Read Darkness Conjured for Free Online Page B

I had your talent.”
    “I wanted to be an artist, move to New York, but Dad told me I’d starve, that marrying Jack would be best.” Jen’s eyes are sad.
    “You have regrets?”
    “Sometimes.” She looks to the floor. “But Daddy looked out for me the best way he could. Besides, Jack’s real good to me. We always have what we need. Isn’t that enough?”
    No, it’s not enough , I think.
    She’s staring at me now. Blue green eyes move from my face to my swollen belly and
then she tells me, “You’ll find somebody, too.”
    I wave my hand. I know my father sent her here. I know she’d never step foot in this place if it were not for his persuasion.  “I’m keeping the baby. I don’t care what people will say.” Maybe she’ll support my free spirited decision since her dreams were squelched by our
father.
    “You can’t. Where’s the father?” There are tears in her eyes.
    “Trucker I met at Luke’s.”
    “Does he know?” Her face reddens just like our father’s when he’s about to scold.
    “Never saw him again.”
    “Ever think about finding him? Do you even know how to? Dad is heartbroken, Meg.
He cried when I visited him this morning. Sometimes I think you’re the only one he really loves.”
    “That’s not true. How could you think that?”
    “It was always you, Meg. I used to hear you guys talking late at night after he
came home from wherever the hell he goes.”
    “I don’t remember much of it. I think it was because I was the only one who was up.”
     Her voice softens. “No matter. You made a mistake. It’ll be water under the bridge in a few months. Then you can get on with your
life.”
    I hate Jen now. Years of listening to my father, of being crippled by his old
fashioned views have made her who she is.
    “You’ll change your mind once reality hits.” Jen rises from her seat. She buttons her coat and then moves towards me. She
leans down and wraps her arms around me. “Poor, poor Meg. The kid will be fine, have good adoptive parents.” She pats my back, pulls away slightly.  “Jack is taking us to Martha’s Vineyard on Memorial weekend. You’ll come with us. It’ll be good for you.”
    I swear I hear laughter coming from Amelia Leech’s portrait.
    “Bye, Jen,” I tell my sister. Nobody’s going to tell me how to live my life.
    My sister moves away from me, wet boots sloshing on the rug, her expensive coat
dappled with moisture. I don’t walk her out. I merely sit here, listening to the radiator hiss and ghost
sounds in the walls.
     
    *     *     *

    In November my clothes were tight around my stomach. I was lost in a fantasy
world and thought I was either sick or stressed out from working too many
doubles at Lou’s.
     I went to Westminster Mall with my sister Beth when she came home for
Thanksgiving break. I donned an oversized coat and slid on a pair of flats. My
ankles were swollen. The tight high heeled boots I liked to wear on shopping
treks were out of the question.
    Always one to head straight for form fitting sweaters and skinny jeans, on that
day I checked out warm socks and gloves. Beth checked out the miniskirts at
Shepard department store.
    “You gaining weight?” She asked when I began thumbing through size eight cords with elastic waists. I’d never weighed more than a hundred five pounds. I’d been a size four since I was sixteen.
    “I don’t get a chance to eat right anymore. I work long hours, gobble fries and burgers
in between. And let’s not talk about Luke’s homemade pies.”
    Beth eyed me suspiciously. “You ate stuff like that before. Never gained a pound.”
    “Maybe my metabolism changed or something.”
    “Maybe. Why bother working so much? Dad just takes most of it.”
    I shrugged. I thought about money I’d stashed. I bit my tongue. Dad had a way of finding out things from my sisters.
    Beth tugged on the wool scarf around her neck. “Thank goodness I got into college with scholarships. I mean,