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It was the next day, and I ith hter

We were at the Brea Mall, which was next door to the same Embassy Suites where I had stayed for a feeeks last year, back whento destroyTammy’s hand These past few days, ironically, she had seemed inseparable from me She had only run away for a few hours It had been just long enough to ly quiet for a Saturday evening, although there was the usual aht behind the squealing girls was a group of giggling boys This trend was repeated throughout the mall, on every level of every quadrant From Macy’s to Nordstrom’s, froirls were followed closely by giggling boys

Of course, there hole fauards strolling, and glass elevators elevating, and escalators escalating

But none were as loud as the squealing girls

"You don’t have a lot of friends," I said after we stopped for pretzels

I ordered two out of habit I wasted more h thechunk of pretzel and just held it I waited until Taht ht Sun, and dropped the chunk of pretzel into a trash can That was a dary folk in the world

Talanced over at me and smiled I smiled, too, and pretended to s the non-existent pretzel

I hated my life soot to the downstairs courtyard near JCPenney When Taht her eye, I quickly disposed of the last of the pretzel -

But not in tilanced back at meand only then did I realize that I’d been set up

"Momning interest in some shoes in a nearby

"Mo away your pretzel this whole ti you do it in all the s" She looked at her own reflection in the storeand stared atyou"

Caught Dammit

"Mommy has a stomach ache," I said

"But you always have a stomach ache"

"I know, baby Sometimes Mommy is very sick"

"But you’re always sick If you didn’t want the pretzel, then why did you order it?"

"I wanted it, sweetie Very badly"

She stopped walking and tookme about my cold flesh Cold flesh and Moh double talk, Mom"

"Double talk?"

"Yes Double talk Itbut mean another"

"Oh, it does, does it?"

"Yes, it does Mrs Marks explained it to us the other day And I realize that you do that a lot Double speak"

"You think so?"