Page 11 (1/1)

Joe clasps his hands "Daphne, darling If you’re Joe Vince’s daughter and you graduate from a place like Olympus Hills, you won’t have to audition for scholarships anywhere Schools will throw money at you to attend Not that you’ll even need it now But only if you co anywhere with you"

Mymidsentence He looks at her wide eyed, almost as if he’s a little afraid of her, and I can’t help but notice that even the glossy wonon is taken aback by my mother The two are polar opposites While the woives off a very even, uncluttered tone, nature green maxi dress and the pollen-stained apron I’ve rarely seen her without Instead of heels, Mom’s feet are bare My mother never wears shoes, as if all those NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE signs don’t apply to her It’s like she believes the grass won’t grow and the floon’t bloolide over the earth with her naked feet each day Her hair tuolden wheat, and her eyes, bright blue like the color of delphiniuht into Joe The tone that comes off her is like the crescendo of a symphony I’m tall like my mother, and people say I look just like her, but I don’t kno I can even compare when it comes to presence She’s like a force of nature

"Don’t even try me," she says to Joe

He clears his throat "As I told you on the phone, Demi, I have a court order"

The woman in the suit dress snaps open her briefcase and pulls out a docuuardian How he got a judge to grant hihter he’s seen only four times since I was born is beyond me I mean, Joe doesn’t ain, he probably has enough money to keep half the lawyers in California on retainer

Mom doesn’t even look at the paper "I don’t care what that docuhter away"

"Our daugh … ter," Joe says, but Moives him a look that makes him stammer

"I don’t care what I have to do to block your so-called court order I don’t care if I have to sell my shop to pay for it I will not let you take Daphne out of Ellis Fields"

It’s at this moment that I make up my mind The shock and numbness of the situation have started to wear off, and I knohat I have to do Because there’s no way I’ain There’s no way I’ to let her sell her shop--her paradise--because ofparents

Through the grate, I can hear Jonathan and CeCe gasp Indienoise

My mother turns toward ht at her "I’o This school is everything I’ve ever wanted I’h I’ve smashed one of her prized oleanders onto the floor and then kicked the dirt at her feet, and a low, disappointed tone comes off her

Joe blinks at lossy woman says She taps the screen of her phone "We’ll lose our spot for takeoff if we don’t get to the airport ASAP Daphne, you have seventeen minutes to pack your essentials We’ll send for the rest later--assu for" She puts her phone into her briefcase and then takes me by the elbow to escort me out of the office I look back at my mother, but she’s turned away frorasp "Mom, look at me, please"

"We don’t have time for this," Little Miss Glossy says

"Yes, we do" I stand next to my mother I place my hand on her shoulder I’ve always been able to read people by the tones and sounds that come off the ensemble of eer, feelings of betrayal, remorse, and fear

"I’m sorry, Mom But I have to do this As much as this store is your life, music is mine And just as , it would be even more impossible for me to watch you lose this place Not when the solution is so easy"

"Leaving your home is that easy for you?"

"No, that’s not what Ito be okay, Molance at Joe and he nods, confir that this would be part of the plan "You don’t have to worry about s happen out there Believe me, Daphne, I know" More re of her one excursion outside of Ellis Fields as a teenager--spring break, her senior year, with soh school friends That trip was how my mom ended up with an ex she barely knew, and a baby she’d never planned on Not to mention one of her best friends had run off to New York City with sos happen out there, too," I say, and give her a look that says, "How else would you have gotten me?"

All the stiffness in rabsThat’s why I don’t want to ever lose you" Her grip on htens "Please, e to tell her that I’ve changed ht the tears that roll from my eyes as I let my mother hold me like I was a little kid who’s fallen and skinned her knee

"We now have thirteen lossy wouished notes fall off her like teardrops as she realizes that her pleading won’t keep me here

"You know, you could always come with me," I say "Open up a new shop in California?"