tinted bulbs, but Star thought it would make the house
look too much like a bordello. In the end we agreed
on a lighter shade of blue for the hallways and Misty,
who seemed inexhinstible, decided to start on that
/> while Star went out back to finish dressing up
Geraldine's grave with the plants and bushes we had
purchased. We were going to hang my new curtains,
too, before the end of the day.
Jade was the first to grow tired of the work and
began to complain about being hungry so we planned
what we would order in from the nearest Chinese
restaurant. Then they each called home to say they were staying at my house for dinner. Only Star's Granny was actually home to receive the call. Jade's mother was at a dinner meeting already and Misty's mother had left word with her answering service that
she was going to a movie with one of her girlfriends. "I thought you were getting permission to stay
with her overnight anyway," Star reminded Misty. "I was. I mean I will. I thought it would be
easier to ask from here and not have to answer any
questions about it," she explained.
'Well, Granny said I can stay for dinner," Star
declared, and then looked to me, "but only if you
promise to come to our house for one of her homecooked meals. I told her you would and she said
tomorrow night. One thing about my granny, she
doesn't dwell in the world of fluff. None of this 'we'll
do lunch or dinner' stuff. If you say you will, she pins
you down to being real. You can stay over, too," she
added.
Jade and Misty both nodded with looks in their
eyes that told me how much they wished they lived in
Granny's world rather than their own.
"Do you have anything to drink here?" Jade
suddenly asked. It was as if just the suggestion of
something dark and unpleasant had to be kept out any