Jade (Wildflowers 3)

"I couldn't remember the last time my father had invited me to his office. In fact, I think I had been there less than a half a dozen times. He has beautiful offices on the twenty-first floor of a building on Wilshire Boulevard. The view from his office is spectacular. You can see the ocean and on clear days, Catalina Island.

"'I'm not going to school today,' I said just before he closed the door behind him. 'I have a bad headache.'

"'Oh?' he said, looking at me with concern. 'How long has this been going on?'

"'About three months,' I replied, pinpointing the date of the Last Supper.

"He studied me and then nodded.

"'That's why I want to put an end to this stupidity as quickly as I can. Your mother puts up a big front, but she'll be happier being totally free,' he added. 'It's what she wants. Unfortunately, it's who she is,' he added and left, leaving me feeling as if he had taken all the oxygen out of my room along with him

"Later, I was sorry I stayed home from school. There is nothing more dreary than an empty house filled with the echoes of people fighting and hissing at each other like a pair of snakes. The walls, the shadows in every corner, the bong of the grandfather clock, the long whistle of a teakettle, every sight and every sound seemed hollow. I felt like I was on the set of a movie. Nothing was real to me anymore. All the pictures of them together that still hung on walls or were in frames on tables were illusions. Even the family photos looked phony.

"All these smiles, I thought, were false. Suddenly my parents' faces resembled balloons that had lost air, whereas I felt I was floating away, drifting into the wind, belonging nowhere anymore, like you three," I said, looking from Cat to Misty to Star, "an orphan with parents."

I took a deep breath and held my head back to keep the tears from slipping down my face. Cat cleared her throat. Everyone was looking at me, waiting.

"So," I continued, smiling, "now it really began. Two days later, my mother picked me up at school and brought me to her attorney's office.

"'You didn't tell your father about this, did you?' she asked me as soon as I got into the car.

"'No,' I said,-but I hadn't told her about him planning to schedule a meeting between me and Arnold Klugman, his attorney, either.

"'Good,' she said. Not that we have to hide anything. It's just better this way.'

"Better for whom? I thought. Certainly not for me. I was literally trembling as if I were in Aspen in February without a jacket or boots."

"Where?" Star asked.

"Aspen. It's a place where a lot of rich and famous people go skiing," Misty said.

"Well, excuse me. I haven't even seen snow up close much less slid down a hill on stupid sticks," she muttered.

"Have you ever read the fable of the Fox and the Grapes?" I asked her.

"No, why?"

"You might appreciate it. This fox is trying desperately to get his mouth on these grapes on the vine only they're too high and he can't get to them so he turns around and says, 'They're probably sour anyway.'"

She glared at me.

"Your father might be right about that snob thing:' she said.

"I'm not a snob, but I'm not ashamed of what I have and who I am:' I said.

"What was it like at the lawyer's?" Misty asked quickly to stop any more bickering.

"It was horrible," I said. "Her attorney has these really plush offices in Beverly Hills. I took a look around at the three secretaries, the rich oak paneling, the expensive paintings and rugs and thought the divorce business must be pretty good. Everyone treated my mother as if she was the most important client they had. She loves all that stroking. I guess she should have been born into royalty. What a waste of regal posture and dignity.

"Her attorney, Mr. Fishman, was a tall, lean man with beady dark eyes and heavy eyebrows. He had a smile that reminded me of ice because it slid on and off his face so easily. After my mother introduced us, he asked me to take the seat in front of his large, dark cherry wood desk and then after my mother sat, he sat and rubbed his palms together before clapping his hands once like some magician who was going to lift a black velvet cloth to reveal the missing diamond or the end to this marital madness that was destroying us all.

" `Well, Jade,' he began, 'you know your mother has hired me to help her get through this very difficult situation. Divorce is never pleasant, and your mother wants to make every effort to see that you come through this unscathed.'

"He looked at my mother to see if she approved of the way he had begun and she smiled.

" `Jade is a very bright and mature young lady,' my mother told him. 'She'll do what has to be done and do it well.'

"'I'm sure she will,' he said with that chilly smile. "I kept thinking I'm sure he doesn't really care. I said nothing. I stared at him and waited.