felt Gwen’s tentative finger-hug response.They started walking again, Gwen pulling the Radio Flyer, their two linked hands swinging freely between them.“Anyway, I’m twenty-one years old now, so, technically, I was able to sneak away.The only problem is the baby’s father—his name’s Kane—if he finds me—”Jilly squeezed her hand.“What’ll happen?”“He’ll try to take me back, at least until the baby is born.” She let go of Jilly’s hand and rubbed her stomach again, as though caressing the fragile life within.“Then they’ll let me go.but the baby will belong to them.I wouldn’t be able to get her out—” she choked up and squeezed her eyes shut for a second— “because not one single person there will say I’m the mother.”Jilly chewed on her bottom lip in dismay.“But—but you would be!”“Not according to them,” Gwen said flatly.“Once the baby is born, all the females are mother, and all the males become father.While I’m pregnant, I’m just a vessel that helps Kane to fulfill one of his duties at the commune.He’s obligated to help bring in new babies, and my leaving reflects badly on him.”“It sounds horrible!” Jilly couldn’t think of anything vile enough to call a group of people who would try to steal somebody’s baby.“You can stay with us,” she offered impulsively.Gwen stopped walking and gave Jilly a hug.“Oh, honey,” she said.“That’s the sweetest thing anybody’s said to me in a long time.” She took off walking again.“But your grandpa isn’t going to want a stranger staying with him.That’s just not right.”Jilly swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.Even though Gwenivere was the older one, she might have been Jilly’s little sister; the top of her head only reached Jilly’s shoulder.“He might not care if a stranger came,” she said softly.Then, more firmly, she said, “If he says it’s okay, will you stay?”Gwenivere blinked her bottle-green eyes at Jilly.“We’ll see,” was all she said.“Now come on.If we’re going to cook a spaghetti dinner, we better get a move on.It’s getting late.”*“That’s the best dang spaghetti I ever ate,” Otto said, his voice teasing.“You two girls must be part Eye-talian!”“Jilly cooked it,” Gwenivere said.“But I agree with you.That’s the most I’ve eaten in a month!”“You look like you haven’t eaten in a month of Sundays,” Otto told her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.And that was last night.I found the quarter in a phone booth.”She polished off the milk, and stuffed the last of the Milky Way into her mouth.Jilly had a million questions, but she didn’t want to ask any of them.If Gwen had run away from home, like she had, she knew the other girl wouldn’t appreciate a bunch of nosy questions, even if she was half-starving.“Would you like to come to my house for dinner?” she asked shyly.“I’m making spaghetti and meatballs.”Gwen licked her lips.“Really?”“Sure.You can even help me.Otto said he hated spaghetti, and then I bragged that mine was special—just so he’d eat it.” Jilly reached down and grabbed the Radio Flyer’s handle.“Besides, it’d be nice to have somebody new to talk to.There’s not much to do at the house.We don’t even have a television.”Gwen moved into place beside her and they started walking together.“Don’t feel bad,” she said.“We didn’t even have electricity where I used to live!”“Really? Why not?”“I lived in a commune.”Jilly’s only experience with the word was a joke Lester used to tell about a bunch of nudists who lived in a hippie commune.“What’s that?”“A place near the foot of White Face Mountain.There’s a bunch of cabins, well, shacks, really, where everyone lived.There was one big one, that’s where everybody got together to eat and socialize, and three other ones where people slept.”“Did you live with your mom and dad?”“The commune doesn’t have mothers and fathers.All the females are the mothers and all the males are the fathers.Sort of shared parenting.Hell, I grew up there and I don’t have the foggiest idea who my biological mother and father are.For all I know, they up and left a long time ago.”Jilly stared at her, stricken at the thought.“That’s what I did, you know.Left.” She reached out and took the wagon from Jilly.“Here, let me pull that thing for a while.”“You ran away?” She figured it was okay to ask once Gwenivere said something.“Not exactly.It’s not like I was a prisoner there.We all just lived together, and were one big goddamn family.” Her voice was flat and empty.Jilly, whose own idea of family teetered somewhere between the Cosbys and the Waltons, could have cried.She wanted to tell Gwen she never knew who her mother was, either, but she hadn’t even told Otto that yet.Besides, just the thought of telling someone was enough to make her stomach flip over and her lips go dry and tight.Jilly swallowed the hard pebble that suddenly formed in her throat.