Secrets in the Attic (Secrets 1)

Parcheesi, just as we've done a hundred times. But I

want to shower first and wash my hair and put on

some makeup and perfume. I want to feel normal and

happy again."

She charged down the stairs ahead of me. If she

could get herself to forget it all, I should be able to, I

thought, and quickly followed. I waited for her to

shower. We talked while she dried her hair with a

towel. She wanted to know everything I had said to

my father and mother and all the questions they had asked. I explained how I answered everything so

carefully.

"You were great," she said. "I couldn't have

done any better if the roles were reversed."

Roles reversed? I would have a better chance

walking on the moon. There was no way the roles

could have ever been reversed. I wanted to tell her

that, to be sure she understood that we were birds of a

feather only in some ways. No matter how many halftruths or clever answers I came up with, I was not

standing in the same shoes and never would. As I watched her brush her hair and do her

makeup, I thought how weird it was that she could

still be so beautiful and care so much about her looks

under these circumstances and after what had

happened. It was truly as if she could step out of the

person she had been the day before and become

someone else today. Did that come from inner

strength or inner madness?

She chatted on, planning our days and nights as

if she believed we would go on like this for months

and months, maybe even years.

"After a while, the police will stop running all