Free The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti

It's got dancing vegetables on it. It's not like you threw the knives. You know,
then we'd have an issue." I swear, Mom could feel bad for days about things we
never even realized happened.
    "When does she ever dust? She never dusts. I never dust. I've had that can of lemon Pledge practically since we
moved in. The bottom is all rusty. I've just been so stressed lately. God." She
looks like she might cry.
    "You know my friend Liz?" I say. "Art class?
The cool one that moved from Oregon? Her mother's going through menopause too.
You should hear her talk about it--it's hilarious. Her mother tells her, 'We
never spend time together anymore! Where are you? We're growing apart!' And then
when Liz makes a point to be around the house, her mom says, 'What are you doing
home? You need to get a job!' Liz says she comes downstairs and sees her mom
standing in front of the open refrigerator, just staring."
    "Indigo, jeez. Would you quit with the
menopause thing? I'm too young for menopause. You can be over forty and just be
a bitch." Her guilt is disappearing, deflating, as if it has been punctured. I
like her better like this.
    We reach Carrera's, and I haul my backpack up
and open the car door. "Have a good day," Mom says. "I'll, you know, try to keep
the hot flashes down to a minimum."
    "No throwing oven mitts at work," I
say.
    Trina's car is parked at the curb, but
something horrible catches my eye.
Red-block-letters-on-black-
plastic-rectangle horrible. A sign in the
Thunderbird's window: for sale.
    I shove open the cafe door, clattering the
bells so loudly that Jack leaps to his feet and gives a woof of
alarm.
    61
    "Tell me I didn't see what I thought I saw," I
say. "In the Thunderbird," Joe says.
    "You saw what you thought you saw," Jane says.
"Easy on the bells, huh, Indigo?"
    "We all saw," Nick Harrison says.
    Trina rips the top off of two sugars and pours
them into her coffee. She's wearing this white cape, with white leather pants.
The emerald ring from Roger that she used to wear on her left hand is gone. "For
Christ's sake, you people are more attached to that car than I am."
    "I'm sorry, but you cannot, I mean cannot, sell that car," I say.
    "If it's a matter of money," Joe says, "we can
help you. Not that I have any myself, but we could all pull
together--"
    "Hey, I'll have a bake sale," I say.
"Anything--"
    "It is not a matter of money," Trina
says. I didn't think it was. Trina exhales the scent of cash. "I just want to
rid myself of any reminder of Roger."
    "That was two weeks ago, already," I
say.
    "God, Indigo, two weeks is nothing," Trina says.
    "I'm still not over Victoria," Jane says. "That
was six months ago."
    "She was too controlling anyway," Funny Coyote
says. "You could tell by the way she bossed you around."
    "Yeah, you know, Jack never liked her. That
should have told me all I needed to know right there.... A bad sign," Jane says,
and sighs.
    "I'll never be over my wife ... ," Nick says.
"Well." He clears his throat.
    We are quiet for a moment, except for Luigi.
"Way down among the Brazilians, coffee beans grown by the billions ..."
he
    62
    sings softly. Finally Trina says, "I'm getting
rid of everything that makes me think Roger. The car, the leopard throw
rug, my diaphragm--"
    "Thank you oh so much for the diaphragm
status," I say. I bring Nick his orange juice and Funny her eggs and pancakes
and bacon. Extra napkins, like she likes. Leroy must be sleeping late
again.
    "I changed the message on my answering machine.
Not that I'm under any illusion that he's going to call or anything. But if he
comes running back ... I had my neighbor record it for me. He says, 'You've
reached Pizza Hut. Today order a large special and get an order of cheesy bread
sticks free.'"
    "Roger was controlling too," Funny
says.
    "No, he wasn't! You never even met him!" Trina
says.
    "You said he told you what to wear," Funny
says. "High heels. That's control."
    "If Trevor ever told