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“I don’t know when the bus—” “Just come home.” Then she hangs up. My armpits instantly release a flood. “I’m so dead.” “What did she say?” “She called me Ruth. Aunt Marty never calls me Ruth. I’m going to be grounded for life. I’m deader than dead.” The exhilaration I’d felt all day drains out of my body like air from a punctured bicycle tire. Perry reaches his hand up and pats my shoulder. Ten minutes later, the bus pulls up. Twenty minutes after that, it stops in Odessa. By the time Perry and I say good-bye, it’s closer to seven thirty than seven. I feel flattened and wobbly. “It was so worth it,” Perry says. Yeah, his mother isn’t about to break the sound barrier in his ear. Kissing Perry on the cheek, I turn to leave. He grabs my arm. “Ruthie?” “Yeah?” I face Perry Gould head-on. “You’re my best friend,” he says. For a nanosecond, the world falls away. We’re two space sailors, home from our mission. That’s all that counts. “I know,” I say. “I’m glad.” I don’t want to open the front door. My hand hovers at the knob until I hear voices inside and figure they’ll soon hear 166
the blood throbbing through my temples. Taking a deep breath, deciding to act fearless, I open the door and walk in. “Ruth.” Aunt Marty stands in the center of the living room. Her messed-up hair and red-rimmed eyes instantly let me know I’m in big trouble. “Is that my daughter?” Mom calls out from the kitchen. I open my mouth and let the words tumble out as soon as Mom walks into the room. “I’m so sorry. Aunt Marty had nothing to do with it. It’s totally my fault. Don’t blame her. Punish me. It’s not her fault. I swear.” Mom looks as haggard as Aunt Marty does. “I’ll do anything to make it up to you, Mom, anything. I’ll do laundry, the dish—” “Ruthie.” Mom moves close to me, puts both arms around my shoulders, and gently says, “Mr. Arthur died today.” My legs suddenly feel like oatmeal. My mother and her sister rush to my side just as my knees hit the floor. 167
Page 3:
Mary Hogan
Page 6 and 7:
15 IF AUNT MARTY WEREN’T SMACK IN
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SHE WALKS INTO CLASS TEN MINUTES AF
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“DUCK.” That’s the first word
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“Wasn’t the president’s daugh
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“If it isn’t P. Nerdy in his ga
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IT WAS DELICIOUSLY WARM OUT, ONE OF
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The two of us were trapped in a mat
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you see all four of them? They’re
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MOM HAS HER FEET PROPPED UP ON OUR
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Mom—her kinky reddish-gray curls
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ping powerhouse, Odessa, Delaware,
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when I’m in love with a boy who h
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four, but it felt like forty. We le
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a giant looping ramp. Suddenly, I s
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and Destruction” lectures. “Eve
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Before I could figure out what to s
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I laughed, too. Tried to look as ca
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“Do you have these in red?” she
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what everyone else did. “These cr
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sure they’d been ironed. Everythi
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in front of other males, about not
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“WE CAME ALL THIS WAY FOR A DAY ?
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“Who told you?” my mother asked
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The last thing I saw were Aunt Mart
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Far back in the corner of my closet
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emember it. Like the soft, warm com
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asking Aunt Marty for advice about
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un both hands down the front of her
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Mom is speechless. Her hair is a kn
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She slams the freezer door shut in
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WE’RE TOO LATE. BY THE TIME I BRI
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“We have company!” he exclaims.
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ack). He’d round a corner, wearin
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I’d say, “Sure,” without worr
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I wiggle my freshly painted toenail
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“Thanks,” I say, calling after
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But—and this is a humongous but
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Arthur turned into a puppy. I kept
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IF AUNT MARTY WEREN’T SMACK IN TH
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the wall that separates the living
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about your birth.” “What have y
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“She was the only member of my fa
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Quietly, she repeats, “There is o
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Swiveling, she turns her back on me
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corn. I want to bury my face in it
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“Check this out,” Perry says, s
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We sit. On the white couch. Like tw
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Aunt Marty steps back and watches o
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“I want my daughter to be prepare
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AUNT MARTY’S CAR SMELLS LIKE HER
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loop of their relationship going. I
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“I know.” Truth be told, it’s
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sunscreen, and something I can’t
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Only, when I see Frankie, she hands
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IT’S THE SMELL OF CINNAMON AND BU
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Aunt Marty beams. She races ahead,
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Lilah impatiently asks, “What siz
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“Nothing,” I say. “Good. Now
Page 123 and 124: Shop, the Gap, Tower Records, Banan
Page 125 and 126: Serrano is as excited to see Celest
Page 127 and 128: “A Cosmopolitan, please,” Aunt
Page 129 and 130: Celeste and Frankie excitedly bob t
Page 131 and 132: ultimate ego trip.” Caressing my
Page 133 and 134: oth heart and soul. Trust me. That
Page 135 and 136: “That’s why I’m here in Odess
Page 137 and 138: IT’S ABOUT NINE O’CLOCK WHEN WE
Page 139 and 140: fill my daughter’s head with garb
Page 141 and 142: “You don’t hate me, Fay. You ha
Page 143 and 144: My mother moves even closer to me,
Page 145 and 146: something in Wilmington, but the st
Page 147 and 148: I can barely breathe. “You busy S
Page 149 and 150: “Props?” “You know, setting s
Page 151 and 152: your nose, one eyebrow or the other
Page 153 and 154: “Tell your mother the truth.” M
Page 155 and 156: THROUGH THE BUS WINDOW, WE BOTH WAT
Page 157 and 158: “Let’s jam!” he shouts. The G
Page 159 and 160: scope out each mouth-watering possi
Page 161 and 162: “We’ll make it,” Perry says w
Page 163 and 164: appears on the pay line, an astrona
Page 165 and 166: “We can’t.” “We must!” I
Page 167 and 168: completely. My body jingles like a
Page 169 and 170: fantasies. The reality of it is . .
Page 171 and 172: that. Things are flying smoothly ag
Page 173: twenty minutes, then twenty-five. I
Page 177 and 178: Aunt Marty brings my mother Little
Page 179 and 180: speaks to the coroner about Mr. Art
Page 181 and 182: emember most about Mr. Arthur. It d
Page 183 and 184: “Me?” At that moment, I realize
Page 185 and 186: of the talking.” Then she added,
Page 187 and 188: my head: For fourteen years, I’ve
Page 189 and 190: As I look at my mother standing the
Page 191 and 192: This year, three weeks after Mr. Ar
Page 193 and 194: last pool of syrup with my last for
Page 195 and 196: much smaller) head. “So do I.”
Page 197 and 198: WE HAVE ONE LAST FAMILY DINNER—TH
Page 199 and 200: makeup somehow remains perfect), Au
Page 201 and 202: in Dover Mall as often as Mom will
Page 203 and 204: “Hey,” he says to me, nodding a
Page 206 and 207: ETERNAL THANKS TO THE AMAZING Amand
Page 208 and 209: THE SERIOUS KISS PRETTY FACE
Page 210 and 211: Copyright PERFECT GIRL. Copyright
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