Romancing the Dark in the City of Light Read Online Free PDF Page B

both know he’s the precious child and she’s a burdensome houseguest. He trots off with his nose in the air. “Um. How was Dublin?” Summer asks, recrossing her arms.
    “That was two weeks ago. Last week I went to check on things in Cameroon and the C ô te d’Ivoire. And they were fine. I think I have a little tummy bug, though.” Mom checks her phone.
    “Oh. Sorry to hear that.” Summer focuses on her own empty stomach. Busybodies Without Borders. Mom works on a village-girls-staying-in-school project in Africa. Which is cool, of course, and Summer’s proud of her.
    “What did you do? What’s it like—the Ivory Coast?” She wonders how she ended up with so much—why American and French kids all have so much—compared to the kids in those villages, who barely have enough to survive and are dying to get an education to better themselves. Someone should tell them that it’s all highly overrated.
    “Hot.” Mom slips her phone into her shiny black bag and focuses on Summer. “How’s school going?”
    “Um, great.” She wiggles her nose ring. Madame Laforge and the iceberg of finishing high school and getting accepted at some university crystallizes into thousands of singular, six-pointed flakes, and blows away.
    “Good.” Mom stares at Summer’s piercing and frowns. Summer woke up after an epic party with no memory of how it got there. She likes it now especially since Mom doesn’t. It’s dramatic.
    Drama. Hmmm. She could go to Moony’s auditions tomorrow.
    “Sweetheart, Winston’s coming to town this weekend.”
    Summer snaps to. “Winston? Why?”
    “For one thing, to make sure you’re on track. He’ll be here Friday.”
    He’s the family’s lawyer, the executor of her grandpa’s will, and Mom’s ex-boyfriend, just to keep things interesting. Summer hasn’t seen him since her grandpa’s funeral. And before that, her dad’s. This can’t be good. “Why can’t he just ask you, or even me? Give him my cell phone number.”
    “I guess he has to see for himself. For legal reasons. There have also been some recent developments. A lawsuit challenging the will.”
    “By who?”
    “Whom. Your father’s great-aunt and her son. What’s-his-name.” Mom pulls her coat from the armoire.
    “Dennis.” Summer chews on a ragged nail. One of many people who would be pumped if she flames out.
    Mom’s studying Summer’s jeans and T-shirt, as Summer peels off her own coat and tosses it on the marble-slabbed hall table. Mom changes the subject as she always does when Dad comes up. “We should go shopping. Pick out some cute things to show off your new figure. Those jeans are not flattering.” Mom thrusts her arms into her fat fur coat.
    “Okay.” Summer lets the jeans comment float away. Having a chubby daughter drove skinny Mom up the wall. Even though she’s glad to be thinner, the long-sought victory is hollow. It hasn’t changed how she feels one ounce. Plus if she gets new clothes she’ll probably just expand out of them again.
    On the other hand, better fitting clothes should be part of her holding-hands strategy. Although Moony doesn’t seem to care.
    She will. She’ll go to Moony’s auditions. She doesn’t have to sing or dance, just help. She takes a deep breath.
    Mom says, “I’ve got to run. Ouaiba has some stir-fry in the kitchen for you for later.”
    “Long as it’s not chicken,” Summer quips, expecting a smile.
    But Mom’s gaze is steely. “It’s prawn. And what is wrong with chicken?”
    Summer swallows the anger that erupts in her. But she hits a lob. “I can’t help but think of the millions who have already sacrificed their lives so that you can live here in Paris.”
    Mom doesn’t blink and lobs it back. “If you aren’t careful dear, all those feathered lives will have been in vain. Well, taxi’s waiting. Kiss, kiss.” Mom touches the tips of her fingers to her lips and firmly pulls the ten-foot door closed behind her.

TEN
    In the dark, Summer