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Mo her smile

"I'm not a wisp of a ," I protested

After all, I was five feet four and nearly one hundred and fifteen pounds Moh I didn't need to be told I saw the pictures of her when she was in acting school in London In all of the photographs, she looked like soht the lowed There was no better compliment for me than to be compared to Mommy,

Mrs Geary always came in the backdoor with her flatteries, especially about ure

"Nature plays a trick on young girls" she inforet a wo a diairt She has no idea why everyone, especially grownups, are staring at her and she doesn't know yet hoear it or carry it"

"Young people are different today," I insisted when she made these speeches atpeople hen you were e"

"Oh please," she cried, slapping her hand over her forehead It was her favorite draesture I actually heard the sharp crack of her palnancies, s, more car accidents, more runaways

"When I was your age, the only pregnant girl in the village was a girl raped by her idiot stepbrother"

"Mommy!" I'd moan in desperation

"She's only trying to give you good advice, honey," Moh"

"I"ll eat atthes"

That was a mistake I knew it the moment the words slipped past h Mrs Geary said she would prepare all the food He insisted it was an unfair burden to place on her, but she countered with a surprising ad the food for my birthday was a special pleasure for her In the end she was given the responsibility for the birthday cake

She grunted at my stateo to a stylist to have her hair cut and shaped, but most of the time, she wore it pinned back in a severe bun Forit cut and trireen eyes and a small nose and mouth but a chin that

disappeared too quickly At five feet seven, she was somewhat portly with heavy arms and a robust boson of an i h soap off her skin

"Manufactured food," she muttered with disdain "It'll have a mass-produced taste"