Free The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows Page A

you.”
    “You should be grateful,” said Mae. “Some poor little children, all they have to eat is okra and lard sandwiches.”
    “You!” yelped Bird, pointing her chin at Mae’s plate. “You ain’t even had
one
bite. At least—”
    “Bird,” said Jottie. “What have you been doing this morning?”
    Bird scowled. She knew she was being diverted. “Secret,” she said grumpily.
    “Fine. You can have your secret,” said Mae. Bird scowled worse than ever. She had thought they’d try to wheedle it out of her. Mae turned to me. “What about you, Willa?”
    “Geraldine and I are getting ready to fight the Reds,” I said.
    “Oh. You got in,” observed Bird. She swallowed another lump of hash and shivered all over.
    “What Reds?” Jottie asked. She fixed me with her eyes. “Got in where?”
    “Geraldine’s army. Geraldine says that American Everlasting is full of Reds.” I paused to see what effect this announcement would have.
    “She did, did she?” Jottie didn’t seem too worried about the Reds.
    “Yes, and she says the Reds are running Washington and we’ve got to be prepared to fight. Even kids have got to get out and fight the Reds. Says Geraldine.”
    “I swear, I don’t know what possessed Irma to marry that man,” said Mae.
    “It was that suit of his. Remember?” said Minerva. “She even said so at the time.”
    “Now listen here, Willa,” said Jottie, frowning at Minerva and Mae. “There are no Reds at American Everlasting, and the Reds aren’t running Washington, either.”
    “Mr. Roosevelt is running Washington,” said Mae. “You know that.”
    “And just you remember to keep your politics to yourself, young lady,” Jottie said. “You’ll bring the wrath of Cain down on our heads if you go around telling people that American Everlasting is Communist.” She put another forkful of hash in her mouth, and her eyes watered. She swallowed and then smiled. “Though I’d like to see Ralph’s face when he heard it.”
    Minerva and Mae snickered. In earlier days, I might not have noticed, but now I did. “Who’s Ralph?” I asked, as innocent as a baby.
    Jottie lifted one eyebrow. “Mr. Shank, and as for the Communists,” she went on, “maybe they have their reasons. That czar was no great shakes. Drinking champagne when his people had nothing to eat but rotten potatoes. And letting that Rasputin come into the palace with his big burning eyes and dirty hair.”
    “Who’s Rasputin?” I asked.
    “Lionel Barrymore,” said Minerva.
    “Rasputin was a monk who turned his burning eyes on the czarina until the poor woman was hypnotized and handed over the crown jewels. Emeralds and rubies trickled through his fingers like water,” said Jottie, wafting her hands through the air to show trickling. Father said that if Jottie sat on her hands, she wouldn’t be able to talk atall. “The czarina ground up pearls to put in her bathwater, and the poor people trudged through the snow in little felt shoes. I don’t blame them for turning Communist. I don’t blame them a bit.”
    “Yes’m, but…”
    “But what?”
    “You sound like you think they’re all right. The Reds.”
    “I just say they might have their reasons,” Jottie said. “People usually do.”
    “Everybody else hates them.”
    Her eyes glinted. “Whatever gave you the idea we were like everybody else?”
    She was practically admitting she didn’t hate the Reds. Geraldine would blow a gasket if she found out. I sighed. “I wish we were like everybody else. I get real tired of lying.”
    Jottie’s coffee cup froze midway to her mouth.
    I’d hurt her feelings. “That wasn’t what I meant,” I said quick. “That came out wrong.” I took a big bite of hash to show I was sorry.

    Layla peered uncertainly down a dark corridor. “Pardon me?” she called. Nothing happened. She walked along the scarred linoleum until she reached an open door. “Excuse me?” she said. “Is this the library?”
    A man with a