Read Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself for Free Online Page B

could see this place she’d change her mind pretty quick.
    “So what do you think?” Mom asked Ma Fanny.
    “With new slipcovers and curtains, a few plants, some knick-knacks, a throw rug here and there, a picture or two on the wall … not bad. Maybe not worth what you had to pay under the table, but not bad. It could be worse.”
    “We had no choice,” Mom said, her voice breaking, “everything’s so scarce right now.”
    “Don’t worry,” Ma Fanny said, touching Mom’s arm, “as soon as my Singer gets here you’ll never recognize the place.”
    “Where’s the telephone?” Douglas asked.
    “We ordered one,” Mom said, “but it takes a longtime … there’s one in the lobby for emergencies though.”
    Douglas nodded.
    “At home we have two,” Sally said, suddenly angry. Why were they pretending? Why didn’t one of them just admit the truth. This place was a dump. Then she added, “And we have rose-beige carpeting too!”
    “Why don’t you just shut up?” Douglas said.
    “Who’s going to make me?”
    “Enough!” Mom said. “It’s been a long trip. Let’s get ready for bed. We’ll all feel better in the morning.”
    It was hard to fall asleep even though Sally felt tired. She tried a story inside her head but that didn’t work either. She wasn’t used to the smells here, to the strange night noises, to the day bed or having Douglas in the same room, breathing heavily. She missed her father. She wished he was there to tuck her in, although she wasn’t under any covers. It was too warm. Just a sheet was more than enough. She wished Daddy was there to give her a treatment.
    Two days later Sally got ready for school. She wore her red loafers, her Gibson Girl skirt and blouse and the pin Christine had given to her. Mom braided her hair, then pinned it on top of herhead in a coronet because it was too warm to let it hang loose. Ma Fanny kissed her cheek and said, “Such a shana maidelah.” Sally understood Ma Fanny’s Yiddish expressions well enough. Shana maidelah meant pretty girl.
    Outside, Sally stopped for a look at the goldfish pool, then she and her mother walked up the street, past yellow and blue and other pink stucco apartment houses.
    “One of the reasons we wanted this apartment so badly is that it’s very close to school,” Mom said. “Just one block up and two blocks over …” At the corner they crossed the street. “That’s where Douglas will go,” Mom said, pointing to Miami Beach Junior-Senior High.
    “When will he start?” Sally asked.
    “Tomorrow, I think. First I want Dr. Spear to give him a good going-over.”
    “Who’s Dr. Spear?”
    “He’s going to be our doctor here … he was highly recommended … he’s the best …”
    “Do I really need this jacket?” Sally asked. “It’s so warm out.”
    “I guess not. Give it to me and I’ll take it home.”
    Sally wriggled out of it.
    “You’re not nervous are you?” Mom asked.
    “No … why should I be nervous?”
    “I don’t know … you didn’t eat any breakfast and you’ve been picking at your cuticles.”
    “I’m not used to eating here yet and my cuticles itch … that’s why I pick at them.”
    “I know you’ll do just fine,” Mom said, “so don’t be scared.”
    “Who’s scared?” Sally snapped a big red flower off a bush next to the sidewalk.
    “That’s a hibiscus,” Mom said.
    “It’s pretty.” She tucked it behind one ear and twirled around. “How do I look?”
    “Just like Esther Williams,” Mom said.
    Sally smiled. Esther Williams was her favorite movie actress. Some day she was going to swim just like her, with her hair in a coronet and a flower behind her ear. Swimming along underwater, always smiling, with beautiful straight white teeth and shiny red lipstick. Esther Williams never got water up her nose or had to spit while she swam, like Sally, who didn’t like to get her face wet in the first place. And Esther Williams never splashed either.