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Mom circled the block a couple of times, looking for a<br />
place to park. Finally, she gave up and pulled into a pay<br />
garage. She pulled right out, though, when they told her it<br />
would cost more than a hundred dollars to leave her car<br />
there all weekend. Circling again, Mom stopped in front of<br />
Aunt Marty’s.<br />
“Ask your aunt what I should do,” she said, idling in<br />
front of a tall building with a long green awning. “She’s in<br />
apartment twenty-two.”<br />
Before I could unlatch my seat belt, a door man appeared<br />
at the car door. He wore a navy-blue suit with gold buttons.<br />
Even though it was hot out, he wasn’t sweating at all. He<br />
reached for my door with white-gloved hands. When I<br />
finally managed to get out, the doorman smiled and walked<br />
me into the building.<br />
“My aunt is in apartment twenty-two,” I said. “I need<br />
to ask her where my mom should park.”<br />
Nodding, he said, “Wait here.” I watched him go back<br />
out to the curb and talk to my mother. He pointed his glove<br />
down the street, and Mom disappeared.<br />
Aunt Marty’s lobby was gorgeous. It smelled like roses<br />
and wood polish. The marble floor was so shiny I could see<br />
myself in it. There were two elevators, surrounded by brass.<br />
“Mrs. Arenson, right?”<br />
I blinked. Is it possible my mother never told me Aunt<br />
Marty’s last name? Of course it was. I was already eleven,<br />
and I’d only seen her once before, when I was a baby.<br />
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