Melody by V.C. Andrews Page B

and especially Mr. Kile?” He was my favorite teacher.
    â€œBut how will I know where you are?”
    â€œI’ll write as soon as it’s decided. Oh, before I forget, I left my school and library books on the kitchen table in the trailer. Mama Arlene knows. Would you go by and get them and return them for me, please?”
    â€œSure. I can’t believe this.”
    â€œImagine how I feel. You know I hate Archie Marlin,” I said. The operator interrupted to say I needed to put in more change, but all I had left was a nickel. “Good-bye, Alice. Thanks for being my best friend.”
    â€œMelody!” she called as if I were drifting away like a ghost.
    The connection went dead. I stood there holding the mute receiver, afraid to turn and show the motel manager my tears. I took a deep breath, wiped my face with the back of my hand, and cradled the receiver.
    â€œReally raining out there,” the manager commented.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œYou folks come far?”
    â€œSewell.”
    â€œNot that far.”
    I started away.
    â€œYou forgot your can of tonic,” he said nodding toward the can I had left on the shelf by the telephone.
    â€œOh, thanks.” I went back for it and then paused on the way to the door again. “Are you all booked up here tonight?”
    â€œBooked up?” He laughed silently, his shoulders shaking. “Hardly.”
    â€œI thought so,” I muttered to myself and left.
    When I returned to the room, I found Mommy and Archie dancing to music on the radio. Mommy looked embarrassed for a moment, then smiled. “Richard can make even the dreariest situations happy.”
    â€œHere’s your tonic water.” I thrust the can at him.
    â€œThanks, princess,” Archie said. “Any change?”
    I handed him the nickel.
    â€œI needed to call Alice to tell her to get my books,” I said. “We owe you ninety-five cents.”
    â€œPlus interest,” he said winking at Mommy. Then he snapped open the can and poured some into his glass and Mommy’s.
    â€œThere are other empty rooms,” I declared.
    Archie paused with a surprised look painted on his crimson face. “There are? That’s not what baldy in the office told me. Well, how do you like that? He just wanted to get us into a more expensive room, I bet.”
    â€œWouldn’t he be better off renting two?” I asked, snorting.
    â€œNaw. This room is more expensive than two,” he asserted.
    â€œWhat difference does it make now?” Mommy said.
    â€œThe difference is I’m tired.”
    â€œSo go to sleep. We’ll put down the lights for you,” she said and did so. Then she turned the radio low.
    Seeing that I had no other choice, I unbuttoned my blouse with my back to them and took it off. Then I kicked off my shoes, slipped out of my skirt and quickly slid under the blanket. It smelled as if it had been stored in a box of mothballs. I kept my back to them, but I knew they continued to dance, drink their gin, and whisper. I prayed to fall asleep quickly, and miraculously, maybe because I was so exhausted, I did.
    But later in the night, my eyelids snapped open. I heard a soft moan and a subdued giggle, followed by the sound of bed springs squeaking. They thought I was asleep, so I didn’t turn around. I had heard similar sounds before through the thin walls of our trailer. I knew what they meant then and I knew what they meant now.
    How could Mommy let another man put his hands on her and be so intimate with her so soon after Daddy’s death? I wondered. Didn’t she still see Daddy in her mind, hear his voice, remember his lips on hers? Archie Marlin was so different from Daddy, too. He was a weakling. Couldn’t Mommy wait until she met someone with whom she was really in love?
    She was just confused, frustrated, afraid to be alone, Itold myself. Maybe it would all change when we found another place to live and she