And Then There Was One by Patricia Gussin Page A

her all the time.
    She was sitting, staring straight ahead at nothing when her dad came into the room and knelt down in front of her chair. He had a serious look on his face.
    “Jackie, the FBI wants you to go on television with Mom and me. Sure that’s okay?”
    Before she could say, “Yes, that was okay,” he said, “You don’t have to talk. Just let the camera take your picture with us. But if you don’t want to —”
    “I want to, Dad.” Being in there with Mom and Dad would be better than sitting out here.
    “It won’t take long. Come along. I think Mom will want to brush your hair.”
    Jackie didn’t care how long it took. Afterward they had to go back to the FBI. She’d have to listen to more grown-up talk about finding her sisters. They didn’t think she could understand because she was just a kid, but what they said made her stomach hurt. Last night she threw up two times, but didn’t tell her parents.
    Jackie was surprised how hot it was in the studio, and she was embarrassed when a lady in a pink suit offered her a lollipop. She was nine years old, not a baby. When the taping was over, they returned to the FBI building. As they walked through the cool lobby, Jackie noticed a girl a couple of years older than her sitting next to Agent Camry. Jackie slowed to smile at the girl, but she looked aside as if she were shy.
    “Come along, Jackie,” Mom said.
    “Can I wait out here?” Jackie asked, reaching into her backpack for the set of crossword puzzles and mazes that Agent Camry had given her. Maybe she could share the puzzles with the other girl.
    Agent Camry said, “I’ll be happy to look after Jackie, Dr. Monroe.” She got up and held her hand out to Jackie for an adult-like handshake.
    “She’ll be fine, Katie,” her dad said, patting her on the back, making her feel like a nine-year-old rather than a baby.
    Her mom did not argue, and bent to kiss her on the top of her head.
    “Thanks, Mom,” Jackie said, squeezing her eyes shut so she would not cry. Whenever her mother left, she always kissed all three of them like that.
    Agent Camry led Jackie to the chair next to the girl. She was very thin with long black hair and white skin with freckles. That was the one thing Jackie always noticed, the color of people’s skin. She always compared it to hers. She considered her skin “medium.” Halfway between her Mom’s and her Mom’s relatives and her Dad’s and his relatives. She and Alex liked this halfway color. It made them feel comfortable with white people and black people. Lots of people had their color; people who were half black and half white like them, people fromMexico and lots of other places, like Vietnam and Korea and China. But Sammie was different. She always wanted to have darker skin, like Mom’s. She told everybody that she was African American. She disobeyed Mom and even lied about it when Mom made them put on sunscreen. “I want to be black,” she always said. “The best athletes are black.” Jackie always worried that Dad would feel bad, since he was white, but he just laughed and said in his loud voice, “All my daughters will be good athletes, no matter what color they are.”
    As soon as Jackie sat down, she reached into her pack and pulled out a book of mazes. She loved mazes and word games, could do them faster than any of her sisters.
    “Want to work at this?” Jackie handed a booklet to the girl. Then she pulled out two pencils.
    The girl nodded and took one.
    “What’s your name?” Jackie asked.
    “Tina Watkins,” the girl said.
    “I’m Jackie Monroe. Are your mom and dad in there?” Jackie pointed to the door her parents had passed through.
    Tina nodded and asked, “Did your mom or dad get arrested?”
    “What?” Jackie stared at her. “Arrested? Why would they arrest my mom and dad?”
    “Don’t worry,” Agent Camry broke into their conversation.
    “Don’t make my dad go back to jail,” Tina said.
    “Your dad was in jail?” Jackie