My curiosity was unstoppable. It grew stronger and stronger until one of my feet followed another an
d I ran with my head down, almost squatting to keep out of view. Cleo ran beside me, but fortunately kept quiet. It was almost as if he knew he had to be.
When I reached the house, I pressed myself against the wall for a few moments and caught my breath. Then I moved ever so slowly until I was looking through a corner of the window into the dining room. Elliot's father came from the kitchen holding a roasted turkey on a silver platter. He wore an apron. Now that I looked more closely at his face. I saw he and Elliot had the same forehead and nose. but Elliot had a stronger, firmer mouth.
Betsy followed with a bowl of mashed potatoes and set it down. She was wearing a black and red pinstriped short- sleeved shirt with a black tie tied loosely around an open collar and a pair of matching black pin-striped pants.. I thought she would have looked more like a boy than I did, except for the fact that her cleavage was prominent in the opened blouse and her hair was beautifully brushed down about her shoulders. I couldn't believe the amount of makeup she had on for a family dinner, too.
Looking at her closely now. too. I could see some resemblances to Elliot, but she had a rounder face with small, brown eyes and a very weak mouth that drooped in the corners, giving her a habitual look of disgust. She practically slammed the bowl on the table and flopped into her seat.
"I'd like to go to the movies." she moaned, "I'd like to meet some of the kids my age before school starts here. and Billy Lester wants to take me."
"We don't know anything about him yet," her father said.
"What is there to know? He's the son of the real estate agent who sold us the house. Dad. He can't be a serial killer."
"I thought we would just enjoy our first big dinner at our new home."
"So how long is that going to take?" she pursued.
"It would be nice to spend the first few nights together here, don't you think? There's so much to do. Betsy."
She pouted.
"Its your fault. Dad, for letting her buy all these new clothes. She thinks she has to go parade around and show off," Elliot said.
"I do not. Just because you don't care what you look like, that doesn't mean I have to be
undistinguished."
"Wow. Excuse me. Undistinguished. Miss America," Elliot teased.
"Come on," their father said. "If s a new beginning for us. Let's all get off to a good start."
"Some beginning," Betsy insisted.
Her father looked frustrated.
"It just takes time to settle in," he emphasized.
"I'll never settle in," she muttered. "If s going to be boring living here, just as I thought." she wailed and sat back with her arms folded under her bosom. When she pouted like that, she looked like a fish we called a sucker.
"Betsy, please," her father pleaded.
"Well, it is going to be if I have to sit home every night and stare at these old walls and run water until it stops being brawn and--"
"All right, all right," her father said.
surrendering. "After we eat, help with the dishes and then go to the movies. but I want you home early. Betsy. I don't know this area yet. I don't want you going off and getting into any trouble."
"I won't," she said. satisfied.
"Sure she won't. And the sun won't come out tomorrow either," Elliot said.
"You're such a dark," Betsy told him.
"I didn't get into trouble last year," he snapped back at her.
"No, you didn't. You only got suspended twice for getting into fights," she said, wagering her head, And nearly failed two subjects."