"This oughta take the chill out," he said.

They tapped glasses and swallowed.

"I just noticed there's no television set in the room," Mommy said. "Did you bring something to read, Melody?"

"No. We left home too quickly, remember? I had to leave my books behind anyway because there was no room in the suitcases," I complained. Archie leapt to his feet.

"That's two! Two complaints! You're the gopher." Mommy laughed. They clinked glasses again.

"We really need something to mix this with, don't you think, Haille?"

"It would help," she said.

Archie dug into his pocket and produced two dollars.

"Why don't you run down to the motel office and get us a can of tonic water or some ginger ale."

Archie thrust the money my way. "Stay under the overhang and you won't get wet."

I looked at Mommy. She sat on the bed, a wide grin on her face. "Be a good sport, honey."

I plucked the bills from Archie's hand and grabbed my coat on the way out the door, thinking I needed to get away from them for a while anyway.

Their laughter followed as I slammed the door behind me.

Looking around, I saw how dreary the motel was. The parking lot was torn up in many spots, and the neon sign had some letters burnt out. Closing my coat tightly around myself, I hurried under the overhang, noticing as I went that there apparently were other empty rooms.

The office was small. Inside was a red imitation leather settee with slits and cracks in it, a worn cushioned chair, a coffee table, and the counter, behind which sat a short, bald man. He had long, bushy eyebrows and thick lips that looked as pale as day-old dead worms.

When he smiled, I saw he was missing a lot of teeth. "How can I help you?" he asked.

"I need a can of tonic, please."

"The machine's broke, but I got some in the fridge back here," he said, indicating a room behind his office. "Just tonic water?"

"Yes, please."

"One minute."

He brought it out and I paid him a dollar. I noticed the pay phone on the wall behind the settee.

"Can I have change for the phone, please?"

"Sure thing."

He gave it to me and I went to the phone. He sat again and picked up his magazine, but his attention was fixed on me.

I dialed Alice's phone number, put in the required change, and waited for her to answer. She did so on the second ring.

"Alice, it's Melody."

"Where are you? I tried to call you four different times after school."

"Oh, Alice, I don't know where I am. Some place near Richmond, Virginia."

"Richmond, Virginia?"

I gazed at the man behind the counter. He wasn't pretending to be interested in anything but me now.

I turned so that my back was to him and spoke as softly as I could. "We left, Alice. Mommy had it all planned. When I got home, she was packing. We're with Archie Marlin," I moaned.

"What? Where are you going?"

"Provincetown, on Cape Cod, at least at first.

Then I don't know. Mommy wants to find a new place to live."

"You're gone for good?" Alice asked incredulously.

"Yes." My tears blinded me. "Could you say good-bye to everyone for me, and especially Mr.

Kile?" He was my favorite teacher.

"But how will I know where you are?"

"I'll write as soon as it's decided. Oh, before I forget, I left my school and library books on the kitchen table in the trailer. Mama Arlene knows.

Would you go by and get them and return them for me, please?"

"Sure. I can't believe this."

"Imagine how I feel. You know I hate Archie Marlin," I said. The operator interrupted to say I needed to put in more change, but all I had left was a nickel. "Good-bye, Alice. Thanks for being my best friend."

"Melody!" she called as if I were drifting away like a ghost.

The connection went dead. I stood there holding the mute receiver, afraid to turn and show the motel manager my tears. I took a deep breath, wiped my face with the back of my hand, and cradled the receiver.

"Really raining out there," the manager commented. "Yes."

"You folks come far?"

"Sewell."

"Not that far."

I started away.

"You forgot your can of tonic," he said nodding toward the can I had left on the shelf by the telephone.

"Oh, thanks." I went back for it and then paused on the way to the door again. "Are you all booked up here tonight?"

"Booked up?" He laughed silently, his shoulders shaking. "Hardly."

"I thought so," I muttered to myself and left.

When I returned to the room, I found Mommy and Archie dancing to music on the radio. Mommy looked embarrassed for a moment, then smiled.

"Richard can make even the dreariest situations happy."

"Here's your tonic water." I thrust the can at him. "Thanks, princess," Archie said. "Any change?"

I handed him the nickel.

"I needed to call Alice to tell her to get my books," I said. "We owe you ninety-five cents."

"Plus interest," he said winking at Mommy.

Then he snapped open the can and poured some into his glass and Mommy's.

"There are other empty rooms," I declared.

Archie paused with a surprised look painted on his crimson face. "There are? That's not what baldy in the office told me. Well, how do you like that? He just wanted to get us into a more expensive room, I bet."

"Wouldn't he be better off renting two?" I asked, snorting.

"Naw. This room is more expensive than two,"

he asserted.

"What difference does it make now?" Mommy said. "The difference is I'm tired."

"So go to sleep. We'll put down the lights for you," she said and did so. Then she turned the radio low.

Seeing that I had no other choice, I unbuttoned my blouse with my back to them and took it off. Then I kicked off my shoes, slipped out of my skirt and quickly slid under the blanket. It smelled as if it had been stored in a box of mothballs. I kept my back to them, but I knew they continued to dance, drink their gin, and whisper. I prayed to fall asleep quickly, and miraculously, maybe because I was so exhausted, I did.

But later in the night, my eyelids snapped open.

I heard a soft moan and a subdued giggle, followed by the sound of bed springs squeaking. They thought I was asleep, so I didn't turn around. I had heard similar sounds before through the thin walls of our trailer. I knew what they meant then and I knew what they meant now.

How could Mommy let another man put his hands on her and be so intimate with her so soon after Daddy's death? I wondered. Didn't she still see Daddy in her mind, hear his voice, remember his lips on hers? Archie Marlin was so different from Daddy, too.

He was a weakling. Couldn't Mommy wait until she met someone with whom she was really in love?

She was just confused, frustrated, afraid to be alone, told myself. Maybe it would all change when we found another place to live and she was happier with herself. Surely she wouldn't want to spend the rest of her life with a man like Archie Marlin.

I squeezed my eyelids tighter and pressed my ear to the pillow. I tried to think of something else, but their heavy breathing grew louder. Mommy moaned and then they grew silent. Moments later, Mommy slipped into bed beside me.

For now, at least, we were all supposed to pretend I heard and knew nothing. In the morning she would be here in bed with me and Archie Marlin would be in his.

It was a sad way to start a new life. . . lying to each other.

We left the motel as soon as we were all washed and dressed the next morning. In the daylight, the motel looked seedier. Even Mommy commented.

Archie laughed it off, saying, "Any port in a storm.

I've slept in lots worse."

"I believe that," I muttered. If either of them heard it, they didn't react. We stopped for breakfast off Route 95 north of Richmond and then continued. I saw the Capitol building in the distance from the highway, but we didn't stop in Washington, D.C., to do any of the sightseeing Mommy had promised. Nor did we go to Baltimore or any city along the way. It was apparent that Mommy and Archie Marlin wanted to get us to Provincetown as soon as possible. I began to think about the family I was about to meet.

I knew very little, of course, but I did know that Daddy had a younger brother who lived on the Cape with his family and that Daddy's family had been in the lobster business for a long time. Daddy's father was retired and he and my grandmother lived in a house too big for just the two of them. That was all I knew. When I asked Mommy how many children Daddy's younger brother had, Mommy said she remembered he had twins, a boy and a girl. Another child had been born after she and Daddy left Provincetown. She couldn't remember if the third child was a boy or a girl, but she did say that she thought the twins were about my age, maybe a year older.

"Daddy's brother got married before you and Daddy?" I asked.

"I think so. Maybe. I don't remember. Please, Melody, don't flood me with questions I can't answer.

You'll get all your answers when you get to Provincetown."

"But. . . well, how much younger than Daddy is his brother?"

"A year or so," she said. "He's different," she added. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see," she said and refused to do anything but leave it at that.

With all this family mystery looming ahead me, I couldn't help being nervous. Mommy had obviously told them about Daddy's death. Was his parents'

grudge over? How come, after all these years, we were finally going to see them?

When I pushed Mommy about why we were finally going to see Daddy's family, she sighed deeply and said, "It's what your father would want now, I'm sure."

I told myself that must be true and I must be strong and do what I could to make things right again among all of us.

"You know," Archie Marlin said as we headed into Massachusetts, "I just realized I've never been to the Cape."

"How is that possible?" I asked dryly.

Mommy flashed her eyes at me, but Archie widened his smile. "I'm not one for sailing or fishing,"

he said.

"But I thought you went river rafting," I followed quickly.

"That's not sailing or fishing. That's just a thrill," he replied.

"Cape Cod has its charms," Mommy said, "but the people can be hard. The ocean makes them that way."

"It didn't make you hard," Archie said lustily.

1 turned my attention back to the scenery flying by. That night we slept in a much nicer motel. We stayed in a suite and I had the sofa bed all to myself. I was able to wash my hair and shower, too. We ate dinner at the motel and I returned to the room while Mommy and Archie remained in the lounge listening to music and drinking. They stumbled in hours later, giggling and whispering. I pretended to be asleep as they clumsily made their way into the bedroom and shut the door.