John Pilkie is bad.
Me: Thatâs not true! People are good so their fathers will love them.
Hindrance: You may as well not have a father for all the time he gives you.
Me: You think so, Hindrance?
Hindrance: A girl without a father is like a town without streetlights. She can find her way but a lot of the time, sheâll be groping in the dark.
Â
A GIRL WITHOUT A FATHER is like a town without streetlights.
I kept thinking about what Hindrance said and wondered if it was true of Morley and me. It wasnât like my father had died on me. He was home three times a day; we ate lunch and dinner together. But he wouldnât have time to rescue me from the Bug House boys. He had more serious problems than saving me from a bunch of creeps bent on humiliating whatever girl crossed their path.
Or was it that I didnât count in Morleyâs eyes? Donât be a nincompoop, I scolded myself. You have to take Morleyâs love on faith. One day, youâll spring from Morleyâs noggin like the Greek goddess Athena. She, too, had a strong, absent father and she rushed out of Zeusâs forehead, fully armoured, ready to take on the world.
14
MY FATHER WAS ALWAYS TELLING ME TO PUT MYSELF IN THE other personâs shoes. âThere, but for the grace of God,â heâd say if I complained about a problem like the Bug House boys. So I submit the following with a word to the wise, because Little Louie didnât understand I had sworn to Morley that I would try to see things through the other personâs eyes. Being fair involved looking at things backwards, sideways, and upsidedown, so that you got to know the other personâs point of view as well (or almost as well) as your own. Sometimes being fair meant you had to read letters that werenât addressed to you. After all, how else could a girl like me understand anything?
I found Little Louieâs letter to the mysterious Max Falkowski a few days after John rescued me from the Bug House boys.
June 12, 1959
.
Â
Dear Max:
Â
In your last letter, you asked me to tell you about Madocâs Landing, and said youâd like to come up for a visit. Please donât. It would get me in hot water with Mom, who thinks you and I are out-of-touch. And besides, I donât want to see you. I got over being mad when you found out that Charlotte had lied about being pregnant. I even felt sorry about it and admired your gentlemanly instinct to give the child a name. And I also meant it when I said I would wait while you got a divorce. But then yesterday, Willie phoned and told me that Charlotte is expecting. Two months gone, according to my brother. This is the worst news I have heard for ages! First, you let yourself get trapped into something you didnât want because you couldnât control yourself. And then you seal the deal by making sure she really is pregnant. Why are you so hapless, Max?
If itâs any comfort, youâve ruined my life too. Mom is always reminding me that this hick town is full of nice old Victorian homes left over from its days as a lumber capital. As if I care about old houses. Iâm stuck in a backwater where all the locals care about is hockey. I doubt if anybody has read a book here in years, let alone heard of something like socialized medicine. At least my sisterâs house is nice enough, with fireplaces downstairs and new mattresses from Simpsons. I can feel Aliceâs presence in its rooms, despite the fact she has been dead for a while. And I have my crippled niece, Mary for a friend. She is a self-sufficient little character who limps around in a white cowboy hat. Her father is one of those men who gives everything to his community and neglects his family while the housekeeper, Sal, is downright unfriendly. Mom says what Mary needs is a stepmother to look out for her interests. Can you guess what Mom is thinking? Rots-a-ruck, Mom! Dr. Bradford is way too old for me.
Thatâs all I
Me: Thatâs not true! People are good so their fathers will love them.
Hindrance: You may as well not have a father for all the time he gives you.
Me: You think so, Hindrance?
Hindrance: A girl without a father is like a town without streetlights. She can find her way but a lot of the time, sheâll be groping in the dark.
Â
A GIRL WITHOUT A FATHER is like a town without streetlights.
I kept thinking about what Hindrance said and wondered if it was true of Morley and me. It wasnât like my father had died on me. He was home three times a day; we ate lunch and dinner together. But he wouldnât have time to rescue me from the Bug House boys. He had more serious problems than saving me from a bunch of creeps bent on humiliating whatever girl crossed their path.
Or was it that I didnât count in Morleyâs eyes? Donât be a nincompoop, I scolded myself. You have to take Morleyâs love on faith. One day, youâll spring from Morleyâs noggin like the Greek goddess Athena. She, too, had a strong, absent father and she rushed out of Zeusâs forehead, fully armoured, ready to take on the world.
14
MY FATHER WAS ALWAYS TELLING ME TO PUT MYSELF IN THE other personâs shoes. âThere, but for the grace of God,â heâd say if I complained about a problem like the Bug House boys. So I submit the following with a word to the wise, because Little Louie didnât understand I had sworn to Morley that I would try to see things through the other personâs eyes. Being fair involved looking at things backwards, sideways, and upsidedown, so that you got to know the other personâs point of view as well (or almost as well) as your own. Sometimes being fair meant you had to read letters that werenât addressed to you. After all, how else could a girl like me understand anything?
I found Little Louieâs letter to the mysterious Max Falkowski a few days after John rescued me from the Bug House boys.
June 12, 1959
.
Â
Dear Max:
Â
In your last letter, you asked me to tell you about Madocâs Landing, and said youâd like to come up for a visit. Please donât. It would get me in hot water with Mom, who thinks you and I are out-of-touch. And besides, I donât want to see you. I got over being mad when you found out that Charlotte had lied about being pregnant. I even felt sorry about it and admired your gentlemanly instinct to give the child a name. And I also meant it when I said I would wait while you got a divorce. But then yesterday, Willie phoned and told me that Charlotte is expecting. Two months gone, according to my brother. This is the worst news I have heard for ages! First, you let yourself get trapped into something you didnât want because you couldnât control yourself. And then you seal the deal by making sure she really is pregnant. Why are you so hapless, Max?
If itâs any comfort, youâve ruined my life too. Mom is always reminding me that this hick town is full of nice old Victorian homes left over from its days as a lumber capital. As if I care about old houses. Iâm stuck in a backwater where all the locals care about is hockey. I doubt if anybody has read a book here in years, let alone heard of something like socialized medicine. At least my sisterâs house is nice enough, with fireplaces downstairs and new mattresses from Simpsons. I can feel Aliceâs presence in its rooms, despite the fact she has been dead for a while. And I have my crippled niece, Mary for a friend. She is a self-sufficient little character who limps around in a white cowboy hat. Her father is one of those men who gives everything to his community and neglects his family while the housekeeper, Sal, is downright unfriendly. Mom says what Mary needs is a stepmother to look out for her interests. Can you guess what Mom is thinking? Rots-a-ruck, Mom! Dr. Bradford is way too old for me.
Thatâs all I
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