Her Mother's Daughter Read Online Free PDF

they’d shoo her out of the house at every opportunity. Gertie was left to fend for herself, which was deadly, since she was the new, fat kid in town.
    The first week of school was hell. The school bully was overjoyed to have a new target to practise on. Bay would watch from the sidelines, too afraid to intervene as Bradley taunted Gertie about her fat ass and jelly belly. Once Gertie looked at Bay with tears in her eyes, as if to ask, why don’t you help me? The only reason she didn’t was that Bradley had just started to leave her alone after ribbing her for weeks about her knobby knees and stick legs. No way did she want that to start over.
    And so she was ashamed when her little sister, Tansy, came out of the school one day and happened to witness Bradley point at Gertie and laugh at her, calling her names while a group of kids stood around and watched the show.
    Even though Tansy was in fifth grade, she marched up to Bradley and kicked him in the shin. When he bellowed and started after her, she held her ground and said for all to hear, “You dare hit me, Bradley, I’ll tell your da I saw you cryin’ in the principal’s office.”
    That stopped him dead.
    Tansy went up to Gertie. “You okay?”
    Gertie nodded.
    â€œGood.” Tansy walked away and so did everyone else once the fun stopped.
    Bay stayed behind and smiled at Gertie. “Want to come to my house? My mom makes good cookies.”
    Gertie sniffed and nodded as she shuffled along beside Bay. “Wasn’t that your little sister?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œI like her. She’s pretty, and really brave.”
    â€œI know.”
    Tansy didn’t become Gertie’s friend. Tansy wouldn’t be caught dead with a loser. Gertie thought she came to her rescue because she didn’t like to see injustice, but Bay knew it was because Tansy loved being the centre of attention. No matter. Gertie became Bay’s best friend and if it weren’t for Tansy it might not have happened.
    Whenever Bay thought of her sister, it was as if she were remembering a character in one of the fairy tales their mother would read to them at night, more illusion than flesh and blood. She didn’t talk to anyone about her sister and hadn’t seen her in years. People in town were scandalized when Tansy didn’t show up for her mother’s funeral. They never said as much to Bay, but she knew by the hints that were dropped while they licked envelopes and stuck stamps on parcels.
    â€œMust be hard to be on your own, dear, with only your daughter to comfort you,” they’d say in a variety of ways. Bay would nod and change the subject. Only grouchy old Mrs. Skinner had the nerve to say it to her face.
    â€œI think it’s dreadful that Tansy wasn’t there to say goodbye to your ma. A finer woman I’ve never met, but I’m afraid I can’t say the same about your sister. Stuck-up little trollop she was, always parading around and chasing anything in pants. You mark my words, no good will come to her. No good at all.”
    Despite incidents like that, Bay loved her job. She had her finger on the pulse of the whole town. People would sometimes open a letter in the foyer, and then turn around with happy faces or looks of dismay. She knew everyone’s secrets because people knew Bay never gossiped. They themselves talked about everyone else in town while they waited in line or leaned against the counter before heading off for work or household chores. Just by being quiet, Bay learned more than she often wanted to know about her fellow citizens.
    Finally it was five o’clock. Bay was anxious to get home and talk to Ashley before Gertie arrived for supper. She wanted to give Ashley a hug and tell her how wonderful she was, despite their differences. Bay was tired of being on the outs with her daughter. Life was too short for that kind of nonsense.
    She closed up the post office and hurried