ALLIE STANDS IN THE DOORWAY of the girls’ bedroom. It is Sunday morning and the ringing of the bells at the Evangelical Pentecostal Assembly woke her. The bells usually do.
“Hey, Mama,” Becca says. “Whatcha up to?”
Ben snickers.
“What?” Becca says.
“ ‘Watcha up to?’ ”
“What’s wrong with that?” Becca sits up straight.
“You shouldn’t be on Lyne’s bed,” Allie says.
They are playing Uno. Ben is still sprawled out on his stomach. Bedrooms aren’t good places for boys and girls to be alone. There will come a time when Uno won’t be the game they want to play in the bedroom. She has to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“It’s bigger than Glory’s bed,” Becca says.
“You should be playing in the living room,” she says. Yes, the living room is safer, a good habit to get into.
“Glory said we were too noisy. She kicked us out,” Ben says, slightly petulant.
“Maybe Glory should have come in here instead.”
“She said we had to leave,” Becca says.
Allie sighs. “Maybe we should start going back to church.” Now where did that come from?
Becca turns around fully. “Church?”
Now she remembers why they stopped. She would dress the girls pretty, even curled their hair, put in bright coloured ribbons. What Mother used to do to her and her two sisters. But after years of sitting two or three pews behind Mother, she decided that was enough. She and the girls stopped going to church.
“You went to church?” Ben asks. The boy props himself up on his elbows.
“Yes,” Becca says. “I used to sit with Grandma.”
That’s right. She’d forgotten. Only Becca would sit with her grandmother. The girl was too young to be repelled by Mother’s lack of warmth.
“How come we stopped going, Mama?” Becca asks.
Why in the world did she blurt it out? She hasn’t thought about going to church for years. “I don’t remember. Just go back to playing cards.”
“Uno, Mama,” Becca says.
“My dad said he’ll bring me real cards. Then we can play real card games.” Ben says softly, “He’ll probably forget.”
“We have cards,” Allie says brightly. Too brightly.
“Whatever,” Becca says. Then she and Ben are sprawled again, flipping cards down as fast as they can. So easy with each other. That will change. Sexual tension does that.