“Sex,” Haylee said, wanting to hear the word and strip away any euphemisms.
Daddy looked like he was going to blush, but he took a deep breath and surprised us both by saying, “Yes, sex. I suspect you both know more about it already than I do.”
Haylee laughed. He raised his eyebrows and smiled. I didn’t laugh.
“Maybe you two are as old as you look,” he commented.
Nothing could have pleased Haylee more. “Of course we are. We know what you mean. Because Mother wouldn’t have sex with you when you wanted to, you had an affair and then had to get a divorce, right?”
He looked at me again to see if I was going to add anything, but I didn’t say a word. “Well, in a nutshell, yes, but nothing in life is ever that simple, Haylee,” he replied, stressing her name.
I raised my eyebrows. “You don’t have any trouble telling us apart, do you, Daddy?”
“Not since you were very little. Of course not. Sometimes I spoke too soon, and she’d dump hot coals over my head. As I said, you’re two different people who just happen to share physical features in an extraordinary way. They say there’s a perfect duplicate for everyone in this world.”
“You mean there are two more like us?” Haylee asked.
“That’s what they say.”
“Mine better not come around here,” Haylee declared, and Daddy laughed.
It was the first laugh of the night, and it seemed to crack the sheet of ice between us. Our food came, and Daddy began to talk with more ease about his business, Cindy, and her children. He told us he had put aside all the money we would need for college and said he hoped we would attend two different schools.
“You need the experience of meeting people without your sister hovering in the background. That way, people will see you for who you are faster,” he declared. “I know your mother doesn’t believe this, but if you come to agree with me, I promise I’ll fight for you.”
“We have some time to decide,” I said. “Until things settle down, arguments will just make things harder for us.”
He nodded. “Very true. You’re very wise, Kaylee.”
Just like any time I received a compliment and Haylee didn’t, I looked at her quickly and caught the glint of anger in her eyes. “That’s what both of us think,” I said. “We’ve talked about it.”
“Oh. Sure. Very good, Haylee. We’ll tread softly on the future.”
The word future must have stirred Haylee’s visions of what this coming Friday would be like. She looked bored with anything else, except to say she enjoyed the choice I had made for dinner. That got Daddy talking about how good a cook Cindy was and how he had already gained five pounds. Before we had our dessert, he grew serious again and talked about the divorce agreement. He wanted to assure us that he would always be there for us, no matter what, and that we could always call him if we needed anything or if anything disturbed us. By anything, I knew he meant Mother.
Afterward, on the ride home, he asked us questions about school again and what we envisioned ourselves becoming. More and more, perhaps because of Mother’s influence, I was thinking about doing something in psychology, perhaps child psychology. Haylee’s ambitions flowed from becoming a movie star to a model to a TV reporter. How she could be so mature when it came to sexual things but sound so much like a child when it came to everything else amazed me. Daddy did his best not to discourage her from anything, but when I told him about my ambitions, he was more attentive and promised he would look into what were the best schools for that field.
Haylee fell into a bit of a sulk when he went on and on about it and practically leaped out of the car when we pulled into the driveway. He got out quickly and kissed us both good night, promising to arrange for another dinner soon.
“You should call well in advance,” Haylee told him. “We’ve got a full calendar of social events.”
“Oh, really? Well, that’s very good, Haylee.”
Mother practically ripped the door off the hinges opening it. Frozen in place, we all looked at her.
“Well, good night again, girls,” Daddy said.
Haylee moved away from him quickly so he couldn’t kiss her again. He looked at me and then went to his car. I followed Haylee in, and Mother slammed the door.
“I hope we don’t have to do that often,” Haylee said. “It was very uncomfortable for us to hear all
that crap about his new family.”
Mother looked astounded but pleased. “Really? How stupid of him.”
“I told him to call you way in advance if he wanted to take us to dinner again, because we have a very busy social calendar,” she continued. She was on a roll, and I stepped back, in awe of how well she was doing.
“Yes, of course,” Mother said.