"'Daughters always favor their fathers,' she claimed. 'All my friends tell me that. It's got something to do with sex.'
"I had no idea what she meant, but it sounded disgusting.
"'I'm not taking his side!' I screamed. 'I'm not on anyone's side. You can both kill each other for all I care!'
"I ran up the stairs before she could respond, and I slammed my door and locked it shut. I just buried myself under my blanket and tried to block out the static. She wouldn't stop. She came to my door and put her mouth close to the door and went on and on.
"'This is what results from your being with your father just for a few hours. Imagine what it's going to be like when you're there in his den of sin for a weekend. He's going to try to poison you against me. He said terrible things about me,. I know. You don't have to tell them to me. I know what they must have been. He's blaming me for everything He's like that. He pushes his mistakes onto someone else all the time. I didn't want you to know how much of a weakling your father was. It's not nice for a daughter to know that, but now you can see it for yourself.'
"She started to cry and moan about the terrible plight she was in.
" 'I gave the best years of my life to that man. Now, he dumps me- I'm like a peeled apple. It's so much easier for a man in a divorce. He can always find a pretty young mindless thing to share his bed, but a woman has to be careful and hope for a decent and responsible new man, and what are her chances of ever finding him in today's selfish world? Not very good, I can tell you. It's degrading to be in this position. I only hope something like this doesn't happen to you. Look what he's done to me!
"'How can you want to protect him?' she moaned.
"I pressed my palms as hard as I could against my ears to shut out her voice, but she droned on and on until I started to scream again. I don't know how long I screamed, but my throat started to bum. When I stopped, I didn't hear her at the door anymore.
"I didn't come out for dinner that night and she complained for a while at the closed door, but finally gave up and walked away.
"In the morning, it was as always, like nothing bad had happened. She was all smiles and full of gossip about new skin creams her friends had found and a better shampoo for your hair . . . bubbles, our lives were bubbles that burst and disappeared, I thought.
"Two weekends later, Daddy fulfilled his promise and invited me to his new home. Mommy was already fully occupied with her new role as the abused wife who had risen up from the ashes to be a strong, independent woman. She was drawn to her friends who were also divorced women who had made their husband'
s faces targets at which to throw darts of scorn.
"She surprised me when she didn't say anything nasty about my upcoming weekend visit with Daddy. I wanted to see him, but I was very nervous about it, for he had told me on the phone that I would meet a friend of his and the implication was quite clear what that meant.
"His new girlfriend would be there, too. I almost didn't go.
"'Why can't you spend a weekend with just me first?' I asked him
"He had his Daddy explanation, of course. The quicker I became accustomed to the new situation, the better it would be for everyone, including me.
" wouldn't do this if I didn't think you were mature enough to handle it, Misty,' he told me.
"Good old reverse psychology, right, Doctor Marlowe?" I asked.
She didn't reply.
"Doctor Marlowe doesn't make judgements for us," I reminded the others.
Jade's eyes sparkled with impish joy. Cathy looked nervous and afraid, and Star looked like she couldn't care less what Doctor Marlowe did or didn't do.
What a mess we were, I thought. Maybe instead of our parents, we were the ones who were really like Doctor Marlowe's sick oleanders out back. Our roots were diseased and our flowers were pale.
What garden would want us planted in it now? How could we get anyone to like us?
We didn't even like ourselves.
7
"Even though Daddy is right about Mommy being obsessed with her looks and appearance, I would never say she wasn't a very pretty woman. Sometimes I think, if my mother has so much trouble with men and looks the way she does, what can I expect? Will I always be involved with men like Charles Allen, men who see my weaknesses so easily and take advantage of me?
"That's what I really thought Daddy was doing with his new girlfriend Ariel. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that having a young, pretty girlfriend made him feel better about himself and his failure at marriage.
"However, Doctor Marlowe complimented me on my analysis, didn't you, Doctor Marlowe?"
"You're all bright young women," she said making a point of looking at Cat. "None of you has any reason to feel ashamed or inadequate because of what's happened to your parents."