Celia's Puppies Read Online Free

if they hadn’t spoken in years. “How are
you?”
    “ I’m good, Mom. How are
you?”
    “ Worried, dear. About
you,” her mother said. “I tried to call you this
weekend...”
    “ I just got your
messages,” Sandy said.
    “ Clogged up your machine
again,” her mother chuckled.
    Sandy let the silence lag. Her mother only
called for specific reasons. If she waited, her mother would get
around to what she wanted.
    “ Elsa called.” Her
mother’s voice was breezy, but the phone line echoed a chorus of
‘Sandy screwed up.’ “She said she saw you with a man at the Avenue
Grill on Friday night. Do you have a new boyfriend?”
    “ Yep.”
    “ Well, Elsa said he was
older than you and seemed to have a lot of money – nice watch,
fancy car, paid cash. She said she walked by your table three
times. She wanted to meet the man but you never even looked
up.”
    “ I don’t remember
her.”
    Sandy took a drink of coffee. Elsa was her
mother’s oldest and nosiest friend. Who knows if Elsa actually saw
Sandy or if she heard it from someone else who heard it from
someone who...
    “ Elsa said he was holding
your hand. Even through dinner! Holding your hand. She thought you
were already… intimate with that man. You know, Sandy, a man like
that only dates young girls for one thing.”
    “ What’s that,
Mom?”
    “ You haven’t let him…
touch you already have you?”
    Sandy didn’t respond.
    “ Oh Sandy.” Her mother’s
voice dripped with disappointment. “A man like that... You have to
string him along. You don’t want to end up like Jill do
you?”
    “ Jill’s a wonderful
person. I wouldn’t mind being exactly like Jill.”
    “ You know what I mean.”
Her mother’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Alone with a
child.”
    “ Oh. You mean like
you?”
    “ Sandra. You are no match
for a wealthy older man. He’s going to use you and dump
you.”
    “ Maybe I’ll use him, Mom.
I was thinking of spending all his money then dumping
him.”
    “ You are not very funny,
young lady. What does he do?”
    “ He helps run a company,”
Sandy said.
    “ That man is way out of
your league.” Her mother’s voice was conclusive. “Men like that
don’t marry girls like you.”
    “ Maybe I don’t want to get
married.”
    “ Oh Sandy.” Her mother’s
sorrow came through the phone lines. “How will you ever have
children?”
    “ The usual way, I suppose.
Sorry, Mom, I’ve got to go.”
    “ I saw your father last
week.”
    “ My father’s dead,
Mom.”
    “ Your real father,
Sandra.”
    “ Why do you interact with
him at all, Mother?”
    “ I can’t help that he
banks at my branch. Although he doesn’t have much money.” Her
mother sighed.
    “ How do you know that,
Mom?”
    “ He waited to come up to
my teller window. He told me that you won’t even speak to him. He
said he saw you at King Soopers and you walked the other
way.”
    “ And?”
    “ Sandy… honey, you can’t
blame a man for being an alcoholic.” Her mother gave another
exaggerated sigh. “Gosh, your father hurt me more than you and I’ve
moved on. I’ve forgiven him. You need to...”
    “ Sorry Mom. I’m going to
be late. See you Friday for a color?”
    “ Yes, honey. I get so
worried about you. And with this new man...”
    “ Remember, I have that
party on Friday,” Sandy said. “You have to come before
work.”
    “ The party at Jacob
Marlowe’s house. Is Jill still dating that gay boy?”
    “ Jill is dating Jacob,”
Sandy said.
    “ Poor Jill. I guess a
girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do to feed her child,”
Sandy’s mother said. “I just don’t want you to be in that position,
Sandy.”
    “ Okay Mom. Love you. See
you Friday morning.”
    “ Oh, love you,
Sandy.”
    Sandy hung up the phone. In years past, she
might have been angry about the conversation. Today, she just felt
sad. Not for herself. No. Outside of the surprised assault of
gripping pain, Sandy never felt much of anything for herself.