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Mary Margaret returned with dishes in hand, glanced at me fearfully and went to the sink

She does act like a girl half her age, I realized, but really, what could I do for her? I had trouble enough finding h I hadn't tried to be friendly with her She avoided personal talk and looked at me as if I was some kind of threat, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, too

"Would you like to go to the play with aret?" I asked

She kept rinsing the dishes,

"Well, don't just keep the girl waitin', answer 'er," Mrs Chester said

Mary Margaret looked at her and then at hts, crawling into herself like a snail

"I have two tickets to a play tonight Would you like to go with me?"

She shook her head vigorously

"Oh, I can't," she said "I got to be with me mum"

"That's stupid and ya know it," Mrs Chester said

"No, I can't," she insisted and then, maybe because we made her so nervous, she dropped a dish and it shattered in the sink

Before anyone could say a word, she burst into tears and rushed from the kitchen

"See?" Mrs Chester said "Ya'd never know that girl was in 'er twenties, the way she acts"

I started to pick up the broken dish when Boggs appeared in the doorway

"What's gain' on in 'ere?" he demanded