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smaller woman and picking her up off the ground to whirl her in a circle. That she had already done the same to the other two women was clear by their bemused expressions as they looked out from the door to the kitchen. When Roz stood away from Kate, she stooped a bit to look straight into Kate s face, then turned to the other two women with the same intensity. You haven t heard any news today? Roz, I ve been pretty tied up, Kate said. Some political prisoner had been freed from a long and oppressive incarceration, she thought, or a closely fought piece of legislation had squeaked past. Three women stood there with identical fond smiles on their faces, waiting for Roz s effervescence to boil over as she told them all about it, but to their surprise, she did not. With a spark of anticipation, she appeared to shove a cap on her excitement, and instead of spilling all, she said, Promise me you won t listen to the news tonight. Promise me? And if someone calls and asks if you ve heard, you ll hang up on them promise? Heard what? Kate asked. Doesn t matter. Just promise me, please? Page 232 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html She sounded so like Nora please please PLEEEASE? that Kate had to smile through the inner darkness. Sure, if somebody calls to tell me any good news, I ll hang up. For how long? Just tonight. Honest, you ll be so glad you did, I promise. And that was all she would say about it that night. But the next morning, Kate sat up in bed at some ungodly hour, the chimes of the doorbell fading in her ears. She glanced at the bedside clock, realized that it was not all that early, and then the bell went again. She grabbed her robe and scurried down the stairs, but the bell was going again before she reached the door. For Christ s sake, she sputtered as her bare feet slapped on the wood of the stairs, and Shit, when the fourth ring came as her right hand made contact with the doorknob and her left the deadbolt lock. What the fuck Maj? What s wrong? But as soon as she focused on Maj s face she could tell that nothing was wrong. In fact, it was just the opposite: Maj looked as if she had caught whatever happy bug had infected her partner the night before. She bore a large white bag in her hand. Behind her stood Mina with a carrier tray from Peet s Coffee; behind Mina came Satch with another white bakery bag. The fragrant procession pushed past Kate; as they went by, she noticed that Maj was wearing a skirt, Mina was dressed for church (looking considerably older than her sixteen years), and nine-year-old Satch had a necktie on. What the hell is going on? Kate said, closing the door and following them through to the kitchen. You need to get up and get dressed, Maj said. And get Lee and Nora up, too oh, there you are. We need to go in ten minutes. Go where? Kate demanded. Hearing the simultaneous echo of the words coming from the bottom of the stairs, she looked and saw the two sleep-rumpled Leonoras. One of them had a thumb in her mouth and red pillow-wrinkles on her face; the other just had the pillow-wrinkles. You ll see. Come on, have a latte and a muffin, and get some clothes on. Not until you tell me what is going on. I will tell you when we get there. Oh, please, Kate, trust me. It s not one of Roz s schemes, I promise you ll love it. But it s best if you don t know until you see it. I swear. Yeah, Satch chimed in, there s all these Mina whirled on him with a loud Shhh! as Maj said, Satch! You promised. The boy clapped one hand over his mouth, but his eyes were dancing. Kate knew she could get it out of him in two seconds flat, but instead she stepped forward without a word, took two of the cups, handed one to Lee in passing, and started up the stairs. Behind her, Maj called, You might want to wear something nice. A minute later, the elevator rumbled and Lee came into the bedroom. Page 233 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Do you know what this is about? Kate asked her. Lee stood still with her shirt half-unbuttoned. I think so, she said at last. Can Inot tell you? You want to go along with Roz on this? If you don t mind. Just so long as it s not going to get me fired, Kate said, and pulled a departmental T-shirt out of the drawer. Then she noticed Lee, surveying the closet with a frown on her face. Kate looked at the T-shirt, put it back into the drawer, and carried a clean, ironed white shirt and black jeans to the shower instead. It wasn t any ten minutes, but soon they were assembled again downstairs, awake now and beginning to take on something of the inexplicable excitement of the others. They all climbed into the minivan that Maj had bought the year Satch entered preschool. They had, in fact, slept later than usual that morning, and the streets were already thick with the morning commute, both in and out of the city. Maj headed downtown, then shifted up Van Ness toward the Civic Center. When they got to City Hall, Kate spotted aChronicle photographer trotting up the steps, and her eyes narrowed. Maj, whatis going on? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |