Read The Dear One for Free Online Page B

it? I saw a couch like that once in Seaman’s. It cost two thousand dollars. I told my boyfriend that’s the couch I want when we get married. Only, the one I’m getting is beige, not brown. But I like your brown one a lot. Is that where I’m going to be sleeping? I need a nap.”
    â€œNo,” Ma said, smiling. “We moved an extra bed into Feni’s room. I thought it would be nice if you two were together.” A frown crossed Rebecca’s face, but then she smiled quickly. “Why don’t you take a nap while we get dinner ready? You say all I have to do is steam this tofu awhile and pour some barbecue sauce over it?”
    Rebecca nodded and I looked at the cheesy-looking white lump Ma was holding. “What’s that?”
    â€œIt’s tofu.” Rebecca smirked. “Really good protein. You gonna show me to my room?” She got up slowly and exhaled. “I never thought getting up would be so hard.”
    I looked at Ma, but she was reading the back of the tofu package and frowning.

Eight
    â€œLOOK AT ALL THESE DOLLS!” REBECCA SQUEALED, darting clumsily to the shelves beside my bed. “There must be a hundred of them!”
    â€œSeventy-four,” I mumbled. The dolls were lined up in size order on three shelves.
    â€œI used to have dolls like this,” Rebecca said. “I used to have a hundred dolls. They were from all over the world, every color, every size. I had more dolls than any girl in the world.” She reached for one, then stopped. “Can I touch them? Or are you selfish?”
    â€œNo, you cannot,” I said.
    But she pulled a brown baby doll wrapped in a blue blanket from the shelf anyway. “Oh, he’s beautiful,” she said, cuddling the doll to her chest. “Bless him.” Her voice changed and she turned to me. “I had a doll like him too. I had all kinds of dolls!”
    â€œWhat happened to them?” I was sitting on the side of my bed, and it was hard to take my eyes off her stomach.
    â€œI don’t know. They all got gone. Some went here. Some went there. I gave a lot of them to charity. I’m generous by nature. Least that what people tell me.” She took the doll over to the cot. “This is my bed, right?” There was a whisper of disappointment in her voice as she laid the doll down and opened her bag.
    â€œI didn’t bring my best stuff . . . ,” she said, looking up at me. “I always pack lightly when I go on trips. I’ve been all kinds of places.”
    I stared at the pitiful bundle of clothes she took from the suitcase. There were two or three dingy-looking pairs of underwear, a white sweatshirt, and a pair of jeans that had been cut out in the front and restitched with elastic. There was a light blue pair of stretch-material pants like the old lady kind my grandmother hated and a flowered bathrobe with a frayed ribbon where a belt should be.
    â€œI think I forgot my pajamas, but I can sleep in a T-shirt or something.”
    She looked at me for what seemed like a long time until I finally got embarrassed and looked away. “Do you always stare like that? Because if you do, you’re rude,” she said.
    I played with the edge of my bedspread and said nothing. I hated Rebecca.
    â€œAnyway, what goes on in your mind when you sit there staring like you want something from me? You got all this stuff. What more do you want?”
    â€œWhat do you mean, what more do I want?” I said, tightening my hands into fists. “I don’t want anything from anybody. Least of all you. What can you give me? You don’t have anything.”
    â€œOh, don’t go losing your mind. You’re a brat. That’s what you are. You sure could use a kick in the butt.”
    â€œYou sure aren’t going to give it to me,” I said weakly. What right did she have, coming into my house and thinking she could take over?
    â€œI wouldn’t waste