He Gave Me a Green Dress, So I Gave the Arena the Truth novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: My Father's Kitchen

My father still lived in the yellow house on Fourth Street, the one with the kitchen table.

Nolan parked at the curb and cut the engine.

"I'll wait here," he said.

"You can come to the porch."

"The porch, then."

He followed me up the steps. The paint was peeling on the rail where I had sat as a child waiting for the school bus.

My father opened the door before I knocked.

He was seventy, thin, in a cardigan with a button missing. He had the same face that had sat across from my mother that afternoon and explained her faults to her.

"Joss." He glanced at Nolan. "Who's this?"

"A friend. Where's Belinda?"

"She's resting. She's in a delicate state."

"I know exactly what state she's in."

I walked past him into the kitchen.

Belinda sat at the table in a cardigan of mine that she had taken from the closet. She had a cup of tea in front of her and a hand on her stomach.

It was the same table, and the same chair.

She stood up so fast the tea slopped over.

"Joss. I wasn't going to hide. Lars said it was only for a few days."

"Sit down, Belinda."

She sat.

My father came in behind me and stood by the stove with his arms folded.

"Whatever this is," he said, "your sister is carrying a child. You'll keep your voice down."

"I haven't raised my voice."

"Joss."

"Dad, did you know the baby isn't Lars's?"

He didn't answer for a moment.

Belinda looked at the tea. A muscle moved in my father's jaw.

"I know it's complicated," he said.

"You know."

"Lars came to see me last week. He said you two were having trouble and that Belinda had been a good friend to you. He asked if she could stay here if things got difficult." He shrugged. "She's my daughter too."

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