The Murderer's Daughters Read Online Free PDF Page A

stopped it,” she told Mimi Rubee.
    “You think we didn’t try?” Mimi Rubee said. “I think he got her pregnant on purpose just to make sure he had her. She could have been the movie star if she hadn’t married him. He knew that.”
    “He’s a monster. An animal,” Aunt Cilla said.
    Did she think Merry and I were deaf? Stupid?
    “Stop, Cilla,” Mimi Rubee said. “Little pitchers.”
    “We can’t close our eyes, Mama,” Aunt Cilla said. “Do you want them to stay blind? You think it’s smart, sending them to his mother’s house? Sorry, but I have to say it.”
    Everyone’s peering, peeking eyes made me want to run out of the house and do something amazing, like throw a ball far enough to reach Coney Island or memorize the encyclopedia.
    Nothing made sense. Grandma Zelda had said, “Don’t forget why your father didn’t go to trial, girls. He wanted to preserve your mother’s name, that’s the reason he pled guilty.” Hearing those words made me silently scream,
Nothing will make what Daddy did any better.
Yet when Mimi Rubee called him a monster, my heart curled in on itself, and I didn’t know why.
    “After all,” Aunt Cilla continued, her voice becoming slow motion, “who knows? Maybe the poison came from Zelda. And who knows where it’ll go next?”
    My aunt’s mouth looked wet and ugly. Her orange lipstick reminded me of a slab of Velveeta cheese. “They should have given him the death penalty. He should burn for what he did.”
    Merry’s shoulder blades dug into my knees as she backed away from Aunt Cilla.
    “The children,” Uncle Hal cautioned.
    “The children should know. What, are we making it a secret?” Aunt Cilla bent over and shook her finger at us. “You girls have to watch every single thing you do for the rest of your life.”
    Mimi Rubee’s tears started up again. She cried so hard all her makeup wore off and she looked old and ruined, but Aunt Cilla kept harping until Uncle Hal said, “Enough.”
    “I miss Celeste,” Aunt Cilla sobbed.
    “I know, but still, you can’t talk like this,” he said as he rubbed her back. “You’re upsetting everyone.”
    “Why are you defending him?”
    Uncle Hal sighed and took away his hand. “At least he kept us from having to go through a trial.”
    “For that I should be grateful? I’ll be grateful when he’s dead. I want him gassed; I want him sent to the electric chair.”
    “No!
Don’t kill my father.
” Merry jumped up and turned to Mimi Rubee. “I want Grandma Zelda. I want to see Daddy.” She ran over and kicked Aunt Cilla. “Grandma will take me and you can’t make her not.”
    Everyone stared at Merry as though the chair had spoken and the rug risen up and danced, but I knew this was coming. My sister’s nice-nice package fooled people into thinking that was all she was, but wasn’t it Merry who’d crept closer and closer as my parents fought their last fight? When pushed, Merry eventually always pushed back.
    “
Stop that, Merry,
” Aunt Cilla yelled. “
Stop that right now.
”
    Merry made two little fists and beat them against her small thighs. “You stop. You stop!
You stop!
” Her voice got louder with each word. “I want to see Daddy. I want to see him. I hate you. And I hate it here!”
    “Stop her, Lulu.” Mimi Rubee held her head and rocked. “Make your sister stop.”
    I shook my head and held out my palms to indicate helplessness. They had no idea. Merry didn’t go crazy like this too often, but when she did, only Daddy could reach her.
Good luck, Aunt Cilla.
    Merry collapsed into a kneeling position, locking her hands in prayer. “Please, please. Take me to Daddy.”
    My throat constricted. A need to comfort my sister fought with urges to kill her for doing this, for bringing Daddy into the room. Every night Merry whispered his name to me, wrapping him over us like a blanket before we went to sleep. I could make her do almost anything except stop needing Daddy.
    Uncle Hal scooped Merry