- 8.
But I still couldn’t figure out where the twenty
く
grand had gone.
Could it be…? Related to that homeless
woman?
A few days later, Mom brought her home.
A crowd of busybodies followed, eager for
gossip.
“She’s so pitiful,” Mom said. “She wandered
into town from who–knows–where. She’s not
all there. She just wanders around, falling and
bumping into things. And those kids throw
rocks at her, but she just laughs and claps.”
Mom held her hand, looking heartbroken.
“I thought we should take her in. Give her a
home, so she doesn’t have to wander
anymore.”
“Ellie, Mikey, what do you think?”
The neighbors all turned to look at us.
Here we go.
I stared at the woman, drooling and vacant.
I couldn’t help but think about Mikey.
After the amputation, he finally started to
heal.
Then Mom brought home this woman,
insisting Mikey marry her.
He refused, but she spread rumors that he’d
taken advantage of her.
He had no choice. He married her.
One day, the woman had a fit and beat Mikey
to death in his bed.
My saintly mother claimed he died
accidentally.
After that, she cared for the woman, treating
her like her own daughter.
Because of that, she got an award for being
the best woman in town. Everyone praised
her.
A weird thought popped into my head.
What if… she really was Mom’s daughter?
I always heard the neighbors gossiping about
<
my mom and the local butcher, Mr. Riley.
Mom went after Mr. Riley like a madwoman.
She followed him all the way out to the East
Coast when he took a new job.
Just when everyone thought she’d finally get
her man, she came back and married my dad!
It’s hard not to wonder.
“I know you’re both as kind as I am,” Mom
said. “So it’s settled. She’s living with us
now.”
We hadn’t even said a word.
The neighbors looked shocked. It was one
thing to take in a normal person, but this
woman was mentally disabled!
What a waste!
Mom’s reputation was restored. She was
“Wonderful Martha” again.
To take care of her, Mom even moved into
her room, making her huge breakfasts.
“Rory is so skinny. She must have had a hard
life. I need to feed her.”
“Rory“, that was the new woman’s name, and
it’s supposedly meant “Everything goes well.”
I looked at Rory, then at myself.
I was starting to doubt the definition of
“skinny.”
<
“Rory, open wide. Aah…”
Mom fed her spoonful after spoonful, smiling
as Rory swallowed the food.
“Good girl, Rory! Have another bite!”
Mikey and I couldn’t stand it. We left after a
few bites.
I was hungry that night, so I went to the
kitchen.
As I passed Mom’s room, I heard her talking
on the phone.
“Yeah, it’s settled. Twenty grand. I’m selling
you my daughter.”
“Just follow the plan.” Mom hung up, then
<
turned off the light.
I stood outside the door, stunned.
