Page 29 (1/2)

The grandfather clock struck eight I sat up, blinked a couple of times, and tried to stretch out some of the kinks As I ambled down the hall to use the facilities I noticed that Bubba was gone Not only was his door closed and locked, but there was no sun oil, and I couldn’t s around in his office

"Celia?" Dawna called up the stairs "You up? Want any coffee?"

"Coffee would be wonderful!" I hollered back "Oh, and I drank a couple of your shakes"

"Yeah, Bubba told ht up"

I washed my hands and went back to the office It was tiain If I didn’t reach her this ti to worry I hear from her once or twice almost every day Yesterday I hadn’t been able to reach her at all It could be nothing, but she’s not a young woman…I punched the buttons and waited

She answered on the first ring "Celia! Where have you been? I’ve been calling and calling ever since the news about Vicki broke on the TV Are you all right? I’m so sorry, punkin I kno much you cared about her" The words tuot hold of the story "I’m sorry, Gran I tried to call a couple times yesterday, but there was no answer at the house"

"Oh, you ed abruptly, taking on an evasive tone that I didn’t like, mainly because I knew it too well She only sounded like that when she’d done so involving ot defensive, the second surefire sign "You’re so suspicious! What I do with my time is none of your business"

Absolutely true And normally I didn’t pry But the last time she sounded like this, Mo Gran with no savings and not enough money to pay her property taxes for the year

I didn’t say a word There was no point in starting another argu a deep breath, I changed the subject

"There’s soht, when I was on a job, I got hurt"

"Oh, Celie!"

I plowed on, ignoring the interruption "A vampire bit me, tried to turn me Kevin and Amy rescued me I’m not a bat But I’m not cos… " The words trailed off uncertainly

There was no hesitation in her voice, no fear, and a huge weight lifted froht of me as evil-- "Oh, honey I’m so sorry"

"I look like a bat, Gran I do It’s awful" Tears filled my eyes, but I blinked theain

I think she was stunned The silence on the other end of the phone was profound

"I wanted to let you know, to prepare you so you wouldn’t get scared when you see me"

"You could never scare me, punkin Have you told your mother?"

"No" It came out cold and harsh

"Celia, she’s your mother She loves you She deserves to know"

I didn’t want to argue, so I didn’t Besides, she had a point Lana is my mother "Fine I’ll call her"

There was an aard moment "You’ll need to wait until tomorrow Sometime in the afternoon"

"Why?"

The silence stretched between us She didn’t want to answer, that was obvious I waited Eventually she couldn’t stand it any longer "Yourwithout a license--"

"What? Whose car was she driving?" My ot picked up for her second DUI with no insurance She hadn’t had the et it back and I wouldn’t lend it to her After all, she didn’t have a license, so she didn’t really need a car

"Now Celia, you know your rand excuses, but I cut her off

"She can take a cab Or a busss Or you could drive her" My lisp grew as I spoke even though I knehat I was saying was useless My gran has been enabling my mother since before I was born It’s not like she was likely to stop anyti me crazy "And ssshe wasn’t picked up near the doctor’s office, was ssshe?" I fought to get ue under control

She didn’t say a word, whichtrue to forry now, use my full name, and refuse to talk about it