Pretense Read Online Free PDF

in less than a month.
    "How is the packing going?"
    "It's all right. I really purged when it came to the girls' clothes, since it's not as warm there year-round. Anything too summery that I didn't think would fit them by fall went into the bag for charity. I wonder what the PX out there will be like?"
    "I didn't think to ask. I did ask about karate studios though."
    "You did?" Marrell replied, sounding very pleased.
    "Yes, and there seems to be a wide variety. I think we'll just get out the phone book when we get there. Did you think to ask Mr. Schaller for a recommendation?"
    "I didn't, but that's a good idea."
    The words were no more out of Marrell's mouth than the air split with a scream. Their heads shot up, and they both made a dash for the living room. Delancey beat them to it. She was tearing down the stairs, hand over her face, her nose streaming blood.
    31
    "What happened?" Marrell cried as she guided Delancey into the kitchen and reached for a cloth. She wet it at the sink and tried to understand what her nearly hysterical daughter was saying. In the midst of the commotion, Mackenzie came into the room and leaned casually against the wall.
    "Calm down, Delancey," Paul now tried. "What happened?"
    "She punched me" were the first intelligible words they heard.
    "What?" Marrell mouthed in stunned disbelief. Surely she had heard wrong. She continued to mop up the blood as well as stem the flow, getting ice from the freezer to help with that while Paul focused on a line of questioning.
    "All right now, D.J., what really happened?"
    "Mackenzie punched me."
    Paul turned to his other daughter. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she looked defiant.
    "Is that true, Micki?" Marrell was the first to ask. "Did you punch D.J. in the nose?"
    "Yes."
    Marrell's mouth fell open for a moment.
    "For heaven's sake, Mackenzie! Paul, what are we going to do? What if it's broken?"
    "It's not broken." The words came from Mackenzie's mouth before anyone else could say a word.
    "You don't know that," Marrell snapped. She was angry now, at her daughter and at her husband, who had not said a word.
    "Yes, I do. If I had wanted to break it, I would have."
    With those words Marrell was shocked into speechlessness. While she watched, Mackenzie spoke rather calmly to Delancey.
    "I told you I don't want you kicking around my face, Delancey, and I meant it."
    "I won't do it anymore," Delancey responded in a subdued voice.
    Mackenzie pushed off from the wall she'd been leaning against and left the room. Thinking she could scream, Marrell continued to mop up Delancey's face and clothes. A few moments of silence passed before she was sure the bleeding had stopped. Marrell stripped off her daughter's top in order to treat the bloodstains and then told Delancey she could go upstairs and put on something else. She looked to Paul as soon as Delancey was gone, and when she saw a gleam in his eye, she let him have it.
    32
    "Do not tell me that you think this is funny, Paul Bishop!"
    He looked at her with maddening calm. "Not funny exactly, but I am a little proud of Micki."
    "You can't be serious! She punched Delancey in the nose. What in the world is there to be proud of?"
    "Marrell, Micki takes a lot off of D.J. and all of her moods. I don't think it's all bad that Delancey gets put in her place once in a while."
    Marrell's mouth dropped open once again. "You're condoning this?"
    "No, I'm not. I'll talk to Micki, but I could see by D.J.'s attitude that Micki had made her point. She would make a good soldier."
    Marrell's eyes shot sparks before she whipped around and began to work on Delancey's top. Paul knew he would have to mend fences before the night was over, but for now he had a daughter to talk to-one with a mean right hook.
    The air was hot and still as father and daughter left the apartment. Delancey had walked all the way downstairs to watch them go but wasn't invited. Paul planned to speak to her as well, but Mackenzie was first.
    "Do you