“The commune doesn’t sound like a very good place,” she said.“I think it would be awful to look around and see people who might be your mother, but never be able to find out for sure.”Gwen nodded.“That’s why I left the commune,” she confessed.“I learned the hard way exactly how important a mother a real mother—is to a kid.” She reached down and rubbed her stomach.“I’m going to have a baby.”Jilly’s foot kicked a rock and she stumbled.“When?”“Not for a while.I think maybe some time in December or January.”“Where have you been living?”“Oh, here and there.Mostly camping out; that’s not so different from the commune, except there isn’t a place to heat water and take a bath.I’ve been traveling for over a month; I don’t know why I ended up staying here for a spell.I think it had something to do with the free-access bathroom at the mini-mart, and the library.” She laughed.“Today was the second day I spent in there.That little old librarian was a hoot, wasn’t she? I got a chuckle out of her, even though I probably shouldn’t have teased her about her Golden Rules.”“She was mean!” Jilly said.Gwenivere shrugged.“Not really.That’s her job.Cripes, that job is probably her whole life.I don’t think she has anything else.Remember that, honey, when you get older.If you aren’t careful, you can slide into something that changes who you are inside, and sometimes, you can’t ever crawl out.”Jilly nodded, but she wondered if Gwen’s harsh words were true.She hoped not because she’d been having that slip-sliding sensation ever since she’d walked up to Otto’s house.“That almost happened to me,” Gwen said.She stopped walking and looked intently at Jilly.“Can you keep a secret?”She’d been keeping so many secrets lately, seemed like she didn’t know how to do anything else! But she nodded.“The babies born in the commune—they, well, they sort of belong to the place until they grow up.That’s how they keep the place going.Once commune kids get to be eighteen they can leave if they want to, but most of them don’t go.They’re used to the place; it’s all they’ve ever known.Hell, we even go to school there.” She snorted.“Home-schooled by a bunch of people who never went to a real school! It’s a wonder I can read at all!”Impulsively, Jilly reached out and linked her hand with Gwen’s, and she felt Gwen’s tentative finger-hug response.They started walking again, Gwen pulling the Radio Flyer, their two linked hands swinging freely between them.“Anyway, I’m twenty-one years old now, so, technically, I was able to sneak away.The only problem is the baby’s father—his name’s Kane—if he finds me—”Jilly squeezed her hand.“What’ll happen?”“He’ll try to take me back, at least until the baby is born.” She let go of Jilly’s hand and rubbed her stomach again, as though caressing the fragile life within.“Then they’ll let me go.but the baby will belong to them.I wouldn’t be able to get her out—” she choked up and squeezed her eyes shut for a second— “because not one single person there will say I’m the mother.”Jilly chewed on her bottom lip in dismay.“But—but you would be!”“Not according to them,” Gwen said flatly.“Once the baby is born, all the females are mother, and all the males become father.While I’m pregnant, I’m just a vessel that helps Kane to fulfill one of his duties at the commune.He’s obligated to help bring in new babies, and my leaving reflects badly on him.”“It sounds horrible!” Jilly couldn’t think of anything vile enough to call a group of people who would try to steal somebody’s baby.“You can stay with us,” she offered impulsively.Gwen stopped walking and gave Jilly a hug.“Oh, honey,” she said.“That’s the sweetest thing anybody’s said to me in a long time.” She took off walking again.“But your grandpa isn’t going to want a stranger staying with him.That’s just not right.”Jilly swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.Even though Gwenivere was the older one, she might have been Jilly’s little sister; the top of her head only reached Jilly’s shoulder.“He might not care if a stranger came,” she said softly.Then, more firmly, she said, “If he says it’s okay, will you stay?”Gwenivere blinked her bottle-green eyes at Jilly.“We’ll see,” was all she said.“Now come on.If we’re going to cook a spaghetti dinner, we better get a move on.It’s getting late.”*“That’s the best dang spaghetti I ever ate,” Otto said, his voice teasing.“You two girls must be part Eye-talian!”“Jilly cooked it,” Gwenivere said.“But I agree with you.That’s the most I’ve eaten in a month!”“You look like you haven’t eaten in a month of Sundays,” Otto told her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]