Free My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter

were now mainstreaming handicapped children with the “able-bodied” population. It was all so long ago. According to Kelly, Margaret now owned a bakery. “I still think we should have told her you were coming with me,” Kelly said. Lacey once again wished she hadn’t let Kelly drive; they would have been there by now if Lacey had been behind the wheel.
    “I told you,” Lacey said. “I want to surprise her.” By surprise, she meant ambush.
    “I see,” Kelly said. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with your twin, now would it?”
    Lacey was glad she wasn’t driving; she would have crashed into something. She wanted to slap the look of self-satisfaction right off Kelly’s face. She hated that Kelly liked to snoop, and even worse, that she was extremely adept at it. “You followed me?” Lacey asked. “To Benjamin Books?”
    “No. I just called the bookstore, asked who was giving a book reading. Then Googled the name Monica Bowman. Saw her Web site and nearly fell off my chair!” Lacey stared out the window. This wasn’t happening. She was supposed to be in control. She didn’t want anyone knowing about Monica. She couldn’t even explain why. This was her battle. She couldn’t take anyone else galloping into her fight.
    “At first I thought you were playing some kind of trick on me,” Kelly continued. “Using a pen name. I was like—she even gave her dog a pen name! And Alan. Then I was like—wait a minute—why would Lacey ask me to interpret for this woman if it was her—and I was like—”
    It was amazing how Kelly could sign and blather at the same time; someone should really stick a sock in her mouth and tape it shut. Of course, in ASL, she wasn’t signing the “I was like” portions of the conversation, but Lacey could catch it on her lips. And whereas most Deaf people could drive and sign at the same time with the same ease as hearing people talking and driving at the same time, Kelly didn’t have the skill mastered. Several times, Lacey had to grab on to the dash and remind Kelly to watch the road.
    Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing somebody knew about her evil twin. At least now she could get someone else’s opinion. Lacey told Kelly about discovering the poster, and then reached into her purse and showed her what she did to the book cover. She joined in as Kelly howled with laughter.
    “Oh my God,” Kelly said. “You’re the reason the book signing was canceled.”
    “Yes.”
    “Have you looked at her Web site?”
    “Yes. More of the same. The same picture—the same quotes from her book. Total crap.”
    “You think? I was kind of inspired. I was thinking, after you become friends, I’ll take one of her workshops and get a signed copy—”
    “After we become friends? The lunatic stole my face.”
    “Or she’s your twin.”
    “No—” Admitting the possibility to herself was one thing. Saying it out loud was charged with a voltage Lacey wasn’t wired to handle.
    “You’ll be famous,” Kelly said, oblivious to Lacey’s pounding fears. “You’ll be all over the news. You’re going to meet Matt Lauer. Can you get his autograph for me? I’ve always had a little crush on Matt. I was never so happy as when Katie left. She was always touching him. Why do short women think they’re so much better than us? It’s like the opposite of the Napoleon complex for women—”
    “Stop.”
    “Sorry. This is so exciting!”
    “Nightmare.”
    “Have you e-mailed her?”
    “No.”
    “Why not? Do it now. Where’s your BlackBerry?” The car swerved as Kelly wrenched around to gawk at the backseat. Lacey braced herself and pointed straight ahead. “Watch the road!”
    “I’m going to pray for you,” Kelly said. “I’m going to pray she’s really your twin.”
    “Just pray we don’t crash,” Lacey said.
    “Lone Wolf Lacey.”
    “Shut up.”
    “You never let anyone get close to you. Even me. Unless you want something.” Lacey curled her right hand into a fist