Dawn (Cutler 1)

"She lives with her sister, right?" Sissy nodded.

"Does she live nearby?"

"Well, back there about four blocks," she said, indicating behind us. "In a little Cape Cod house on Crescent Street. Once in a while my granny sends me over with a jar of this or a jar of that. She's a sick woman, you know."

"Mrs. Boston told me. Sissy, I want to go see her."

"What for?"

"I want to ask her questions about my kidnapping. Will you take me there?"

"Now?"

"It's not that late."

"It's too late for her. She's very sick and would be asleep by now."

"Will you take me in the morning after we do our work? Will you?" I asked. "Please," I begged.

"Okay," she said, seeing how important it was to me.

"Thank you, Sissy," I said.

When we returned to the hotel, my grandmother was nowhere to be seen, but my father greeted us in the lobby.

"Are you all right?" he asked. I nodded and looked down at the carpet. "I think you should just go to your room. We'll have a chance to talk about all this tomorrow when everyone is calmer and can think clearly."

As I was crossing the lobby, I decided what I was going to do. It was time to deal with Clara Sue. She wasn’t going to get away with what she had done.

Without bothering to knock, I stormed into Clara Sue’s bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

“How could you?” I angrily demanded. “How could you tell them about Jimmy?”

Clara Sue was on her bed, flipping through a magazine. By her side was a box of chocolates. Despite my angry words, she didn’t look up. Instead she continued reading, reaching into the box of chocolates, nibbling one after another and discarding them after one o

r two bites.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I asked. I still received no answer and it infuriated me the way she so blatantly ignoring me. I swooped down on her and swatted the box of chocolates. It flew off the bed and into the air before crashing to the floor, chocolates scattering everywhere.

I waited for Clara Sue to look up at me. I couldn’t wait to confront her about the treacherous thing she had done. But she didn’t look up. She only continued reading, ignoring me as if I wasn’t there. For some reason this infuriated me even more. I tore her magazine out of her hands, ripping it to shreds, tossing the pieces in the air.

“I’m not leaving, Clara Sue Cutler. I’m staying right here until you look at me.”

Finally she looked up, her blue eyes sending me a warning look. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to knock? It’s the polite thing to do.”

I chose to ignore the look in Clara Sue’s eyes. “And didn’t anyone ever teach you about trust? About keeping a secret sacred? Jimmy and I trusted you. Why did you do it? Why?"

"Why not?" she purred softly. Then more angrily and with a burst of force as she jumped off her bed, "Why not? Making your life miserable gives me pleasure, Dawn. It makes me happy."

I stared at her in outrage. Without even thinking about it, I brought up my hand and slapped her across the face. "You're nothing but a spoiled selfish brat! I'll never forgive you for this. Never!"

Clara Sue laughed at me, massaging her cheek. "Who wants your forgiveness?" she sneered. "You think you're doing me a favor?"

"We're sisters. Sisters are supposed to be best friends. You didn't want me as a friend, Clara Sue, and now you don't want me as a sister. Why? Why are you so intent on hurting me? What did I ever do to you? Why do you keep doing these nasty things?"

"Because I hate you!" Clara Sue screamed at the top of her lungs. "I hate you, Dawn! I've hated you all my life!"

I was shocked by her anger. It threw me off guard, and I didn't know how to respond. There was such ferocity in her words and her face was bright red, her eyes bulging like the eyes of a madwoman. I'd seen such a look before—on Grandmother Cutler's face. Clara Sue's look chilled me the way Grandmother's had. But I couldn't understand it. Why did they both hate me so? What had I ever done to this family to warrant such ugly emotions?