Hemingway's Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

voice.
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” said Pauline. She shifted in her chair, clearly ill at ease.
     After shuffling through Mariella’s references, she put them on a nearby table, where
     a nibbled peach lay on a blue plate, browning in the heat. A fly buzzed around it.
     Next to the plate was a copy of
War and Peace
. Mariella eyed it and wondered whose it was.
    “Can you read?” asked Pauline.
    “Of course,” said Mariella. She sat up straight in her chair, insulted, and badly
     wishing she could retort,
Can you?
But she kept her tongue in check.
    Pauline regarded Mariella for a moment. Mariella could feel the woman testing her,
     wondering whether she could fight, cry, and live in front of Mariella without actually
     having to think about her. Mariella relaxed her posture so she wouldn’t appear aggressive
     and folded her hands in her lap.
    Something seemed to satisfy Pauline.
    “Jinny is my sister,” she said. “Her word is as good as mine. Ada Stern is the boys’
     governess. Stay out of her way if you know what’s good for you. And Ernest, always
     mind him when he’s around, but my word is law. The only real house rule is to
never, ever
disturb my husband when he’s writing. He gets up very early, at five or six o’clock,
     and goes to the room over the garage to write. He works until it gets too hot, about
     ten or so, and then he goes fishing. You’ve read his work?”
    “Yes,” she lied.
    Pauline sat up, as if anticipating the usual outpouring of sentiments regarding Ernest’s
     talent, but Mariella said nothing. The way the woman then slouched in her chair made
     Mariella thinkthat Pauline must live vicariously through Hemingway, and that she took compliments
     to him as praise for herself.
    “And does it please you?” asked Jinny.
    Mariella looked Jinny in the eye. “Yes, very much.”
    Only the ticking of the clock and the sound of muffled children’s voices outside could
     be heard. Pauline reached over to Jinny’s dress and rifled through a pocket in its
     side until she found a cigarette. Mariella reached in her own dress and pulled out
     a book of matches. She lit Pauline’s cigarette. Pauline let the smoke drift over her
     face like a veil and said through it, “You’ll start Monday. Be here at seven.”
    Pauline stood, picked up her book, and left the room. Jinny followed her sister. When
     the women left, Mariella slipped the peach into her pocket for the girls and stepped
     out onto the back lawn. She thought how nice it would be to have a full enough stomach
     to take a bite of a peach and leave the rest of it on a table for the flies. It made
     her dislike Pauline.
    That and the fact that it seemed Pauline knew who Hal was but pretended otherwise
     so she wouldn’t have to talk about him.
    And the way Pauline assumed Mariella couldn’t read.
    Jesus, she didn’t know whether this would be worth the money.
    As she walked away, she could feel their eyes on her. She turned and looked up to
     see Pauline and Jinny on the upper balcony, watching her.
    “See you ’round,” called Jinny.
    “Bye,” said Mariella. She walked away but could still hear their voices.
    “So, what do you think?” said Jinny.
    Pauline waited a moment to answer. Mariella strained to hear her reply.
    “She’s a peach.”



C HAPTER T HREE
    Mariella’s stomach dropped when she opened the battered yellow Cuban espresso tin.
     She could almost hear her father’s raspy voice in her ear.
    No withdrawals.
Only deposits for the business. Pretend it’s not even there.
    But everything was different now. She’d been bleeding it for rent and food for months,
     and now all that remained was forty-one dollars and thirteen cents. She’d have to
     use the rest to keep off the landlord. The doctor would have to wait.
    She dropped in her tips and some change from turning in old bottles she found in trash
     cans. She closed the lid in disgust and shoved it back in the corner under her bed,
     covering it with