Perfect Girl - Weebly
Perfect Girl - Weebly Perfect Girl - Weebly
to hold twelve in blackjack.” A chuckle bounces through the air. Mom smiles gently. “This past week, I’ve come to realize that Mr. Arthur taught me the one lesson I’ve needed to learn for years. He taught me what family means.” The word family hangs in the air like the Goodyear blimp. Since Mr. Arthur died, I’ve been thinking about family, too. About my dad. I’d never be at his funeral. Could you even call yourself a “family” if the only thing your father ever gave you was his DNA? “The day before he passed,” Mom goes on, “Mr. Arthur and I were sitting right here in this garden. He told me that the one true thing he’d learned about family was that it didn’t have much to do with blood. ‘Family,’ he said, ‘are the folks who stand by you when you don’t realize you can’t stand by yourself.’ ” Mom looks directly at Aunt Marty with tears in her eyes. “I’ve been a fool,” she says so softly it’s less than a whisper. Still, Aunt Marty and I both hear her clearly. Amazingly, I see her clearly, too. For the first time ever, I see a woman who has been hurt by life, a person who’s trying to figure out who she is and how she fits in. Just like me. Mom says, “For opening my eyes, and for the many years Mr. Arthur was a kind, gentle member of our family, I will forever be grateful.” 180
As I look at my mother standing there—the woman I’ve spent a lifetime trying not to be—I’m shocked to feel what I’m feeling. There, before my very eyes, my own mother morphs into a pretty cool person after all. 181
- 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 and 174: twenty minutes, then twenty-five. I
- Page 175 and 176: the blood throbbing through my temp
- 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: my head: For fourteen years, I’ve
- 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
As I look at my mother standing there—the woman I’ve<br />
spent a lifetime trying not to be—I’m shocked to feel what<br />
I’m feeling. There, before my very eyes, my own mother<br />
morphs into a pretty cool person after all.<br />
181
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