Read What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? for Free Online Page B

in chips, and not just pocket change, either. So just think what it must be like for her now. It’s like her life was over before it even got started. Everyone yelling and making a fuss over her and then, all of a sudden, nothing. I’ve never seen a kid star yet pull out of it without some kind of scar to show for it. And it’s twice as bad for Janie. Here you are—her kid sister—a bigger star than she ever was. How do you think she feels, tagging along in your shade all the time? She knows damn well the only reason she works is because of that clause in your contract. Hell, the whole world knows it! Honey, think how it’s twisting her up inside. I don’t care what kind of good intentions you’ve got, you aren’t doing her any kindness. Now, look—take my advice, let’s get rid of that clause. The front office is willing to buy her off with a good piece of change—I know that for a fact—and the publicity boys will make it look right. Come on—before she cracks up completely and does you some real damage—let her off the hook, huh?…
    But she had refused Marty’s advice. She had promised Jane, shetold him, and she wasn’t going to go back on her word. And now, suddenly, thirty years later, his words were as distinct in her mind as the day he said them. Because of the old movies, of course, and the fan letters. Another confirmation that she was right: she and Jane needed to leave the old house and all its lingering, unhappy memories as soon as possible.…
    “Your sister is not a well woman, Miss Blanche.”
    Again Blanche forced herself to look up into Mrs. Stitt’s anxious face.
    “Miss Blanche, somebody’s got to tell you straight out, and I guess it’s got to be me. Your sister needs—well, she needs some kind of—attention. And I don’t care if you fire me for saying it, I
don’t
! It’s for your own good. When she gets into these—sulks—of hers, I just don’t know how you stand it. She gives me the shivers. Maybe, being close to her all the time, you just don’t notice like anyone else would. But just in the time I’ve been here it’s plain that she’s a lot worse.…”
    Blanche looked up sharply. “Worse? How do you mean, Edna?”
    Mrs. Stitt touched the pocket of her apron. “This sort of thing. And the way she acts generally—like a little, spoiled kid sometimes. And how she tries to stop me from doing the things you tell me so she can make me do something else. It’s hard to say exactly but—but it’s getting—worse. I don’t mind telling you, now the subject’s open—I’d have quit this job flat a long time ago except for you. She’s just too hard to get on with—with the drinking and all that.…”
    Blanche pulled herself forward in her chair, feeling an urgent need—a compulsion, really—to say something in Jane’s defense. “Edna, I’m sure it isn’t anything—serious. I think I understand Jane. She’s always been moody, and she’s been under a strain lately——”
    “Maybe so,” Mrs. Stitt broke in, “but I still say you’d be smartto have her see your doctor. Oh, I know it’s a hard thing for you to see. Shut up here in this house all the time, you’ve got no way to make a comparison—but lately, Miss Blanche—well, I just worry about you.…”
    “Oh, Edna!”
    “Oh, I don’t mean she’s really—off—or anything like that—I’m not saying
that
—but she does get—well, irresponsible. This thing this morning—it’s not so important just by itself but—well, I get to thinking about what could happen to you alone in this house with her sometimes—especially when she gets to drinking—and I lay awake at night. I do, for a fact!”
    Blanche looked up at Mrs. Stitt in helpless desperation. She dared not let the woman go on like this. Perhaps it was true; perhaps, just as you developed a tolerance for pain through long familiarity, you could also develop a tolerance for eccentricity. But Jane was her own sister, the only person she