Death of a PTA Goddess Read Online Free PDF

quite a different story regarding your level of involvement, Patty.”
    “Do they?” Patty said, her voice and facial expression inscrutable. She said, “Excuse me,” and left the room.
    “Popcorn, Stephanie?” I asked, holding the bowl in front of her.
    My offer was met with a chilly glare. Stephanie said quietly, “Trust me, Molly. Once everyone sees this tape, Patty will lose the nickname
Perfect
Patty. Permanently.”

Chapter 3
    Rated PG-13 for Violence
    Despite Stephanie’s statement, I couldn’t help but assume Patty was in the right. Over time, Patty could wear down one’s ego a bit, but the fact that other people even
had
egos, not to mention feelings, had no relevance to Stephanie whatsoever.
    When we returned to the living room, Susan was parting the Liberty print curtains to look out the front window. “Here comes Jane, so everyone’s here.”
    “Wonderful.” Patty attempted to carry a couple of chairs from the dining table, but Chad immediately rushed over and brought them in for her. I sat down in one, and Patty took the other. A wave of disappointment crossed Chad’s features. He returned alone to the love seat.
    The doorbell rang and Jane Daly let herself in, eyeing the decoration on the door at great length. She was a short woman with dirty blond hair. Her face seemed to be naturally set into a scowl. Tonight she was wearing a red stocking cap that accentuated her gnomelike appearance. She finally pulled her eyes away from the door to take in all of us in the living room. “Sorry I’m late. I haven’t missed anything, have I?”
    “No, not at all,” Patty said.
    Jane took off her hat and shut the door, casting another long look at the paper decoration in the process. “How did you make that leprechaun? Is that real hair?”
    “Yes, Kelly did that herself. She had a haircut recently, and she taped her locks to the hat.”
    “That’s just so very clever.” Jane looked at a second cardboard doll, leaning against the side of the television. This one had plain, colored-in hair. “Good thing you didn’t put actual hair on every single leprechaun. Your daughter would be bald.”
    Patty laughed. “That’s why she’s wearing a baseball cap these days.”
    “Really?” Jane asked, taking a seat next to Chad.
    “Of course not. I’m joking. Since you asked, I made the template for the leprechaun from a—”
    “Interesting as all of this leprechaun talk is,” Stephanie interrupted from her stance in the center of the living room, “I’d like to get to the purpose of our being here tonight, if I might.”
    “Go right ahead, Stephanie,” Patty said.
    “I got your VCR ready to go, like you asked, Patty,” Chad said, looking at her with puppy-dog eyes. The man couldn’t be more obvious about his affection for her if he wore a heart-shaped pendant around his neck with both of their initials on it.
    After removing a videotape from her purse, Stephanie gestured at Mr. Alberti, a large, bald man who seemed to be crammed next to the arm of the sofa to avoid getting too personal with Emily Crown beside him. She was Patty’s closest friend. To hear her tell it, she was on a perpetual diet, but in my opinion she epitomized the phrase “pleasingly plump.”
    Stephanie cleared her throat. “I’m sure most of you know Kevin Alberti, a history and government teacher at Carlton. He was kind enough to give me this tape last night, after I belatedly”—she narrowed her eyes at Patty— “learned of its existence. As you’ll soon see for yourself, the students used the ruse of
claiming
that they needed money for a video camera while secretly filming us in action.”
    “Wait. You mean, they had access to a video camera all along?” Jane asked.
    Stephanie ignored Jane’s question and handed the tape to Chad. “Start this up.” After voicing her command, she strode to the back of the room and stood with arms crossed near the door. Was she anticipating a need to block the exit?
    Chad,