Free What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell Page A

dinner and staring out the window at the moon. It seemed impossible that I could get through it without him.
    He drove up to the hotel and parked. When he came around to open the door for us, he leaned in before we got out.
    "Thank you for the company, ladies. Let's do it again."
    Mom got out of the car and I followed, embarrassing myself by sticking to the seat as I tried to wiggle over. I tried to swing my legs out gracefully, the way Mom had.
    Mom put out her hand, and he shook it.
    "Thanks for the movie," she said. "And the keen soda."
    "Anytime."
    "Well," Mom said, slipping her hand out of Peter's, "I think I'll go for a walk down Worth Avenue and see if I can find a store that's open."
    "I'll come," I said.
    She shook her head. "Homework time."
    I couldn't believe she'd brought up homework in front of Peter. I couldn't believe my parents had made me bring books to Florida in the first place. Furious, I watched as she walked off, her chiffon scarf trailing from her hand.
    "You're a peach, Evie Spooner," Peter said.
    And then he waited, just like in the movies, to watch me walk up the stairs into the hotel. When I turned around he was still looking. Behind him, my mother continued down the middle of the empty street, her scarf fluttering like some exotic tropical bird.

Chapter 13
    All afternoon after the movie I lay on my bed and dreamed in a haze of heat. I built a future with Peter using geography and hope. He lived in Oyster Bay — a huge distance from Queens, and not just in miles. Out there they had lawns and big white houses and not a luncheonette in sight. But he had a car.
    It was cocktail time and Mom wasn't back yet. I went to the connecting door and peeked in. Joe had changed his shirt and combed back his hair. As he waited, he smoked a cigarette and tapped his knee with his fingers in a constant Gene Krupa drum solo. He didn't seem in the mood for company.
    Joe's impatience kept rolling through the open door. I could hear the drumming, hear him stub out another cigarette. Finally I heard him pick up the phone and call the front desk. He asked for Mom, then grunted, which meant she wasn't back yet.
    "In another minute I'm calling out the marines, Evie!" he shouted cheerfully at me.
    The tone in his voice gave me the nerve to ask the question I was dying to have him answer. We were stuck together waiting for Mom, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.
    I hovered in the doorway between our rooms. "What was Peter like during the war?" I asked, trying to make it sound like I was just making conversation.
    Joe looked at me strangely. "Why are you asking?"
    "No reason. I just never met a buddy of yours from the war."
    "He wasn't a buddy. He just thinks he was. I didn't really know him. That's all I can tell you."
    That wasn't much to go on. I wanted to ask another question, but I heard the click of her heels through the louvered door.
    She walked in, her hair loose now and around her shoulders, carrying the ugliest vase I've ever seen. It was bright yellow and green, in the shape of a pineapple.
    "What in the name of Sam Hill is that?" Joe asked.
    Mom put it on the dresser. "A present for Grandma Glad." She smoothed her hair in the mirror.
    "Bev, for crying out loud, it's past six. Where have you been?"
    "I got my hair done. You never notice. And I did a little shopping." Mom came over and bent down to kiss me. I smelled Life Savers on her breath — and, behind that, something sweet. "Arlene told me about some of her favorite places."
    Joe gave a doubtful look at the vase. "She should get out more."
    Mom went into the bathroom to change. "Well, you're being an awful sourpuss."
    "I wanted to talk to you. I have big news. Evie, this news is for you, too." Joe gave a dramatic pause as Mom came out of the bathroom in her slip. She tossed her white skirt and blouse on the floor of the closet.
    Joe continued, "I had a very interesting afternoon with Tom. We're talking about going into business together."
    "Oh." Mom